News and Analysis: 01-15 Mar 2017 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Wed, 15 Mar 2017:

Kenneth Rogoff: Trump's virtual wall, Project Syndicate, 13 Mar 17 [courtesy Financial Advisor Mag]:
The basic idea of the "border adjustment tax" is to slap a tax of, say, 20% on imports, and to provide tax breaks worth a similar amount on exports. So what could possibly be wrong with such a technocratic idea?, asks recipient of 2011 Deutsche Bank prize in financial econ

Greg Mankiw: Advice for Trump - Ask an economist, NYT, 12 Mar 17 [PDF, courtesy Harvard]:
Judging by those with whom Trump chooses to surround himself, it seems that the new pres is averse to talking with professional economists. But over time, he will probably get around to appointing the 3 members of his Council Econ Advisers, writes CEA chair under the 2nd Pres Bush admin

2017 quality of living rankings, Mercer, 14 Mar 17
Vienna remains in the No.1 spot for quality of living, followed by Zurich and Auckland. City infrastructure plays an important role when multinationals decide where to establish locations and was ranked separately this year, with Singapore topping the list

Posted on Mon, 13 Mar 2017:

Shang-Jin Wei: Navigating the economic-policy shocks from America, Project Syndicate, 11 Mar 17 [via Fin Exp/Bangladesh]:
With a series of tax and trade moves being considered in the US, emerging-market economies are likely to face devaluation pressure and volatility. Three sources of US-fuelled econ uncertainty, in particular, will rattle emerging market, writes fmr Asian Devt Bank chief economist

Bradford DeLong: Point - Sluggish future, Finance & Development, Mar '17:
The long, steady decline in nominal and real interest rates on all kinds of safe investments has created a world in which, as economist Alvin Hansen put it when he saw a similar situation in 1938, we see "sick recoveries… die in their infancy," writes U Calif-Berkeley economist

John Taylor: Counterpoint - Policy is the problem, Finance & Development, Mar '17:
Few dispute that the economy has grown slowly in recent years, esp. when the financial crisis is taken into account. But secular stagnation as an explanation for this phenomenon raises inconsistencies and doubts, writes fmr Treasury undersecretary

Posted on Fri, 10 Mar 2017:

Barry Eichengreen: What's a president to do?, Project Syndicate, 09 Mar 17 [via Gulf Times/Qatar]:
Trump has quickly discovered, like previous US pres, that America's political system is designed to prevent rapid, large-scale change, by interposing formidable institutional obstacles, from the Congress and career civil servants to state govts and the courts, writes U Calif-Berkeley economist

Israeli model holds the answers to China's quest for sci/tech, S.China Morning Post, by Y Huang, 27 Feb 17 [via MIT(blog)]:
It is widely understood that China needs to move from an investment-intensive growth model to one based on science, tech and innovation. But changing the growth model to one driven by tech is not as simple as turning on a switch, writes MIT China Lab head

Looping in local suppliers rather than forcing out international firms, World Bank (blog), by A Gonzalez, 30 Jan 17:
Increasing econ prosperity for developing countries is related not only to rising trade, but also – and more important – to transforming the traditional composition of what they produce and export, writes WB trade/ competitiveness senior dir

Posted on Wed, 08 Mar 2017:

Why the gender gap still exists, NPR, Apr ’16:
Women, on average, make 79 cents for every dollar men earn. We talk with Harvard’s Claudia Goldin about what's behind the pay gap between men and women. Q: You say the reason is not primarily discrimination, is that right? (8 Mar - International Women's Day)

Nook and Cranny: Lunch with MIT's Esther Duflo, FT, by J Gapper, Mar ’12 [PDF, courtesy Asia Society]:
It is an overcast day in Cambridge, Mass. Inside the restaurant sits a petite Frenchwoman who is one of the world's star economists – tenured at MIT at 29, MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellow, winner of the 2010 John Bates Clark medal, the so-called "mini-Nobel", and she's still only 39

Girl power (infographic), Finance & Development, Mar ’17:
If half of the world's population cannot reach its full potential, the whole global economy suffers. Especially in low-income countries and emerging markets, additional investments in infrastructure, health, and education would help women join the workforce

Posted on Mon, 06 Mar 2017:

Michael Boskin: Trump has made rookie mistakes - he must change his approach, Project Syndicate, 02 Mar 17 [via Guardian]:
Trump is far from the 1st pres to arrive in the White House planning to shake things up. Now, it is his turn and he is approaching it differently than his predecessors. But he can't change the rules of the game singlehandedly, writes Pres GH Bush's Council Econ Advisers chair

Joel Mokyr: How did Europe become the richest part of the world?, Aeon, 15 Feb 17:
In a time of great powers and empires, just one region of the world experienced extraordinary econ growth. How and why did the process of modern econ growth begin in western Europe in the 18th century?. asks author of A Culture of Growth: Origins of the modern economy (2016)

Coffers: Stop worrying about asset value, Allianz's Project M, 06 Mar 17:
Volatility and valuations are the wrong measures if your goal is to obtain a particular future income, says 1997 Nobel Laureate Robert Merton. What irks him most is that workers with little financial expertise are expected to understand complex retirement investments

Posted on Fri, 03 Mar 2017:

An Open Letter to Pres Trump to withdraw from UN Framework on Climate Change, 300+ Scientists, 23 Feb 17 [PDF]:
We urge the US govt, and others, to withdraw from the UNFCCC. We support reasonable and cost-effective environmental protection. But carbon dioxide, the target of the UNFCCC, is not a pollutant but a major benefit to agriculture and other life on Earth (Cover note, by R. Lindzen) [via eenews.net]

An Open Letter to Pres Trump on climate change, 800+ Scientists, 06 Dec 16 [via Scientific American (blog)]:
We urge you to take immediate and sustained action against human-caused climate change. We write as concerned individuals, united in recognizing that the science is unequivocal and America must respond. Climate change threatens America's economy, national security, and public health and safety

What Africa can teach the US about funding infrastructure projects, Harvard Univ, 15 Feb 17:
There is plenty of capital in the global financial markets and, in these markets, there is a giant search for yield. There is also massive need for infrastructure investment. Why can't the funds and the projects get matched up? This is often called the "Infrastructure Paradox".

Posted on Wed, 01 Mar 2017:

The aid community should stop pretending to know the answers and start asking the right questions, OECD (blog), 20 Jan 17:
The devt community has continued its quest for the missing ingredient to ignite econ growth. Candidates have included capital, technology, policies, institutions, better politics, and market integration, write Development cooperation directorate dir; and economist

Barry Eichengreen: Hot money - The true meaning of China's capital controls, Ctr Intl Governance Innov, 13 Dec 16:
Until recently, Beijing encouraged foreign direct investment by Chinese companies as a way to secure supplies of imported energy and materials. But what worried officials were foreign investments like a copper smelter bidding for a Hollywood studio, writes U Calif-Berkeley economist

Larry Summers: Farewell to Kenneth Arrow, a gentle genius of economics, WSJ, 25 Feb 17 [courtesy Harvard]:
I remember like yesterday the moment when Kenneth, my mother's brother, won the Nobel Prize. Paul Samuelson - another Nobel economist and, as it happens, also my uncle - hosted a party in his honor, to which I, then a MIT sophomore, was invited, writes Pres Obama's Natl Econ Council head (A correction)

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