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EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

emerging and frontier markets:

the unofficial field guide

Site Owner / Publisher:  Sta. Romana, Leonardo L.
 Based in:  Manila, Philippines; and Southeast Asia


Posted on Thu, 29 Oct 2020

So what if Biden is up in the polls? Weren't they wrong last time?, Reuters, 29 Oct 20:
If the polls were always right, Hillary Clinton should be running for re-election, not Trump. She consistently led Trump in state and national polls in 2016 before he won the White House, just like Biden does now. But opinion poll experts say there are good reasons to trust this year's polls more


Record 200 days with no local cases makes Taiwan envy of world, Bloomberg, 29 Oct 20 [via BNN Bloomberg]:
While many countries around the world are hitting new highs in coronavirus cases, including Europe and the US, Taiwan has achieved a different kind of record -- 200 days without a locally transmitted case.
 It holds the world's best virus record by far and reached the new landmark on Thu (29 Oct)


US sows more WTO turmoil by vetoing front-runner for top job, Bloomberg, 29 Oct 20 [via BNN Bloomberg]:
The US’s lone resistance to the majority-backed candidate opens the possibility of months of gridlock over the selection process and more diplomatic friction. WTO decisions are made by a consensus of its 164 members, which means a single country -- esp. the world's largest economy -- can create a stalemate to pressure others

Posted on Mon, 12 Oct 2020

2020 Nobel Prize in Economics -- Awarded "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats" to Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, 12 Oct 20:

People have always sold things to the highest bidder, or bought them from whoever makes the cheapest offer. Nowadays, objects worth astronomical sums of money change hands every day in auctions, not only household objects, art and antiquities, but also securities, minerals and energy. Milgrom and Wilson's discoveries have benefited sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world


Garten: Memorandum for the next president, Subject: Managing US and global catastrophes, Foreign Policy Assn's Great Decisions 2020, Sep '20
[pdf, courtesy Author's site]:
Even though the Covid-19 pandemic rages on, it is not too early to ask how America should best deal with the full range of future catastrophes that threaten us. That includes massive hurricanes/flooding, earthquakes, cyberattacks, terrorism/bioterrorism, chemical calamities, and climate  change, writes Yale Sch Mgmt dean emeritus



China joins Covax initiative, boosting bid to ensure fair access to Covid-19 vaccine, Reuters, 09 Oct 20 [via Straits Times/S'pore]:
China joins some 168 countries that have already announced their participation in Covax including 76 wealthy, self-financing ones. But neither the US nor Russia have joined. It is designed to discourage govts from hoarding vaccines and to focus on first vaccinating the most high-risk people in every country



Posted on Fri, 02 Oct 2020


Bill Gates: A three-part plan to eliminate Covid-19, Nikkei Asia/Japan, 30 Sep 20 [courtesy Gates Foundation]:
The world is on the brink of a scientific achievement: A safe, effective vaccine will likely be ready by early next year. This will finally give the world the chance to eliminate the threat of the pandemic. To achieve this goal, the world first needs three things, writes Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-chair




Nobel economists urge French Advent lockdown 'to save Christmas', AFP, 27 Sep 20 [via Yahoo News]:
Two Nobel Laureates, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, urged France, in an op-ed for Le Monde, to consider an Advent lockdown so that family Christmas celebrations can go ahead with reduced risk of coronavirus transmission. They suggested "a nationwide lockdown from Dec 1 to 20"




Bulow, Reinhart, Rogoff and Trebesch: The debt pandemic, Finance & Development, Sep/Nov '20:
The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly lengthened the list of developing economies in debt distress. For some, a crisis is imminent. For many more, only exceptionally low global interest rates may be delaying a reckoning, write economists from Stanford; World Bank (chief econ); Harvard; and Kiel Inst World Econ



Posted on Mon, 14 Sep 2020:


People – not countries – should be given priority for Covid-19 vaccine, WHO says, CNN, 05 Sep 20:
"The first priority must be to vaccinate some people in all countries, rather than all people in some countries," said the WHO dir-gen during a briefing. "We want all people everywhere to have access. But initially, when supply is limited, priority must be given to essential workers and those most at risk"



The convergence hypothesis -- Are poor countries catching up with rich countries?, Amer Econ Assn, Apr '20:
The economies of today's wealthiest nations raced ahead of the rest of the world about two centuries ago. More recently, countries like Japan seem to have successfully copied this playbook, and it appears so do others like China. But unfortunately those countries are the exception rather than the rule



Posted on Wed, 02 Sep 2020:


EU offers 400 million euros to WHO-led Covid-19 vaccine initiative, Reuters, 01 Sep 20:
The European Commission said on Mon (31 Aug) that it would contribute to an initiative led by the World Health Org to buy the vaccines, while the WHO said Germany had joined the pact. At least 172 nations have registered expressions of interest in the scheme, incl 92 low- and middle-income nations




Sweden's Covid-19 response praised by WHO official, despite higher death rate, Fortune, by C Daly and Bloomberg,  31 Aug 20:
One of the WHO's six special envoys on Covid-19 said the key to a sustainable coronavirus strategy is trust. "In Sweden, the govt was able to trust the public and the public was able to trust the govt," he said. But Sweden's response still has many critics, incl from within the country



Europe's travel windows are slamming shut, CNN, 29 Aug 20:
Just weeks after many countries opened their borders to travelers within the continent, some have been closing again, often at such short notice. As a result, many holidaymakers must now decide whether to postpone, cancel, or go ahead and resign themselves to two weeks of self-isolating on their return


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