What would you say if more and more countries were being struck by the financial markets’ lack of confidence? You know. The bond markets are selling off. Depositors are leaving the banks. Not from caprice — from genuine worry. Worry over the high indebtedness of the private and/or sovereign sector. The poor growth outlook, thanks […]
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Irish sovereignty (and Greek sovereignty, and Spanish sovereignty …)
Currency union requires the abandonment of a great deal more sovereignty than has so far taken place in the euro-area. They haven’t had to abandon sovereignty much yet because the zone has not significantly been tested till now. There is a reason why the US states were eventually relieved of the ability to run budget […]
Gold
Breathe deeply: we are not headed for monetary chaos. We do not need to return to the gold standard. The story of money is one of evolution; the gold standard came along at a specific point in that journey. We have outgrown it — in practice. Psychologically, its grip is likely to be rather more […]
Open-thinking.com in the EIU
The article is freely available on the EIU website.
In praise of Bernanke, and a tutorial on money
From domestic critics to foreign governments, Ben Bernanke is taking heat for QE2. At the centre of domestic criticism is fear that the Federal Reserve’s endlessly growing balance sheet can only end in tears. Also unhappy are US trade partners and emerging markets whose domestic interest rates make their currencies irresistible to US and other rich-world investors. […]
Boring phrase — crucial concept
source: OECD, open-thinking.com Global growth has experienced what economists call a ‘structural break’: the centre of growth is moving steadily toward final demand in the developing world. This is a profound change. Unlike most episodes of broad growth in middle- and low-income economies, the developing world’s growth today is not limited to one region. It […]
Income equality and commitment to secondary education
source: World Bank, IMF, open-thinking.com The 50 countries above have annual income per capita of USD 5000 or greater. Correlation does not equal causation. But there’s sure some intuitive sense here. On balance, why would the rich pay for the education of other people’s children? Sure, plenty of enlightened ones would know this is sensible. […]
Open-thinking.com in the EIU
The article appears to be freely available.
Northern Europe to the rescue
It’s the UK, Greece, Spain and Ireland that have withdrawn demand support from the EU27. GUKIS? Their combined imports from fellow EU27 economies at the top of the boom (2006) were 657 billion euros. In 2010, that figure is likely to be 546 billion euros, making a decline of 112 billion euros or 17%. Where […]
Stylized facts and ‘factual facts’
It’s been said that China’s economic development is a qualified ‘win’ for developing countries, particularly the poorest. That’s almost a stylized fact. I’d say it’s a ‘factual’ fact too. At least if the Pew Global Attitudes survey is anything to go by. As interesting as the slope of this relationship are the outliers. We can […]