You are at: Home > News/Analysis, Page 7 ('08) | Previous | Next Posted: 16-20 Jun 08 W Easterly & T Pfutze: Where does the money go? Best and worst practices in foreign aid (Exec sum) -- We compare 48 aid agencies, distinguishing bet. bilateral & multilateral ones. Using the admittedly limited info we have, we rank aid agencies on different dimensions of aid practice and then provide one final comprehensive ranking, Brookings Inst, Jun '08 (Article in J Ec Persp [courtesy NYU, pdf]--go to table 5, p21| News--Norway Blade) {Info courtesy of WSJ} Report highlights growing role of Asian & East European cities in the global economy: London remains the world economy's most influen- tial city, while New York & Chicago are in the top 10. And 8 Asian cities are in top 25, acc to a report which evaluates 75 cities around the world, Centers of Commerce Index, 8 Jun 08 ('08 Index [pdf] | Web site) Entertainment and media cos. face collaboration imperative for next 5 years: The Net Generation continues to set the pace and direction of change in the industry while exhibiting an influence that is driving new biz models. As the trend towards globalization in the industry continues, BRICs will remain important sources of growth for the entire sector, says new report, PwC, 18 Jun 08 (Industry previews) Vultures of profit--Graphic | Story: Is it ever right for investors to make money from the debt of poor nations?, by J Hammer, Conde Nast Portfolio, Jul '08 (The other side of the story) Kenneth Rogoff: Oil currency hypocrisy--Contrary to popular opin- ion, oil prices and the dollar actually have little to do with each other. Oil prices are set in a world market & depend mainly on the quanti- ties demanded & supplied by different regions, not currency of pay- ment, says Harvard economist, Proj Synd (courtesy Brunei Times), 4 Jun 08 Coffee/tea break: Palestinian youth are ready to tell their stories--'We identified the film shooting locations, we agreed on the story characters and we are ready now to start converting the story into a short film,' an excited Alaa explains. She is from the Al Faraa Refu- gee Camp near Nablus & one of 20 young Palestinians who are tak- ing part in a media training project, World Bank, 4 Jun 08 (Grant for Palest. Auth.| Implementing the Palest. reform agenda) Mexico 'breaks the BRIC' to appear in top four emerging economies: The emerging markets index from a weighted calculation of key indi- cators shows China, India and Russia still occupying the top 3 places followed by Mexico in 4th and Brazil in 5th, Grant Thornton, 7 May 08 (Reshaping the global economy [pdf]) Rich nations fall short on Africa aid, says watchdog: The world's richest nations are falling short on pledges to double aid to Africa by 2010 at a time when soaring food prices risk destroying decades of economic progress on the continent, acc to an 11-member panel set up to monitor commitments made at the G8 summit in '05 at Glen- eagles in Scotland, Reuters, 16 Jun 08 (Africa Progress Panel [pdf]) M Goldstein & N Lardy: Debating China's exchange rate policy--In brief [pdf]: We take stock of China's policy & offer specific options in terms of 2 competing strategies -- a 'stay the course' policy and a bolder '3-stage' approach that seeks to reduce more rapidly the cur- rent undervaluation of the renminbi, Peterson Inst Intl Ec, Apr '08 (Book | US-China Strategic Econ Dialogue) Alan Blinder: Two bubbles, two paths--The Greenspan-Bernanke position is that deliberate bubble-bursting is something between im- possible & dangerous - & thus best avoided. Instead, the Fed should let bubbles burst of their own accord & then be prepared to mop up after. This view is now under attack, says Princeton economist, NYT (free registr reqd), 15 Jun 08 William Overholt: Disoriented--In Asia, US still guards the fort but surrenders the bank: No one in Asia doubts that US is the world's biggest military power & largest economy, but it is seen as declining because it has tarnished its moral standing by its actions in Iraq and allowed its leverage through regional organizations to wither, writes Rand Asia Ctr dir, Rand Rev, Mar-May '08 (WEF Forum on EAsia) A Criscuolo & V Palmade: Reform teams--How the most successful reformers organized themselves: Only a small number of economies have managed to grow out of poverty in less than 30 years. And these initially relied on a small, dedicated team of experts to get the job done. These teams brought to bear world-class skills along with direct access to the top level of govt and a large development budget, all of which gave them the clout to steer an ambitious reform agenda through vested interests & layers of govt, Intl Fin Corp, Feb '08[pdf] Posted: 9-13 Jun 08 Prominent Africans call for a peaceful, free and fair presidential run- off: In an open letter just published, 14 fmr heads of state, 2 fmr UN sec-gens, Nobel laureates, and some of the region's top artists & biz leaders call for an end to the violence and intimidation in the run-up to the presidential run-off, Zimbabwe-27June.com, 13 Jun 08 Jeffrey Sachs: Stagflation is back. Here's how to beat it--We are back to the future, with the question we asked 30 years ago: How can we combine robust economic growth with tight global supplies of such critical commodities as energy, food & water? It's worth com- paring the earlier episode with our current travails to help us find our way, notes Columbia Earth Inst dir, Fortune, 28 May 08 From our archive: Hard truths about global energy--Slides and text: The American people, indeed people all around the world, are very concerned about energy, which has become a subject of urgent pol- icy discussions. But since it is a complex subject, touching every part of daily life, the facts of energy are not widely understood, US Natl Petrol. Coun., 17 Jul 07 [pdf] Is the aid really helping?: As intl donors gather in Paris to agree on a new reconstruction and development plan for war-torn Afghanistan, a correspondent in the country assesses the situation on the ground, by C Billet, France 24, 12 Jun 08 (Paris donors conference) Posted earlier: Call for improvements in the effectiveness of Afghan development spending--With the intl community in the 7th year of supporting the nation's rebuilding, its ability to effectively spend the aid it receives poses a major constraint to tackling its important dev- elopment challenges, World Bank, 3 Jun 08 (Country brief) G Swinehart & assoc: Intellectual property infringement in emerging markets--Weighing the risks & managing the implications: 2 trends are now converging. One, IP is more important than ever to the ad- vanced economies. And two, more & more cos. are discovering that to succeed, they must expand their biz to emerging markets, say 3 consultants, Intell. Property Today(courtesy Deloitte), Apr '08 [pdf] Consultancy releases global quality of living city rankings: Zurich re- tains its title as no.1, followed jointly by Vienna, Geneva, then Van- couver & Auckland, with Baghdad the lowest. The survey also ranks cities for personal safety, with Luxembourg the highest and Baghdad the lowest, Mercer, 10 Jun 08 (Highlights) The new world energy order--7 questions: Today, demand for oil is dominated by China, India and even by Mideast nations. The main actors of the recent past - OECD nations - their time is pass�, acc to chief economist of Intl Energy Agency, Foreign Policy, Jun '08 (US, Japan, China, India & S Korea meeting--IEA Slides and Notes [pdf]) Emerging economies remain robust amid global slowdown: Financial turmoil sent shock waves through high-income nations in '07, but many developing nations emerged relatively unscathed, says a new report, Global Development Finance. But inflation in the form of high energy & food prices is hurting poor people within developing nations, World Bank, 10 Jun 08 Safaricom and Celtel make Africa world beater in IPOs: Kenya's Safaricom Ltd., Celtel Zambia Plc and Nigeria's Dangote Flour Mills Plc are helping turn Africa into the world's hottest source for initial public offerings, by J Kew & M Tsang, Bloomberg, 9 Jun 08 From our archive: More investors turn to sub-Saharan Africa--Two nations successfully tapped the intl capital markets in 2nd half of '07, showing global investors' rising confidence in the region's prospects, IMF Survey, 3 Jan 08 (African stocks join global boom | Developing local bond markets) The law poor: Two in every three people on the planet - some 4bn in total - are 'excluded from the rule of law'. A new report says that legal empowerment can help end poverty, Economist, 5 Jun 08 (Making the Law Work for Everyone) Graphic: Bridging the technology divide--Although technological progress has helped reduce the share of people living in absolute poverty, developing nations must radically improve their capacity to absorb technology if they are to catch up with high-income nations, Finance & Development, Jun-Aug '08 Newsroom: Agency unveils findings of anthropological research at World Editors Forum--Global study by Context-Based Research Grp finds younger consumers struggle with news fatigue but yearn for in-depth stories, AP, 2 Jun 08 (A New Model for News) D Yergin & J Burkhard: Break Point revisited--The $120-150 oil scenario: Two years ago, we envisioned such a dramatic shift in the oil price in our Break Point scenario. Now we compare the drivers of the price rise and the response on both the supply and demand sides, write chair & manag. dir of CERA, 7 May 08 From our archive: Hard truths about global energy--While risks have always typified energy biz, they are now growing and converging in new ways, says new study which involved 350 people and consulta- tions with 19 other nations, US Natl Petrol. Coun., 17 Jul 07 [pdf] (More info--Camb Engy Res Assoc) Posted: 2-6 Jun 08 Fractious summit vows to halve hunger, boost food output: A UN summit in Rome vowed to take 'urgent' action over the global food crisis, but only after going into overtime as wrangling went down to the wire over biofuels & trade barriers, Ag. France-Presse (courtesy Citizen/S Africa), 6 Jun 08 (Summit | World Bank | UN task force | Growth Report [at p12, pdf]) Mouse & wo/man: Google's missing link--14 privacy groups have written an open letter to Google CEO urging the company to add a link on its homepage to its privacy policy, InformationWeek, 4 Jun 08 (Open letter | Privacy Intl in '07 | Battelle--Google's side) Emergency room: Myanmar (Burma) cyclone and China quake--Perhaps you would like to do your bit to "change the world", to lessen the misery of the less fortunate affected by the recent natural disasters. (Updated: 2 Jun 08) D Whittington & B Lomborg: Water pipe dreams--Despite recent progress, more than a billion people still lack decent water supplies, & more than 2bn go without sanitation services. But, while we often assume that the benefits of improving water systems always out- weigh the costs, this is not always true, say N Carolina U prof and Copenhagen Consensus Ctr dir, Proj Synd(courtesy Stabroek News/ Guyana), 23 May 08 Jeffrey Sachs: Surging food prices mean global instability--Mis- guided policies favor biofuels over grain for hungry people, says Col- umbia Earth Inst dir, Scientific American, Jun '08 (UN--At Rome summit, Ban urges 'bold & urgent' steps to tackle global food crisis) Horizons: Obama and McCain's budget and tax proposals--The US presidential election in Nov will be a contest between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, Reuters, 21 May 08 (Obama and McCain seen resolute on biofuel push) Edward Lazear: Responding to the global food crisis--The increase in US corn-based ethanol output accounts for 7.5 pct points of 37% increase in corn prices over past year, while corn-based ethanol out- put outside US accounts for an extra 5.5 pct points. Adding the two sums up to 13 pct points of 37% increase in corn prices, or about 1/3 of increase. Since corn is only a small % of Global Food Index, we estimate that the increase in total corn-based ethanol output has pushed up global food prices by 1.2 pct points of 43% increase in global food prices, or about 3% of the increase over past year, Testi- mony--Sen. For Relations Cmte, 14 May 08 The world only needs $30bn a year to eradicate hunger: Noting that there are 862m people in the world without adequate access to food, UN food chief today appealed to world leaders to relaunch agricul- ture, FAO, 3 Jun 08 (22 nations esp. vulnerable due to high levels of chronic hunger) How to feed the world: Eight leaders in the fight against hunger (incl World Bank pres, Intl Food Pol Res Inst dir-gen, and Grameen Bank chief) offer up food crisis action plans, and long term ideas for how to end famine and bolster farming, Newsweek, 12 May 08 Biofuels: The first step is to acknowledge that the environmental & economic benefits of many 1st-generation biofuels are smaller than had been expected & in many cases negative. Support for ineffective biofuels should be stopped. '2nd-generation' biofuels, using technol- ogy that can produce energy from any plant material and not just food crops, may hold more promise as a lower cost, green solution, OECD Observer, May-Jun '08 E Schafer & J Glauber: The case for food and fuel--While corn is the feedstock for over 90% of biofuels we produce, it is actually an ingredient in less than 1/3 of our food items. On the intl level, our estimate is that only 3% of the more than 40% increase in world food prices this year is due to increased demand on corn for ethanol, say Agri Secy & chief economist, US Dept Agri, 19 May 08 Food emergency--On the front line with the UN's Josette Sheeran: At the center of food crisis is the exec director of the Rome-based World Food Program, the globe's largest humanitarian agency, by M Bartiromo, BusinessWeek, 1 May 08 (World Food Summit--Site) Posted: 26-30 May 08 Cyclone Nargis--Lessons for operational agencies: A network of organizations has developed a new 'lessons learned' paper, which aims to assist agencies by highlighting key lessons from past hurri- canes & cyclones. It distils main findings & lessons from evaluations in its database, as well as other learning initiatives on responses to natural disasters, ALNAP, 21 May 08 [pdf] "What we are seeing in every urban earthquake is a result of mostly avoidable errors": As rescue efforts continue in China, the Earth- quakes and Megacities Initiative chair/professional eng. in Calif. spe- cializing in quakes/disaster risk mgmt gives his views about bldg. col- lapse and how to improve building resistance to quakes, UN/ISDR, 15 May 08 How can agencies notch up aid in risky Iraq?: NGOs are starting to talk about stepping up aid, but how do you do that in a nation where aid workers have been killed and intl symbols of neutrality bombed? Yet the current system isn't working. And recently, NGOs have been forced to admit that, however it got to this, Iraqis are suffering and there's a growing will to try to respond, AlertNet, 17 May 08 Agricultural commodity prices to remain high & grow more volatile: A new report says the current high prices will hit hardest the poor who are net food buyers in urban areas in low income nations. Hu- manitarian aid is the best short run solution while in the longer run the emphasis needs to be on improving farm productivity as well as growth, OECD/FAO, 29 May 08 Gordon Brown: We must all act together over the oil crisis--The global economy is facing the third great oil shock of recent decades. We must work with oil suppliers such as OPEC & diversify our own energy sources, writes UK prime minister, Guardian, 28 May 08 Editorial: Congress's betters--Rising oil & food prices are leading to all sorts of bad ideas in Congress-from new farm & energy subsidies to talk of import controls & higher taxes. The Members should take their next foreign trip to Mexico or Indonesia, Wall St J, 28 May 08 (Fueling Indonesia) UN chief ends Myanmar mission on hopeful note: Sec-Gen Ban Ki-moon heads back to NY, saying he hopes Myanmar would honor its promise to open up to foreign aid workers. And France says it would unload the 1,000 tons of aid on its ship in Thailand, AP (courtesy FedNewsR/US), 26 May 08 (Conf chairs' summary | US State Dept) Robert Shiller: Insurance industry mismatch results in fundamental problems--Most people who save & invest do so for their entire lives. But most of the institutions upon which they rely for their investments & savings are geared to the short term. This mismatch causes fundamental problems, writes Yale economist, Proj Syndicate (courtesy Taipei Times), 24 May 08 Poverty a recipe for wider South Africa unrest: Failure to spread SA's economic gains to the poor has fueled violence vs immigrants and could spark wider unrest as living conditions become tougher & higher food prices bite, Reuters, 23 May 08 (WBank brief | Intl Conf African Dev) South American leaders launch new alliance UnaSur: The leaders of 12 S American countries met Friday in Brasilia to launch the region's latest integration mechanism, the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), born with the challenge of overcoming current tensions, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (courtesy EarthTimes), 23 May 08 (Die Welt/Ger.--S Amer regional union) Commission identifies policy ingredients for successful growth: The Growth Report says developing nations can achieve fast, sustained, equitable growth if they engage with the global economy and have committed leaders. The report is the result of 2 years work led by 19 experienced policymakers & 2 Nobel laureates, Comm. on Growth & Development, 21 May 06 (The Growth Report, incl overview) Seminar room: Olivier Blanchard--Neoclassical synthesis: The term appears to have been coined by Samuelson to denote the consensus view of macroeconomics which emerged in the mid-1950s in US. But the synthesis had suffered from the start from schizophrenia in its relation to microeconomics which eventually led to a serious crisis from which it is only now re-emerging, New Palgrave Dict. of Econ (courtesy MIT), 12 May 08 [pdf] (IMF's new chief economist) Anjelica Huston: Pt. of The world's most influential people--Aung San Suu Kyi: She is today's Nelson Mandela, a woman who has been held under arrest for 12 years in Burma and the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate, Time, 5 May 08 Portfolio: When economists play the market--Sometimes, scholarly societies have to make concrete decisions about questions that their members usually debate in the abstract. Optimal portfolio allocation is a contentious question in economics, Chron of Higher Ed, 25 Jan 08 {Info courtesy of WSJ} P McMahon & assoc: After the tsunami--Lessons from reconstruc- tion: Of the 14 countries struck by the massive tsunami in '04, Indo- nesia & Sri Lanka were the hardest hit. Both faced the monumental task of rebuilding once their immediate needs were met. Their expe- rience could help other nations respond to disasters, say 3 consult- ants, McKinsey Quart.(courtesy Sun.Times/Sri Lanka), Feb '06 << Previous Home Next >> Copyright (c) 2001-2009 Leonardo L. Sta. Romana All rights reserved. |
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