Read the complete article here.
donderdag 16 juli 2009
Top 25 Economics Blogs
The Wall Street Journal's economics bureau sifted through the sea of economics blogs and determined the top 25, with five honorable mentions. (Listed in alphabetical order.) Read the complete article here.
Why We Must Ration Health Care
You have advanced kidney cancer. It will kill you, probably in the next year or two. A drug called Sutent slows the spread of the cancer and may give you an extra six months, but at a cost of $54,000. Is a few more months worth that much? Read the complete article here.
NIMBY
Groot nieuws deze week. Een restauranthouder uit Antwerpen kan de Lange Wapper tegenhouden. Als de Raad van State het advies van de auditeur in de zaak volgt, dan zal het minstens drie jaar langer duren vooraleer de Sinjoren hun Lange Wapper in gebruik kunnen nemen. Lees de column van Van Parys hier.
The negative impact of the financial crisis on potential output necessitates an EU-led policy response
The crisis may reduce the EU’s potential output by 5% of GDP or more. This column warns that the crisis may permanently reduce the EU’s supply-side capacity unless policymakers respond with reforms. It outlines measures to address the crisis and address long-run concerns about demographic shifts, public finances, and climate change.
For the full article, click here.
Drawing conclusions about the crisis and its management
It’s time to start drawing conclusions about the global crisis. This column, the first of a two-part series, assesses the causes and nature of the problems. Although the crisis originated in financial market failings, policymakers are much to blame. Regulatory failure amplified private sector errors, and poorly planned policy responses exacerbated the troubles.
For the full article, click here.
woensdag 15 juli 2009
Crisisbarometer Vlaamse arbeidsmarkt
Om de impact van de crisis op de Vlaamse arbeidsmarkt zo goed mogelijk in kaart te krijgen, lanceert het Departement Werk en Sociale Economie (WSE) in samenwerking met de Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding (VDAB) en het Steunpunt WSE een crisisbarometer.
Voor meer informatie, klik hier.
L'industrie belge de l'environnement
En l’espace de dix ans, le nombre d’entreprises actives dans l’industrie de l’environnement en Belgique a augmenté de 44 %. Le chiffre d’affaires de ce secteur a connu une hausse de 22 %, tandis que l’emploi a progressé de 40 %. En 2005, l’industrie belge de l’environnement comptait au total 77 000 emplois.
Consultez l'étude du Bureau fédéral du Plan ici.
The Bernanke Market
We won't get real growth until Congress and Treasury get policy right. Read the complete article here.
« La politique migratoire est un bloc de granit »
Le 13 juin, le commissaire aux droits de l’homme du Conseil de l’Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, rendait son rapport sur la Belgique. Il y dénonçait le flou et l’arbitraire qui règnent dans les centres fermés pour demandeurs d’asile et appelait à mettre fin à la détention systématique de certains d’entre eux. Deux semaines plus tard, c’est le Collège des Médiateurs fédéraux qui remettait au président de la Chambre les résultats de leur enquête dans les centres fermés. Avec des constats similaires. Au même moment, la ministre de l’Asile, Annemie Turtelboom, a fait publier deux arrêtés royaux qui renforcent encore l’aspect sécuritaire des centres fermés. Cela fait des années que des instances internationales et nationales dénoncent les atteintes aux droits des demandeurs d’asile enfermés en centres fermés. Pour rien ? Nous avons posé la question à Edouard Delruelle, directeur adjoint du Centre pour l’égalité des chances, qui depuis des années également publie des recommandations, peu suivies.
Et si l’industrie chimique n’existait pas...
dinsdag 14 juli 2009
maandag 13 juli 2009
Om grijze haren van te krijgen
Al jaren wordt gezegd dat ons pensioenstelsel moet worden hervormd. Maar elke poging verzandt in een stellingenoorlog tussen vakbonden en werkgevers.
Opinie, Knack, 8 juli 2009.
Opinie, Knack, 8 juli 2009.
Nuttige lessen uit Parijs
Zoals gewoonlijk worden de adviezen van de Oeso flagrant genegeerd door de regering. Onze bewindslieden zouden meer durf moeten tonen, vindt RUBEN MOOIJMAN. Lees het volledige artikel hier.
The case for doing nothing
The first thing to note about the financial crisis is that the federal government never had any business intervening in the personal decision of whether you want to own a home. There is no rational economic argument, or any argument I know of, that says the market of buying and selling homes is imperfect in some way, requiring government action. Construction firms have plenty of incentive to build homes and sell them. People who have the wherewithal have plenty of incentive to buy homes if they so choose. For the government to intrude into homeownership was an off-budget, nontransparent, backdoor attempt at redistributing income. And when the policy became a way of transferring income to people who couldn't afford those homes, it was doomed to failure. Read the complete article here.
Innovation, Imitation and Competition
In a general equilibrium framework, it is known that imitation may actually promote innovation (Aghion et al., 1997). The same effect is demonstrated with a standard oligopoly model in which one firm has the ability to develop technologies while all other firms imitate and obtain a fraction of it for free. Competition is shown to dampen innovation, while imitation may stimulate it if imitation is strong and competition moderate. The findings have implications for policy toward intellectual property rights protection, as weak protection may promote rather than impede technology innovation.
The document is available here.
Productivity and the crisis: Revisiting the fundamentals
Most narratives of the crisis start with problems in the financial sector that then spilled over into the real economy. This column looks at the real side first and shows that labour productivity growth declined significantly in the years prior to the crisis, particularly in the US construction sector. Financial markets may have failed in that they didn’t detect the deterioration of structural productivity trends in the early 2000s.
Read the full article here.
Woonbeleid Vlaamse gemeenten krijgt onvoldoende van Steunpunt Ruimte en Wonen
A modest step
World leaders aspire to limit climate change, but they offer few details of how to do so. Read the complete article in The Economist here.
Emissions des riches, couic !
La placidité du corps social à l'égard des hautes rémunérations est fascinante. Le système financier s'est affaissé, l'économie traverse sa plus grave crise depuis des décennies, le chômage suit une courbe ascensionnelle ; mais tranquillement, toute honte bue, les classes dirigeantes, responsables de la situation, continuent à s'allouer des revenus extravagants. Fascinant, vraiment.
Pour lire la suite, cliquez ici.
vrijdag 10 juli 2009
The great public-sector pension rip-off Dodging the bill
It is time to recognise the full costs of public-sector pension schemes to the rest of us. Read the full article in The Economist here.
Algae can save the world
Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol as a vehicle fuel or an ingredient in plastics.Read the complete article here.
IMMIGRANTS AND CRIME
Ok, the time has come to speak candidly about immigration and crime. American studies shows that there is a clear correlation: Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born. This is true for the nation as a whole, for cities with large immigrant populations and for cities along the US-Mexican border, as Radley Balko explains in Reason.
One reason is that immigrants have an important stake in society, and the costs of losing that is too large. That also points to another possible correlation: Crime is low as long as immigrants are welcome and can integrate into the economy. But if the signs say "Italians Need Not Apply" (as they did), they might have nowhere to go but into crime. So a Europe that is less welcoming and has a more regulated labour market might also turn more immigrants into criminals
Read the complete article here.Groen maar arm volstaat niet
Het elan voor een opvolger van het Kyotoprotocool is een goede zaak, maar dure groene initiatieven riskeren de armen in de kou te laten staan. Lees het volledige artikel hier.
donderdag 9 juli 2009
woensdag 8 juli 2009
dinsdag 7 juli 2009
L'emploi public en Belgique
Seuls 10% des fonctionnaires parties à la retraite entre 2002 et 2005 avaient attaint la limite d’âge. La plupart des départs se font par le truchement de la pension anticipée immédiate à 60 ans.
maandag 6 juli 2009
Scrimp and save
Pensions will have to become far less generous
Read the complete article in The Economist here.
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