La population belge croît plus vite que celle de l’UE

En 2009, la population belge a crû 2,6 fois plus vite que celle de l’ensemble de l’Union européenne. Au 1er janvier 2010, la Belgique comptait 10,827 millions d’habitants.

Lisez cet article dans Le Soir ici.

Consultez les statistiques d'Eurostat ici.

Britain Plans to Decentralize Health Care

"Perhaps the only consistent thing about Britain’s socialized health care system is that it is in a perpetual state of flux, its structure constantly changing as governments search for the elusive formula that will deliver the best care for the cheapest price while costs and demand escalate." Read the complete article in the NYTimes here.

Read the NHS White Paper here.

Ivan Van de Cloot over de stresstests

We hebben de stresstests gehad. Enkele opmerkingen:
1. Laten we vooral bidden dat Italië een gezond budgettair land is gezien de blootstelling

2. Ontstellend dat men nog steeds het probleem van hybride kapitaal in tier 1 niet apprecieert. Core tier 1 had heel andere resultaten opgeleverd.

3. De moral hazard geïllustreerd: de banken die een injectie hebben gekregen van de staat stijgen op de beurs, de banken die op eigen beentje de crisis overleefd hebben, staan onder druk

4. Veel van de geredde banken hebben de injectie nog steeds nodig: zonder die steun halen ze zelfs deze test niet

5. De rode draad bij de banken die in problemen kwamen, was een problematisch liquiditeitsbuffer= wordt niet getest. Als deze test in 2007 was gevallen, waren er verschillende banken geslaagd die toch in de problemen kwamen. Voor een belangrijk stuk is liquiditeit (=vertrouwen) een publiek goed (een volledig liquide bank is geen bank) en solvabiliteit een privaat goed (een insolvabele bank is lemon socialism). Vanaf een bepaald punt wordt het gebrek aan liquiditeit echter Russische roulette spelen

6. Een stress test die verliesposities lager inschat dan de huidige realiteit op de markt heeft niets met stress van doen. Rationeel zouden we inderdaad ook een probabiliteit op wanbetaling moeten plakken zodat de banking book ook relevant wordt.

Despite Flaws, Stress Tests May Satisfy Markets

Read the complete article in the NYTimes here.

Economists Try to Measure Uncertainty’s Impact on Growth

Uncertainty has become the mantra of this economic cycle.

Read this article in the WSJ here.

Today’s Keynesians have learnt nothing

To those of us who first encountered the dismal science of economics in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the current debate on fiscal policy in the western world has been – no other word will do – depressing.

Read this article in the FT here.

Très chères voitures de société

Selon les chercheurs d'un centre de recherche danois, La Belgique aurait "subsidié" les voitures de société à hauteur de 4,1 milliards d'euros en 2008, soit 1,2% du produit national brut.

Lisez l'article dans LLB ici.

Un dérapage budgétaire de 1,3 milliard d'euros dès 2010

Quelques fonctionnaires qui suivent le budget depuis la chute du gouvernement estiment dans un rapport récent le déficit budgétaire en 2010 à 5,2% ou 18 milliards d'euros. Il reste donc un "trou" de 1,3 milliard d'euros.

Lisez cet article dans LLB ici.

Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions Fall in 2009 - Past Decade Still Sees Rapid Emissions Growth

In 2009, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China—the world’s leading emitter—grew by nearly 9 percent. At the same time, emissions in most industrial countries dropped, bringing global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel use down from a high of 8.5 billion tons of carbon in 2008 to 8.4 billion tons in 2009. Yet this drop follows a decade of rapid growth: over the 10 previous years, global CO2 emissions rose by an average of 2.5 percent a year—nearly four times as fast as in the 1990s. Increasing temperatures and the resulting melting ice sheets and rising sea levels demonstrate the destructive effects of the carbon accumulating in the atmosphere. Read the complete paper of the Earth Policy Institute here.

Does happiness affect productivity?

Happiness economics typically looks at how macro-level variables such as economic growth affect happiness. This column turns such thinking on its head and asks whether a rise in happiness might change behaviour at the micro-level, looking specifically at productivity. Experiments suggest that happiness raises productivity by increase workers' effort. Economists may need to take the emotional state of economic agents seriously. Read the complete article on EU VOX here.

Informel zorg in Vlaanderen

Lees die publicatie van de Studiedienst van de Vlaamse regering hier.

Vlaanderen in cijfers_2010

Lees die publicatie van de Studiedienst van de Vlaamse Regering hier.

Bomen groeien niet tot de hemel: de werkelijke kostprijs van de dienstencheques

Lees die HIVA studie hier.

Thriving China is ever more open for business

For the past year, China has expanded domestic demand and worked to attract foreign investment, contributing to the global recovery. However, concerns have recently been floated, not least among foreign businesses, that China is now less welcoming of foreign investment. In fact, China will open wider in the future.

Read this article in the FT here.

Et si on cassait la logique du "toujours plus"

Le professeur Christian Arnsperger (UCL) défend l’idée d’une “prospérité sans croissance”. Une idée assez neuve qui plaît surtout aux étudiants…

Lisez l'article dans LLB ici.

Le commerce mondial devrait progresser de 10 % en 2010

L'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) a revu, vendredi 23 juillet, à la hausse ses prévisions pour le commerce mondial en 2010, qui devrait progresser de 10 % ou plus. En mars, l'OMC tablait sur une croissance de 9,5 %.

Lisez l'article dans Le Monde ici.

Lisez le rapport complet de l'OMC ici.

Towards a New Architecture for Financial Stability: Seven Principles

Abstract
In this paper we use insights from organizational economics and financial regulation to study
the optimal architecture of supervision. We suggest that the new architecture should revolve
around the following principles: (i) banking, securities and insurance supervision should be
further integrated; (ii) macro prudential supervisory function must be in the hands of the
central bank; (iii) the relation between macro and micro supervisors must be articulated
through a management by exception system involving direct authority of the macro
supervisor over enforcement and allocation of tasks; (iv) given the difficulty of measuring
output on supervisory tasks, the systemic risk supervisor must necessarily be more
accountable and less independent than Central Banks are on their monetary task; (v) the
supervisory agency cannot rely on high powered incentives to motivate supervisors, and must
rely on culture instead; (vi) the supervisor must limit its reliance on self regulation; and (vii)
the international system should substitute the current loose, networked structure for a more
centralized and hierarchical one. Read the CEP paper here.

The “stimulus debate” and the golden rule of mountain climbing

The global macroeconomy is at a juncture; some economists argue for continued fiscal stimulus to avoid a double dip recession while others argue for fiscal prudence. In this column, one of the world's leading macroeconomists argues for continued stimulus combined with a plan to ensure long-run sustainability by reforming the funding of pension liabilities. Read Francesco Giavazzi's piece for VOX here.

I.M.F. Backs Efforts in Europe to Cut Deficits

Read the complete article in The NYTimes here.

For-profit colleges Monsters in the making?

IT SEEMS too good to be true, at least for companies. Customers arrive at for-profit colleges by the million. With them comes billions of dollars of federal student grants and loans, to be poured into corporate coffers. Public subsidies may provide up to 90% of revenue; the government bears the risk of loan defaults. This business model has served firms rather well. Its effect on students and taxpayers is less clear. This summer, however, a brawl over for-profit colleges has exploded at last. Read the complete article in The Economist here.

Unemployment benefits: Read this shirt

A titanic struggle to decide whether the jobless should get money for longer. Read the complete article in The Economist here.

Buitenlandse investeringen kelderen met 70 procent

Lees het volledige artikel in De Standaard hier.

ECB chief calls for global tightening

Public spending cuts and tax increases should be imposed immediately across the industrialised world as evidence of a healthy European recovery mounts, according to Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank.

Read this article in the FT here.

Préformateur: accord de principe sur la scission des allocations familiales

La question sur la scission de la politique du marché du travail a également bien progressé. Les allocations de chômage continueraient à être du ressort fédéral.

Lisez l'article dans LLB ici.

World Investment Report 2010: investing in a low-carbon economy

Read this UNCTAD report here.

De Mad Max-paradox (Kapitalisme 4.0)

In het nieuwe kapitalisme staan flexibiliteit en experimenteren centraal: zowel in de economie, de institutionele organisatie als het overheidsbeleid. Lees het volledige opiniestuk van Peter Dekeyzer in Trends hier.

Voters Rate the Parties' Ideologies

Dems Viewed as Farther from Political Center than is GOP. Read the results of the People's Press poll here.

Too Weak? Concerns Grow over Rigorousness of EU Stress Tests

With the results of European bank stress tests to be released on Friday, some analysts fear that if too few financial institutions fail, the tests will not be be taken seriously. One report indicates that only a single German bank will fail: Munich's Hypo Real Estate. Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.

Sow the seeds of long-term growth

"The world economy is entering a new phase after the failure of fiscal stimulus to create a sustained recovery in either the US or Europe. In the US, consumers have retrenched, housing starts have crashed and a double-dip recession is possible. In Europe, fiscal retrenchment is under way after intense market pressures. A new approach to recovery is needed." Read the complete opinion article of Jeffrey Sachs in the Financial Times here.

Joint report on social protection and social inclusion 2010

The Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2010 covers a range of areas including social inclusion policy, housing, healthcare, the impact of the economic crisis on pension systems and governance. It examines the social situation in EU27 before and in the economic and financial crisis and looks at Member States initial responses and preparations made for recovery. The report also includes country profiles on homelessness and housing exclusion for each EU Member State.

Read this EC report here.

The employment dimension of economic greening

The concept of 'going green' is spreading in the EU and is having a significant impact on the economy. This greening of the economy is expected to have wide-spread effects on EU industries and the labour market. This European Employment Observatory Review looks at the influence of the greening of the economy on European employment. The report analyses both the risks and benefits of the green economy and identifies measures that can be taken to limit such risks.

Read this EC report here.

Why are we fat? Discussions on the socioeconomic dimensions and responses to obesity

Read this report from Globalization and Health here.

Double-Dip Days

"So, as the optimists’ delusional hopes for a rapid V-shaped recovery evaporate, the advanced world will be at best in a long U-shaped recovery, which in some cases – the eurozone and Japan – may be long enough to stretch into an L-shaped near-depression. Avoiding double dip recession will be difficult." Read Nouriel Roubini's column for Project Syndicate here.

Tax policies for low-carbon energy

Economists often advocate taxes or cap-and-trade schemes to fight pollution, but US policy primarily subsidises clean energy alternatives. This column of Gilbert E. Metcalf critiques such subsidies on four counts: they lower the cost of energy, pick favourite technologies, are often “inframarginal”, and interact in unexpected ways with other policies. Read the complete piece on VOXEU here.

Double Dip? Seven Reasons Why Not

It seems these days that half the headlines in the financial media fear a double-dip recession, as do half the conversations on Wall Street. There certainly are risks, not least in Europe’s financial difficulties. But still, there are reasons to question such widespread concerns. History, after all, offers only one true double-dip experience, and that grew out of a policy error. More, the actual data on the economy fly in the face of such an outlook. Following are seven reasons to doubt the double-dip outlook. Read the complete article in the Wall Street Journal here.

Nog 11 jaar vooraleer de Amerikaanse arbeidsmarkt de crisis heeft verteerd

Overigens zou in België de werkgelegenheid in 2012 opnieuw het pré-crisisniveau (van 2008) halen van 4.460.847 banen volgens het Federaal Planbureau. Lees het volledige artikel in Trends hier.

Le nouveau modèle de croissance britannique

Dans le premier budget du gouvernement de coalition du Royaume-Uni, le gouvernement britannique a exposé un plan sur cinq ans pour reconstruire l'économie britannique sur les bases de la responsabilité, de la liberté et de l'équité. Ce plan assume le passé et prépare l'avenir ...

Lisez cet article sur LesEchos.fr ici.

"Europe 2020" indicators

Find these Eurostat statistics here.

Taxer les plus de 50 ans pour financer la dépendance des seniors

Lors de son entretien télévisé du 12 juillet, Nicolas Sarkozy a confirmé son intention, sitôt achevée la réforme des retraites, d'engager le dernier grand chantier de la législature : la prise en charge de la dépendance.

Lisez l'article complet dans Le Monde ici.

Europeans Cast Critical Eye on Homeopathy

Read the complete article in Der Spiegel International here.