You are at: Home > News and Analysis > Page 8 > Page 9 of 83 Posted: 9-13 Feb 09 Coffee/tea break: From Gaza, with love -- Gaza exports 25,000 flowers to Europe: For first time since Hamas took control of Strip, Israel allows transfer of carnations through Kerem Shalom crossing ahead of Valentine's Day, Ynetnews/Israel, 12 Feb 09 (ChinaView--War-torn Gaza ships Valentine's flowers | USA Today--Much of US Valentine's candy came from Mexico) Homi Kharas: The financial crisis, a development emergency & the need for aid--The global economy is in a mess.That is not news. But the degree to which the global crisis has spread even to the poorest nations that are only marginally integrated with the world is alarming. The Haitian president has just visited Wash. seeking $100m to stop his nation sliding into anarchy. The World Bank president is passing around the tin cup, asking rich nations to devote just 0.7% of their stimulus package to aid for the poorest. Nice try, but in the current political climate the appeal does not have much traction. So what is to be done?, asks Inst senior fellow, Brookings Inst, 11 Feb 09 Ricardo Caballero: Normalcy is just a few bold policy steps away--The current financial crisis was built in steps, but it took a dramatic turn for the worse after the Lehman-AIG events. Since then, gloom has taken over. We make the case that normalcy is much closer - than is the conventional wisdom. Implicit is the view that the system is not permanently broken, but rather that it mostly needs to be made more resilient to shocks, esp panic-driven ones. And the good side of panic-driven contractions is that the potential for a strong recovery is always around the corner, says MIT economist, MIT, 17 Dec 08 [pdf] Developing nations warn of econ packages distorting trade: Develop- ing nations sought on Monday closer scrutiny of massive economic packages put forward by rich nations, warning that bailout plans could bring about major trade 'distortions'. A source close to World Trade Org said Bolivia, Argentina, Cuba & India were among those at a WTO meet that had asked for an examination of the bailout plans, Ag.France-Presse (courtesy Morningstar), 9 Feb 09 (Bridges Trade News--WTO warns vs protectionism | Bloomberg--Threat of financial protectionism) Norway increases official development aid: Norway committed $3.7B to development aid in '07, a substantial increase over the pre- vious year. It now gives the world's highest level of official develop- ment aid as a percentage of gross national income (0.95%). And it is budgeting to reach its 1% ODA/GNI target in '09 in a climate of global financial crisis. It is also at the forefront of donor efforts to improve the intl aid system, as well as its own aid policies and pro- grams. Despite this progress, it needs to guard vs adding new priori- ties to an ever-expanding list of initiatives, resulting in its aid being spread thinly, OECD, 15 Dec 08 (Other donor nations' ODA/GNI) Going after economic gangsters: In a new book, business school prof Raymond Fisman and UC Berkeley's Edward Miguel discuss how using the tools of economics to confront corruption can help al- leviate poverty and promote stability in the developing world, Col- umbia U, 10 Oct 08 (Princeton U Pr--Corruption, Violence, and the Poverty of Nations) US offers $2 trillion bank plan but stocks slump: US Treasury chief Geithner unveiled Tues a new bank rescue plan that would put $2T to work mopping up bad assets & restoring credit, but stock markets were disappointed over the scant details provided. Markets had in- tensely awaited his ideas for a plan mixing private and public funding to stabilize a financial system tottering under the weight of bad mort- gages. Meanwhile, the Senate cleared an $838B stimulus package, which needs to be reconciled with a separate bill approved by House of Rep., Reuters (courtesy Easybourse/France), 11 Feb 09 (Treas- ury plan fact sheet) Newly released data from 9 nations underscore resilience of remit- tances: With several nations recently reporting data for Dec, remit- tances to 9 nations (Mexico, El Salvador, Dominican Rep, Guatema- la, Honduras, Kenya, Philippines, Pakistan & Bangladesh) have re- mained almost flat. Remittance flows to developing nations are ex- pected to remain resilient vis-a-vis private flows which are expected to fall by 40-50% in '09, by Dilip & Sanket, World Bank (blog), 29 Jan 09 (Earlier--Remittances may buoy developing nations) 80 percent of govts don't account for spending: 80% of the world's govts fail to provide adequate info for the public to hold them ac- countable for managing their money, acc to a new survey. Nearly 50% of 85 nations provide such minimal info that they are able to hide unpopular, wasteful and corrupt spending. These findings are based on the Open Budget Survey '08, first done in '06. A significant finding is that many govts produce the budget info that would allow the public to participate effectively in the budget process but do not release it, Open Budget Initiative, 31 Dec 08 (Country rankings | Key findings | Launch to raise awareness) Causes of the financial crisis: While some may insist that there is a single cause, and thus a simple remedy, the sheer number of causal factors that have been identified tends to suggest that the current fin- ancial situation is not yet fully understood in its full complexity. This report consists of a table that summarizes very briefly some of the arguments for particular causes and presents equally brief rejoinders, by M Jickling, CRS Report for Congress (courtesy OpenCRS), 29 Jan 09 (Financial market intervention, by E Murphy & B Webel) John Taylor: Govt intervention, not the Lehman collapse, caused the financial crisis -- Many have argued that the reason for the bad turn of events was the decision not to prevent the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. However, to prevent misguided actions in the future, it is urgent that we return to sound principles of monetary policy, basing govt interventions on clearly stated diagnoses and predictable frameworks for govt actions. Massive responses with little explana- tion will probably make things worse. That is the lesson from this crisis so far, says fmr Treas undersecy, Wall Street J, 9 Feb 09 Jeffrey Sachs: How Lehman's fall created a global panic--The world changed forever on 15 Sep 08, the Mon Meltdown, a day that will live in the annals of finance alongside Black Tue, 29 Oct 1929. Only the work of historians will tell us whether the Fed, White House and Treasury might have saved the day through a softer landing for Leh- man Bros. The answer would seem to be yes - if the authorities had used the preceding months to put an emergency-response plan in place, writes Columbia U economist, Fortune, 15 Dec 08 Lorenzo Bini Smaghi: Some thoughts on the intl financial crisis--Why was Lehman allowed to fail? Looking back, it seems clear that its failure could & should have been avoided. It was obvious that in a crisis of confidence, the failure of a bank, even a medium-sized one, would have a contagion effect, triggering a flight from the sys- tem. So why was its failure not prevented?It seems the reason is that there was opposition to rescuing it, not only from within the admin, but also from Congress & from public opinion. There is a risk then that a mistake, such as letting a bank fail, must first be committed, & the prospect of widespread hardship must make people realize that their vital interests are at stake, before effective action can be taken, notes ECB board member, Talk-Unione Cristiana Imprenditori e Dirigenti (courtesy European Central Bank), 20 Oct 08 Nationalized banks are 'only answer' - Stiglitz: In an interview, the Nobel laureate talks about nationalizing banks, the outlook for devel- oping countries, and the need for an international financial regulator, by M Knigge, Deutsche Welle, 6 Feb 09 Kenneth Rogoff: Is China immune to crisis?--Addressing the annual forum in Davos, the Chinese premier all but guaranteed that China's annual growth would remain above 8% in '09. But does the Chinese govt really have the tools needed to keep its economy so resilient?, asks fmr IMF chief economist, Proj Syndicate (courtesy Korea Times), 6 Feb 09 The future of development and globalization: Q&A with Harvard's Dani Rodrik--Q: You have written that an 'alternative conception of globalization is more likely to maintain an enabling global environ- ment than the path we are on currently.' What is that alternative con- ception, and how does it differ from the traditional one?, Harvard, 24 Oct 08 Posted: 2-6 Feb 09 G Plantin, H Sapra & H Shin: Fair value accounting and financial stability--Backers of marking-to-market argue that an asset/liability's market value is more relevant than the original cost when it was pur- chased or incurred, since the former reflects the amount at which it could be bought or sold bet. willing parties. But there is a question if marking-to-market introduces an extra source of volatility due to an accounting norm, rather than from the underlying fundamentals. A good way to highlight the debate is to take an example from outside finance by drawing on lessons from the Millennium Bridge in Lon- don. Readers may wonder why a bridge is relevant, but it offers a classic case study of exactly the market failure that is at issue here, write LBS, Chicago & Princeton profs, Banque de France Fin Stab. Rev (courtesy Princeton), Oct '08 [pdf] US senate approves restriction on foreign hires: The Senate voted Fri to restrict the hiring of foreign workers by banks that are receiv- ing govt bailout funds while undergoing vast layoffs. If signed into law, the measure aims to prevent replacement of Americans by for- eigners working under the H-1B visa program, which allows employ- ers to bring in workers for high-skilled jobs. The Senate added the restriction as part of the massive stimulus package being drafted as part of Pres Obama's plan, AP (courtesy Taiwan News), 7 Feb 09 Jon Danielsson: Waking up to reality in Iceland--The Icelanders de- cided a few years ago that their future lay in banking.They privatized and deregulated their banking system, and with strong govt support, the banks grew to 10 times the size of the economy.The role models were easy to find - other small nations like Luxembourg and Switzer- land. What Iceland forgot was that those nations have centuries worth of experience running banks and the associated infrastructure, while it has less than a decade, says LSE economist, BBC News, 26 Jan 09 (Why raising interest rates won't work) Fund urges G20 to take more decisive action to combat crisis: The Fund has urged the G20 industrialized and emerging market nations to take more decisive policy action by bolstering demand & cleaning up the financial sector. In a note prepared for G20 deputies meeting last weekend just released, new growth forecasts for all G20 nations for '09 & '10 are presented, with an assessment of the growth im- pact of the fiscal stimulus being implemented across the G20, IMF Survey Mag, 5 Feb 09 2009 to see sharp declines in capital flows to emerging markets: The IIF, a global assn of financial institutions with 380 members, fore- casts a substantial slowing in private capital flows to emerging mar- kets. It says that the volume of flows is likely to be $165B this year, after an estimated $466B in '08, which compares with a record '07 volume of $929B.While all components of private capital flows have recently weakened, the most significant weakness is for bank lending where we now see a net outflow from emerging markets, Inst Intl Finance, 27 Jan 09 Ctr Intl Studies scholars offer advice, new ideas to Obama: In res- ponse to the immense global challenges facing Pres Obama, scholars affiliated with the Ctr Intl Studies have produced a document of suc- cinctly stated fresh ideas and suggestions for Obama's consideration. The 23 brief essays include: Reform fin regulation; Improve resource allocation for statecraft; Manage the Mexico-US border; Put a sci- ence adviser in White House; Make jobs with aid; Take 4 steps for ties to Asia; & Use women to build peace, MIT News, 14 Jan 09 (incl link to: Advice to Pres Obama) Has the food crisis abated?: Q&A with J von Braun, Intl Food Pol- icy Res Inst head -- Although the financial crisis has relieved food pressure somewhat, he argues that the hunger is just beginning, by D Biello, Scientific American, 15 Dec 08 (Double threat of food price crisis & fin crisis | Chatham Hse--Food prices set to rise again) Douglas Irwin: If we buy American, no one else will--Steel-industry lobbyists seem to have persuaded the House to insert a 'Buy Ameri- can' provision in the stimulus bill and the Senate may broaden such provisions to include other products. When the US imposed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930, it helped set off a worldwide move- ment toward higher tariffs. When everyone tried to restrict imports, the combined effect was a deeper global slump, observes Dartmouth economist, NYT(via IHTrib), 2 Feb 09 (Peterson Inst--Bad for jobs, worse for reputation [pdf]) P Sapienza & L Zingales: A trust crisis -- Everyone agrees that this crisis originated in the fin system. But something important was des- troyed in the last few mos. It is an asset crucial to production even if it is not made of bricks & mortar: this asset is trust. And a big factor in this lack of trust is the perception that the main purpose behind the fmr Treas Secy's act was the interest of his fmr investment bank and not the interest of the nation, say Northwestern & U Chicago finance profs, U Chicago, 28 Jan 09 Olivier Blanchard: (Nearly) nothing to fear but fear itself--Crises feed uncertainty. And uncertainty affects behavior, which feeds the crisis. Were a magic wand to remove uncertainty, the next few quarters would still be tough (some of the damage cannot be undone), but the crisis would largely go away, writes IMF chief economist, Economist (courtesy IMF), 29 Jan 09 (Comments--Harvard's Alesina | Yale's Shiller | MIT's Caballero) M Humphreys, J Sachs & J Stiglitz: Escaping the resource curse--The wealth derived from natural resources can have a huge impact on the economics/politics of producing nations. In the last quarter century, we have seen the surprising and sobering consequences of this wealth, producing what is now known as the 'resource curse'. Nations with large endowments of natural resources, like oil/gas, often do worse than their poorer neighbors. Their resource wealth frequently leads to lower growth rates, greater volatility,more corrup- tion, & in extreme cases, devastating civil wars, say Columbia profs, Columbia U Press, June '07 (The resource curse revisited | Kuwait confab--Natural resources and devt) Immanuel Wallerstein: Remaking America--The ambiguities of Oba- ma: In the arena in which he has least leeway - the economy - he seems ready to augment what might be called social-democratic measures to reduce pain to the working strata. But so is virtually every other world leader.The question is how bold the measures. He has named a bunch of cautious Keynesians to all his key positions, but not any of the left Keynesians--Stiglitz, Krugman, Blinder, or Galbraith--who all say that cautious measures won't work, says Yale sen. res scholar, Agence Global, 1 Feb 09 Reports from Davos--Selected session summaries, World Economic Forum, 1 Feb 09: 1) Report from the Global Agenda Councils (with Schwab � Johnson � Ramos � Rogoff � Stern � Chair: Na�m) 2) Reviving Economic Growth (with Brown � Calderon � Han � Motlanthe � Chair: Zakaria) 3) A Silver Lining to the Financial Cloud? (with Black � Fishman � Han � Naqvi � Weinberg � Chair: Sorkin) 4) Does Economics Need a Bailout? (with Fehr � Fisman � Kapstein � Phelps � Velasco � Chair: Na�m) 5) Rebooting the Global Economy (with Gurr�a � Arroyo � Miyauchi � Monks � Stiglitz � Abhisit � Chair: Winkler) 6) The Fight against Protectionism (with Amorim � Ashton � Kim � Lamy � Leuthard � Pangestu � Chair: Lawrence | News release) Coffee/tea break: Paul Johnson -- Don't 'invest' in art: In times like these, when wealthy people are at a loss as to where to safely put their money, persuasive voices are often raised: Invest in art. That's dangerous advice - and I know a little about the subject. If you want to buy, buy for love, advises historian/author, Forbes, 14 Jan 09 Posted: 26-30 Jan 09 Fred Bergsten: Restoring economic diplomacy--Just as Americans are looking for new leadership, the world is looking to the new pres for direction in renewing the global economy, stabilizing the financial crisis & redesigning the intl regulatory regime that failed to prevent the current turmoil, says Inst pres, National Voter (courtesy Peterson Inst), 27 Jan 09 Niall Ferguson: Wall Street lays another egg -- Not so long ago, the dollar stood for a sum of gold, and bankers knew the people they lent to. Here, we chart the emergence of an abstract, even absurd world - call it Planet Finance - where mathematical models ignored both history and human nature, and value had no meaning, writes Harvard financial historian, Vanity Fair, Dec '08 Reports from Davos--Selected session summaries, World Economic Forum, 29 Jan 09: 1) The Mystery of the Dollar (with Almunia � Blinder � Fischer � Ito � Lipsky � Meirelles � Chair: Hertzberg) 2) The Values behind Market Capitalism (with Blair � Green � Nooyi � Peres � Schiro � Wallis � Chair: Ramos) 3) Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace (with Ban � Erdogan � Moussa � Peres � Chair: Ignatius) 4) The Future of Development Assistance (with Birdsall � Lowey � Luhabe � Ogata � Khar � Chair: Stocking) Obama seeks Republicans' help for recovery bill: Pres Obama's econ stimulus legislation is headed for the Senate after a surprisingly partisan vote in the House in which Republicans united in opposition and 11 mostly conservative Democrats defected. The House vote marked merely one of several steps for the legislation, which Demo- crats have pledged to deliver by mid-Feb. Obama pledged to Repub- licans that he is ready to accept modifications as the legislation ad- vances, AP (courtesy Guardian), 29 Jan 09 Reports from Davos--Selected session summaries, World Economic Forum, 28 Jan 09: 1) The New Economic Era (with Lin � Manuel � Roach � Sahenk � Takenaka � Chair: Elliott | Time's Board of economists) 2) The Global Talent Equation (with Brown � Elton � Foster � Lorimer � Tyson � Chair: Arkless) 3) Asia (with Kuroda � Daokui � Moon � Singh � Tanaka � Chair: Roux) World growth grinds to virtual halt, Fund urges decisive global policy response: World growth is projected to fall to just � % in '09, its lowest rate since WW2, acc to a 2nd Update to the World Economic Outlook released on Wed. This represents a downward revision of about 1� % points from the Nov '08 Update. Developing nations, though more resilient than in previous global downturns,will also suf- fer serious setbacks, with growth expected to slow to 6� % in China & 5% in India, IMF Survey Mag, 28 Jan 09 (Update of Oct's Global Fin Stability Report | Global recession triggers slump in world trade) Douglas Elmendorf: Testimony on the US economy and stimulus-- This (Tue) morning I testified before the House Budget Cmte. One of the pts I made was that HR 1, the American Recovery and Rein- vestment Act of '09, would, in our judgement, provide a substantial boost to econ activity over the next several years relative to what would occur without the legislation, notes CBO dir, Congressional Budget Ofc, 27 Jan 09 Martin Feldstein: The case for fiscal stimulus -- Govts around the world are now developing massive fiscal stimulus packages that will cause unprecedented peacetime budget deficits. The new Obama ad- min & Congress are working out the structure of the fiscal stimulus. Although I support the need for a large fiscal package, I disagree with many of the specific features of the plans now under considera- tion. Regardless of what is done, govts around the world must act to fix dysfunctional credit markets, says fmr CEA chair, Proj Syndicate (courtesy Daily News/Egypt), 27 Jan 09 The think tank index: The world's idea factories are charged with brainstorming solutions to everything from global warming to Wall Street's implosion to the war on terror. In the first index of its kind, the U Pennsylvania's Intl Relations prog and this magazine rank the world's best think tanks, by J McGann, Foreign Policy, Jan-Feb '09 (Top US | Non-US | Third World (scroll) | Methodology) Simon Maxwell: Obama and the global development agenda -- Like everyone else, I am inspired by Obama's oratory. But here is a list of things that won�t happen the day after he is inaugurated as US pres: handing key decisions on foreign policy over to the UN; agreement to a Doha trade deal; a legal commitment to carbon reduction on the scale needed to limit global warming; an immediate lift in aid volume to 0.7% of GNP; & a complete reorganization of the US aid machin- ery, says Inst dir, Overseas Devt Inst, 20 Jan 09 Why coherence counts for development: The prospects for develop- ing nations are shaped by a wide range of issues. Domestic questions of governance & politics are important, but there are also a no. of externally-driven ones. Aid is one but there are many more, such as migration, trade, investment, security,technology and climate change. This creates a need for policy coordination across a broader range of policies and institutions, OECD Observer, Dec '08-Jan '09 (Policy Brief--Lessons learned [pdf]) Crisis as opportunity for 'Another world': A World Social Forum re- vitalized by a global crisis that has awakened new interest in the proposition that 'another world is possible' - now perceived as either less utopian or more urgently needed - will take place on 27 Jan-1 Feb in Bel�m, in northern Brazil, with Pres Lula da Silva in attend- ance, Inter Press Service, 21 Jan 09 (World Social Forum '09) 'Shaping the post-crisis world': The WEForum unveiled the program for its annual meet on 28 Jan-1 Feb in Davos-Klosters. 2,500 partici- pants from 96 nations are expected, incl 41 heads of state or govt. As well as looking at the immediate crisis and ways to stabilize & re- launch the global economy, the program also pinpoints a no. of inter- related global risks incl climate change, food & water security. The meet will also consider the institutions that the world needs to coop- erate & confront global challenges, World Econ Forum, 21 Jan 09 (Annual meet) UN-backed high-level meet plans to reverse alarming climb in num- ber of hungry: With the no. of undernourished around the world rising to almost 1 bln in '08, threatening one of UN's prime goals of halving global hunger by 2015, major players in the global campaign to meet emergency food needs, reinvigorate agri systems & increase investment in agri are meeting on 26-27 Jan in Madrid. The global downturn did not put an end to the food crisis: instead, it complicates and exacerbates the situation, say organizers, UN News, 16 Jan 09 (Madrid--Food security for all | UN high-level task force) Posted: 19-23 Jan 09 C Bradford & N Unger: Memo to the President--Redefine US global development cooperation: The financial crisis has increased doubts about whether globalization really has a human face. To effectively address global expectations, you must launch a fresh start to relations with the non-Western, developing world. Your approach should link a new intl thrust with Americans' hopes for a better future for them- selves & for our interdependent world, write fmr USAID chief econ- omist and Inst proj dir, Brookings Inst, 10 Dec 08 William Easterly: Foreign aid goes military--Lenin wrote a pamphlet in 1916 called Imperialism-The highest stage of capitalism: "Imperial- ism is capitalism at that stage of development at which...the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed." Imagine Lenin's puzzlement if he were alive to see the territories of the globe divided up not among capitalists but among foreign aid bureaucrats. Yet a surprising new trend among dev.economists, foreign aid orgs & Western policymakers is the willingness to combine foreign military intervention with traditional aid work. But the hubris of the military imperialists is bad enough without adding that of the aid imperialists, says NYU economist, NY Rev of Books, 4 Dec 08; and M Haims & assoc: Breaking the failed-state cycle -- Insecurity in the 21st century appears to come less from the collisions of powerful states than from the debris of imploding ones. Our aim here is to im- prove the understanding of failed states by offering an integrated ap- proach based on 2 ideas: that certain critical challenges at the inter- sections bet. security, economics and politics must be met if the cy- cle is to be broken and that, in meeting those challenges, the guiding goal should be to lift local populations from the status of victims of failure to agents of recovery, say analysts, Rand, 27 May 08 Do the credit rating agencies deserve to exist?: The proverb says it's no use locking the barn door after the horse is gone.But is the charge credible that these agencies have never been ahead of the curve in predicting the bursting of an economic or financial bubble? Should the US SEC & similar intl agencies dissociate from them in the eval- uation of risk? Or are effecitive reforms possible? 14 experts rate the raters, International Economy, Sep-Nov '08 [pdf] Global downturn 'is an earthquake, not a tremor' -- Q&A with fmr World Bank pres Wolfensohn: Q--How will China or India feel the pain? A--I think pain is widespread. For years it has always been the assumption that if you drop below 7% growth in China, the country will be in trouble in terms of civil disturbances & they will not be able to hold it altogether. Now they're talking about 5.5% growth for next year, Der Spiegel, 9 Jan 09 World leaders welcome Barack Obama: World leaders impatient for a new direction for the US greeted Pres Obama's arrival with exu- berance on Tue but sent telltale warnings of the challenges about to envelop the new admin. The White House was flooded with leaders' best wishes, by P Richter, Los Angeles Times, 21 Jan 09 L Bilmes & J Stiglitz: The $10 trillion hangover--Paying the price for 8 years of Bush: The Obama admin, facing the most serious economic crisis in a generation, will need to mount an expansionary fiscal policy. The problem is how much our debt mountain will crimp our ability for the type of change we just voted. The mistakes of the Bush admin will cast a long shadow over the next generation of Americans, write Harvard economist and Nobel laureate, Harper's Mag, Jan '09 (Article courtesy Columbia U, pdf-1.45MB) World faces deepening crisis, Fund chief warns: The world faces a deepening economic crisis, with the slowdown in advanced econo- mies now spreading to major emerging markets like China, India & Brazil. IMF has so far committed to help a no. of economies affect- ed by the crisis, incl Belarus, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Pakistan, Serbia and Ukraine. It just announced a precautionary loan for El Salvador and is also in negotiations with Turkey, IMF Survey Mag, 21 Jan 09 Robert Shiller: Recession insurance -- Several economists have pro- posed that govts should offer 'recession insurance'.Companies and/or individuals would buy insurance policies, pay a regular premium for them, and receive a benefit if some measure of the economy, such as GDP growth, dropped below a specified level. Such insurance, they argue, would help firms & people deal with the 'extreme uncer- tainty' of the current environment, says Yale economist, Proj Syndi- cate (courtesy Biz Standard/India), 20 Jan 09 Boardroom: Corporate governance ratings, investor relations and the IR officer: Investor relations officers looking to make a difference will want to take a look at corp governance ratings and research re- ports, & understand how they are affecting corp image, reputation - and valuations, Investor Relations Update, Oct '08 (Governance Metrics Intl--Country rankings, incl emerging markets) [pdf] Risks,opportunities for global development in Obama Administration: A fmr advisor to 4 US presidents sees both opportunities and risks for greater attention to development under the new admin. On the one hand, Obama has first-hand experience of poverty in developing nations, having lived as a child in Indonesia. On the other hand, he faces a crowded policy agenda and the immense fiscal demands of responding to a global financial crisis, Ctr Global Dev, 19 Jan 09 Emerging economists-Intl bright young things: 20 years ago we wrote about 8 young economists who were making a big splash in their dis- cipline and beyond. One has since achieved even greater fame. His success has won a new readership for economists, beyond the biz section & the op-eds, in the glossier pages of the weekend supple- ments. That leaves us in a bit of a quandary.We feel like lonely pros- pectors who, returning to a favorite stream, find it overtaken by a gold rush.Yet we find the next generation of economists doing their best work somewhere between the field clinic and the dissection room, Economist, 30 Dec 08 Britain unveils second bank rescue package: Britain unveiled on Mon an insurance scheme to protect banks from so-called toxic assets, in a 2nd multi-billion pound rescue package seeking to boost lending by banks crippled by the credit crisis, Ag France-Presse (courtesy Ch NewsAsia/Singapore), 19 Jan 09 Economic crises hit workers hardest, labor conference told: The global financial crisis would affect developing nations through indir- ect effects via 4 main channels: 1) exports--if intl trade contracts as forecast by more than 2% in '09,developing nations would face a big drop in their overseas sales; 2) capital flows--which totaled $1T to developing nations in '07 but would likely halve this year; 3) remit- tances--which reached $280B last year, or about 3X the level of devt. aid, but are also under pressure from the slowdown, and 4) of- ficial aid flows--which are likely to be affected by tighter budgets in rich nations, IMF Survey Mag, 16 Jan 09 Financial reform--A framework for financial stability: A new report from a project led by Paul Volcker addresses flaws in the global fin- ancial system and provides 18 specific recommendations to improve supervisory systems by redefining the scope, boundaries, and struc- ture of prudential regulation and increasing intl coordination, Group of Thirty, 15 Jan 09 (incl link to: List of recommendations) << Previous Home Next >> Copyright (c) 2001-2009 Leonardo L. 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