maandag 30 november 2009
UK: Skills for Growth
Read more about this national strategy for economic growth and individual prosperity here.
The Dubai crisis
The tragedy of the black hole in Dubai’s finances is that it has dealt a blow not only to its own reputation but to that of the United Arab Emirates — and beyond that to the Arab Gulf as a whole. One might even go so far as to say that it has dealt a painful blow to the entire Arab world. Read the complete article in the NYTimes here.
The Jobs Imperative
If you’re looking for a job right now, your prospects are terrible. There are six times as many Americans seeking work as there are job openings, and the average duration of unemployment — the time the average job-seeker has spent looking for work — is more than six months, the highest level since the 1930s. Read Krugman's column in the NYTimes here.
Open Source as a Model for Business Is Elusive
In many ways, MySQL embodies the ideals of the populist software movement known as open source, in which a program’s creator releases it to the world free of charge, and legions of volunteers contribute improvements that are also freely shared. Read the complete article in the NYTimes here.
"Il faut un marché du carbone mondial"
L’accord qui pourrait aboutir à Copenhague risque d’être insatisfaisant. L’essentiel est qu’il jette les bases solides d’une politique écologique mondiale.
Lisez l'article complet dans LLB ici.
vrijdag 27 november 2009
We are all Belgians now
EUROPE, it is said, must resist the temptation to become a giant Switzerland: ie, a smug, rich, insular place. But judging by the antics of European leaders as they filled two top European Union jobs on November 19th, the club faces another danger altogether: becoming a giant Belgium. Read the complete column in The Economist here.
Taxing the Speculators
Should we use taxes to deter financial speculation? Yes, say top British officials, who oversee the City of London, one of the world’s two great banking centers. Other European governments agree — and they’re right. Read Krugman's column in The New York Times here.
donderdag 26 november 2009
Global Warming With the Lid Off
So apparently wrote Phil Jones, director of the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit (CRU) and one of the world's leading climate scientists, in a 2005 email to "Mike." Judging by the email thread, this refers to Michael Mann, director of the Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center. We found this nugget among the more than 3,000 emails and documents released last week after CRU's servers were hacked and messages among some of the world's most influential climatologists were published on the Internet. Read the complete opinion article in the WSJ here.
Where does energy R&D come from?
How will proposed increases in energy R&D funding affect other types of R&D spending? This column provides evidence that should dampen concerns about crowding out – increased R&D in response to policies designed to enhance clean-energy innovation most likely comes at the expense of R&D in dirty-energy technologies.
Read this article from D. Popp on Vox.eu here.
woensdag 25 november 2009
246,000 foreign students are studying science, engineering and mathematics at American universities.
Read the complete DLC trade fact here.
dinsdag 24 november 2009
Merci d'avance, Yves!
FRANSTALIG BELGIE VERWELKOMT DE NIEUWE LETERME — Is er dan echt geen alternatief voor een terugkeer als premier van Yves Leterme? Natuurlijk wel, CHRISTOPHE DEBORSU kan er zo twee noemen. Maar het valt hem ook op dat geen enkele Waalse partij een veto uitsprak tegen Leterme. Lees het volledige opiniestuk van Christophe de Borsu hier.
Payback time The European Union lashes out at hedge funds and private equity
WHEN a fight breaks out in a bar, you don’t hit the man who started it. You clobber the person you don’t like instead.” That is the cynical verdict of a fund-management executive on the European Union’s proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive. Even though the credit crunch was largely the fault of (highly regulated) banks, politicians seized the chance to have a pop at the unpopular hedge-fund and private-equity industries. Read the complete article in The Economist here.
Europe's public finances Weighed down
THE BAD thing for politicians about good news on the economy is that they can no longer avert their eyes from the state of public finances. Figures released on November 13th showed that the euro-area economy crawled out of recession in the three months to the end of September. GDP rose by 0.4%, the first quarterly increase for more than a year. Given the scale of the downturn, the recovery is modest: GDP was still 4.1% lower than a year earlier. Read the complete article in The Economist here.
The Coming Deficit Disaster
The president says he understands the urgency of our fiscal crisis, but his policies are the equivalent of steering the economy toward an iceberg. President Barack Obama took office promising to lead from the center and solve big problems. He has exerted enormous political energy attempting to reform the nation's health-care system. But the biggest economic problem facing the nation is not health care. It's the deficit. Recently, the White House signaled that it will get serious about reducing the deficit next year—after it locks into place massive new health-care entitlements. This is a recipe for disaster, as it will create a new appetite for increased spending and yet another powerful interest group to oppose deficit-reduction measures. Read the complete column in the WSJ here.
Technology Is Stranger Than Fiction
In a time of great change, fiction can sometimes provide better understanding than facts alone. "As the pace of technological change accelerates, the job of the science fiction writer becomes not harder, but easier—and more necessary," he writes. "After all, the more confused we are by our contemporary technology, the more opportunities there are to tell stories that lessen that confusion." Read the complete column in the WSJ here.
maandag 23 november 2009
Assurance hospitalisation trop chère ?
“Ne tirez pas sur le pianiste”, répond le secteur à Test-Achats. Et de pointer coût et vieillissement…
Lisez l'article complet dans LLB ici.
Lisez l'article complet dans LLB ici.
How much greenhouse gas emission abatement is enough?
Climate change will have widespread negative effects of uncertain magnitude. But this column argues that climate change is not humanity’s biggest challenge and needs to be solved without impeding economic development. It calls for a measured policy of greenhouse gas emission reduction.
Read this article from R. Tol on Vox.eu here.
Stabilities and instabilities in the macroeconomy
Economics lacks an anchored understanding of the nature of the reality that economics is supposed to illuminate. This column, which introduces a new CEPR Policy Insight, says that instability of leverage, connectivity, and the potential instability of the price level have all been neglected in stable-with-frictions macro theory. Technical innovations will not bring real progress as long as “stability-with-frictions” remains the ruling paradigm. Meanwhile, governments are not prepared to face another crisis.
Read this article from A. Leijonhufvud on Vox.eu here.
Large changes in fiscal policy: taxes versus spending
Read this paper from A. Alesina and S. Ardagna here.
Commerce : selon l'OMC, la crise n'a pas déclenché de vague protectionniste
La force et la soudaineté de la crise économique auraient pu pousser les pays à renouer avec le protectionnisme. "Cela ne s'est pas produit", constate l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) dans le quatrième rapport de l'année qu'elle consacre à la surveillance des pratiques commerciales mondiales et qui a été publié le 18 novembre. Certes, il y a eu quelques branle-bas de combat douaniers dans les pays industrialisés comme dans les pays émergents. Mais l'OMC estime qu'aucun de ses membres "n'est retombé dans un protectionnisme à grande échelle et qu' il n'y a pas eu d'exemple significatif de riposte commerciale". Les restrictions aux échanges et les distorsions de concurrence n'ont pas concerné plus de 1 % des échanges mondiaux.
Le Monde, 20/11/2009
Consultez le rapport de l'OMC ici.
vrijdag 20 november 2009
Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out
Global warming appears to have stalled. Climatologists are puzzled as to why average global temperatures have stopped rising over the last 10 years. Some attribute the trend to a lack of sunspots, while others explain it through ocean currents. Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.
Time for the greening of global trade
To suggest that free trade is destructive is to invite controversy. But the reality is that free trade must be constrained: it encourages the unrestrained consumption of goods and services, thereby playing a negative environmental role globally.
Read this article in the FT here.
November 2009: Monthly Labour Market Monitor
Unemployment continues to rise, job vacancies remain significantly lower than a year ago and companies continue to announce more job reductions than creation.
Moreover, the outlook for the coming months remains unfavourable. However, labour markets are showing tentative signs of stabilising in some Member States, while a relative improvement in confidence among businesses and consumers, including their employment and unemployment expectations, although still pessimistic, adds support to the view that the pace of economic and labour market deterioration is easing. In this month's edition there is a special focus on the health sector as well as an update on the situation in the automotive industry, previously reported on in the February issue.
Moreover, the outlook for the coming months remains unfavourable. However, labour markets are showing tentative signs of stabilising in some Member States, while a relative improvement in confidence among businesses and consumers, including their employment and unemployment expectations, although still pessimistic, adds support to the view that the pace of economic and labour market deterioration is easing. In this month's edition there is a special focus on the health sector as well as an update on the situation in the automotive industry, previously reported on in the February issue.
Read this EC report here.
donderdag 19 november 2009
Evaluating the Labor-Market Effects of Compulsory Military Service
Read the complete IZA paper here.
China's state-owned enterprises: Nationalisation rides again
Do state firms have too much power? A case in Hebei stirs debate. Read the complete piece in The Economist here.
Inventing a Better Patent System
Congress should add five amendments to existing statutes that would improve patent processing, reduce lawsuits and speed up the arrival of innovations on the market. Read the complete column in The NYTimes here.
Euro Solidarity With Eastern Europe
It's a shame that assistance efforts for the new member states are not EU-led but spearheaded by the IMF. Read Verhofstadt's opinion article in the WSJ here.
No Time to Read This? Read This
Many readers seem to think they do, based on the email response to my recent column on the importance of taking time off. Dozens asked me to recommend a time-management method that would help them get on top of their work and home duties. In response, I asked a half-dozen executive coaches to help me pick the most widely used time-management systems—not just software tools or high-tech to-do lists, but behavioral-change techniques that help people get organized, clarify thinking and increase output. Then, I tried out for a week each of the three methods they mentioned most often—including one that involved a ticking plastic tomato. Read the complete article in the WSJ here.
Evaluating the potential of solar technologies
Solar power is poised to grow into a reliable alternative energy source, promising lower carbon emissions and decreased dependence on fossil fuels. What technologies are currently jostling for leadership in the market?
Read this McKinsey article here.
The lingering effects of financial crises
Will the economic recovery be U-, V-, W-, or L-shaped? This column warns that recoveries from recessions caused by financial crises are slower than others, due to stressed credit conditions that persist even after output begins to recover. It thus recommends policies aimed at recapitalising financial institutions, resolving distressed financial assets, ensuring adequate provision of liquidity, and expediting bankruptcy proceedings.
Read the full article from P. Kannan on Vox.eu here.
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