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quinnlewis

China's economy is stumbling, but by how much? - BBC News - 5 views

www.bbc.com/...business-34340936

shared by quinnlewis on 28 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • quinnlewis on 28 Sep 15
     
    After the devaluing of the Chinese currency we now see exactly how much the Chinese economy has faltered- and who this effects.
  • ...3 more comments...
  • topiarey on 29 Sep 15
     
    Definitely really interesting, article could likely make clearer predictions as to what would happen if China's economy went into a recession
  • anishakaul on 29 Sep 15
     
    The idea that their economy's slowed growth is considered a positive thing and is considered "more stable" by the IMF is very interesting and not exactly something people say about many economies. While I had not considered it before, it is entirely logical that China should (almost intentionally) slow down in preparation for the work force to shrink and avoid a financial crash.
  • jacquelinec56 on 29 Sep 15
     
    I think that the article bring up the interesting point that even if China enters a recession, it may not be a bad event especially if the growth is more stable.
  • samoshay on 29 Sep 15
     
    I think the boom that was attributed to China's huge population has reached its near endpoint; the marginal output from each new worker is now so low (not contributing much) or negative (reducing productivity) that China's huge historic growth rate can only be further sustained by greater education and an increase in the human capital aspect.
  • Kako Ito on 29 Sep 15
     
    It's interesting to look at China as a case study of a country of super rapid development and growth that has the ability to affect the global economy. The fact that China's growth is slowing down and stabilizing means that it is catching up to its earlier developed counterparts. Having read the cap and trade article first, I wonder how the policies of that sector (and the sector itself) will affect China's overall economy and to a more general extent the global economy. Will China's become like Germany? Who can say.
jacquelinec56

JSTOR: Signs, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Winter 2004), pp. 325-355 - 0 views

www.jstor.org/...378571

shared by jacquelinec56 on 21 Dec 15 - No Cached
  • hy education should be thought to be a key for women
  • cond, I shall describe the sources of resistance to educating women and argue that objections from the side of traditionalism are misplaced and incoherent.
  • Development theorists who focus only on maximizing economic growth, assuming that growth alone will provide for other central human needs, are very likely to shortchange female education
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • f there was a time when illiteracy was not a barrier to employment, that time has passed. The nature of the world economy is such that illiteracy condemns a woman (or man) to a small number of low‐skilled types of employment. With limited employment opportunities, a woman is also limited in her options to leave a bad or abusive marriage
  • hus states such as Gujarat and Haryana that have done well in fostering economic growth often do quite poorly in basic education,7 and Kerala, whose economy has not grown well, can boast 99 percent literacy for both boys and girls in adolescence, against a background of 35 percent female and 65 percent male literacy for the nation as a whole.
  • growth‐oriented policies do not improve the quality of education, particularly female education,
  • While in the family, an illiterate woman has a low bargaining position for basic resources such as food and medical care because her exit options are so poor and her perceived contribution to the success of the family unit is low.16 Where women have decent employment options outside the home, the sex ratio tends to reflect a higher valuation of the worth of female life.
  • No single factor has a larger impact on the birth rate: for as women learn to inform themselves about the world they also increasingly take charge of decisions affecting their own lives. And as their bargaining position in the family improves through their marketable skills, their views are more likely to prevail.23
  • specially important is the role that female education has been shown to have in controlling population growth.
  • This is the region of India in which child marriage (illegal) is the most common. Large groups of girls are married off at ages four or six. Although they do not live with their husbands until age twelve or so, their course in life is set. Their parents must keep them indoors or watch over them constantly to guard their purity, so that they can not really play outside like little boys. In addition, the parents know that these girls will not support them in their old age—they already “belong” to another family. So their development and health are typically neglected.
  • lunch
  • d take the education money without establishing schools or teachers are corrupt and take government money without showing up.
Kako Ito

Public insurance and the least well-off | Lane Kenworthy - 6 views

lanekenworthy.net/surance-and-the-least-well-off

public insurance economics welfare poor nordic model universalism targeting redistribution income inequality

shared by Kako Ito on 27 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • Public insurance also boosts the living standards of the poor. It increases their income, and it provides them with services for which they bear relatively little of the cost.
  • Critics charge that public social programs tend to hurt the poor in the long run by reducing employment and economic growth. Are they correct?
  • Does public insurance erode self-reliance? Is a large private safety net as helpful to the least well-off as a large public one? Are universal programs more effective than targeted ones? Are income transfers the key, or are services important too?
  • ...17 more annotations...
  • Once again we see no indication that public insurance generosity has had a damaging effect
  • Note also that the employment rate increased in nearly all of the countries during this period. On average, it rose by nine percentage points between 1979 and 2013. That’s not what we would expect to see if generous public insurance programs were inducing large numbers of able adults to withdraw from the labor market
  • What we see in the chart is that countries with more generous public insurance programs tend to have less material deprivation.
  • With globalization, the advance of computers and robots, increased pressure from shareholders for short-run profit maximization, union weakening, and other shifts, wages have been under pressure. Couple this with the fact that many people at the low end of the income ladder have labor market disadvantages — disability, family constraint, geographic vulnerability to structural unemployment — and we have a recipe for stagnation in the market incomes of the poor.
  • here’s a good reason for these shifts: government provision offers economies of scale and scope, which reduces the cost of a good or service and thereby makes it available to many people who couldn’t or wouldn’t get it on their own.
  • Government provides more insurance now than it used to. All of us, not just some, are dependent on it. And life for almost everyone is better because of it
  • hese expenditures are encouraged by government tax advantages.22 But they do little to help people on the bottom of the ladder, who often work for employers that don’t provide retirement or health benefits.
  • To make them more affordable, the government claws back some of the benefit by taxing it as though it were regular income. All countries do this, including the United States, but the Nordic countries do it more extensively. Does that hurt their poor? Not much. The tax rates increase with household income, so much of the tax clawback hits middle- and upper-income households.
  • Another difference is that public services such as schooling, childcare, medical care, housing, and transportation are more plentiful and of better quality for the poor in the Nordic countries. Public services reduce deprivation and free up income to be spent on other needs. It’s difficult to measure the impact of services on living standards, but one indirect way is to look at indicators of material deprivation,
  • Targeted transfers are directed (sometimes disproportionately, sometimes exclusively) to those with low incomes and assets, whereas universal transfers are provided to most or all citizens.
  • Targeted programs are more efficient at reducing poverty; each dollar or euro or kroner transferred is more likely to go to the least well-off. Increased targeting therefore could be an effective way to maintain or enhance public insurance in the face of diminished resources.
  • “the more we target benefits to the poor … the less likely we are to reduce poverty and inequality.”
  • Korpi and Palme found that the pattern across eleven affluent nations supported the hypothesis that greater use of targeting in transfers yields less redistribution
  • The hypothesis that targeting in social policy reduces political support and thereby lessens redistributive effort is a sensible one. Yet the experience of the rich countries in recent decades suggests reason to question it. Targeting has drawbacks relative to universalism: more stigma for recipients, lower take-up rates, and possibly less social trust.44 But targeting is less expensive. As pressures to contain government expenditures mount, policy makers may therefore turn to greater use of targeting. That may not be a bad thing.
  • Public insurance programs boost the incomes of the least well-off and improve their material well-being. If such programs are too generous, this benefit could be offset by reduced employment or economic growth, but the comparative evidence suggests that the world’s rich nations haven’t reached or exceeded the tipping point.
  • Spending lots of money on social protection is not in and of itself helpful to the poor. Total social expenditures in the United States are greater than in Denmark and Sweden, because the US has a large private welfare state. But relatively little of America’s private social spending reaches the poor.
  • Public services are an important antipoverty tool. Their benefit doesn’t show up in income data, but they appear to play a key role in reducing material hardship. Services expand the sphere of consumption for which the cost is zero or minimal. And they help to boost the earnings and capabilities of the poor by enhancing human capital, assisting with job search and placement, and facilitating work-family balance.
  • Kako Ito on 27 Sep 15
     
    Through this article I have gained a deeper insight in how public expenditures and public goods promote wealth equality in a society. "Public services are an important antipoverty tool."
  • ...2 more comments...
  • olivialum on 29 Sep 15
     
    This article really helped me deepen my understanding of redistributing wealth downwards. I never thought about it, but things like social security, affirmative action programs, and public education are actually insurances that attempt to provide everybody with more equality when it comes to living standards as well as basic human rights.
  • samoshay on 29 Sep 15
     
    Yeah, it is a very common argument to say that social expenditures disincentives workers; interesting analysis on how wealthy countries haven't reached the "tipping point." I am curious to see what happens to labor force participation and employment in the next decades as robots further divorce economic growth from labor supply/demand.
  • charlesleesohn on 29 Sep 15
     
    Cool theory in regards to "the tipping point". Interesting, and solid criticism of large social expenditures. Wonder how socialists view this, as opposed to free-market economists.
  • smowat on 29 Sep 15
     
    "Public services are an important antipoverty tool. Their benefit doesn't show up in income data, but they appear to play a key role in reducing material hardship." INteresting to see the statistics and how social expenditures help reduce poverty and the wealth gap.
Lexi Gentry

Rapid Economic Growth in China Is Chipping Away at Coastal Wetlands - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...tal-wetlands-report-finds.html

shared by Lexi Gentry on 19 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • Lexi Gentry on 19 Oct 15
     
    BEIJING - Coastal wetlands in China have vanished at an alarming rate because of the country's economic development, and current economic plans could diminish them to below the minimum needed for "ecological security," including fresh water, fishery products and flood control, according to a report released on Monday by Chinese scientists and an American research center.
gtgomes17

Latin America and the Caribbean - 4 views

www.worldbank.org/...lac

economy Less Developed World: Brazil World Bank

shared by gtgomes17 on 02 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • gtgomes17 on 02 Nov 16
     
    Illustrating how the Bank's role in Latin America and the Caribbean has evolved in recent decades, countries in the region now turn increasingly to the institution for more than direct lending, including such services as risk insurance, commodity swaps, and climate adaptation finance.
  • ...1 more comment...
  • gtgomes17 on 03 Nov 16
     
    From my last visit to Brazil, and what I heard from my family there, I can definitely see how the economy is shutting down. Reais are valued less than a dollar, so you can't get much with them. I am really hoping that, with help from the world bank, the Latin American economies are doing better.
  • Kay Bradley on 03 Nov 16
     
    The region is doing worse. "Latin America and the Caribbean finds itself in the fifth year of an economic slowdown and the second consecutive year of GDP contraction. Worsening external conditions coupled with domestic challenges have reduced expectations for regional growth to -0.7 percent in 2015, with economic activity projected to drop to -1.3 percent in 2016." But also, Mexico and the Caribbean are experiencing 2% growth, while South America is declining 1.7% or more. Why?
  • gtgomes17 on 03 Nov 16
     
    I think it is because (and this is just a theory, I do not know for certain) Mexico and the Caribbean have a direct relationship with the USA, which gives them extra economical assistance outside the World Bank.
evansimons

World Bank Pledges $2 Billion to Bangladesh for Climate Smart Growth - 4 views

www.worldbank.org/...adesh-for-climate-smart-growth

shared by evansimons on 03 Nov 16 - No Cached
  • evansimons on 03 Nov 16
     
    DHAKA, October 18, 2016 -World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, concluding a two-day trip to Bangladesh focused on the country's successes in reducing extreme poverty, pledged $2 billion over the next three years in new funding to help the country become less vulnerable to climate change.
  • Kay Bradley on 03 Nov 16
     
    Connects to Sophia's post on Bangladesh. . . "Bangladesh is among the countries most at risk from the impacts of climate change. We must confront climate change now as it hits the poor the hardest," said Kim (president of the WOrld Bank).
Kay Bradley

Will the End of Oil Mean the End of Growth? - Environment - GOOD - 1 views

www.good.is/...-of-oil-mean-the-end-of-growth

Oil peak oil economics

shared by Kay Bradley on 12 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Kay Bradley on 12 Nov 11
     
    Check this out! So topical!
anishakaul

India Replaces China as Next Big Frontier for U.S. Tech Companies - The New York Times - 12 views

www.nytimes.com/...ier-for-us-tech-companies.html

shared by anishakaul on 28 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • topiarey on 29 Sep 15
     
    Really cool representation of India's rise, but also the inequality when the article mentions the "unconnected billion"
  • ...3 more comments...
  • quinnlewis on 29 Sep 15
     
    I found it interesting that they talked about reaching out to India to make internet widespread as a goal. Nobody seemed to question whether this was the right thing to do. Is internet and technology going to actually improve these peoples' way of life? Does technology make people happier? The assumption that technology is inherently a good thing could be damaging as India rushes into the adaptations they are making.
  • kylerussell on 29 Sep 15
     
    It will be interesting to see how India develops because its large population and liberalized economy are very different from Chinas. The growth we saw/see in China will be different from the growth we see in India due to the lack of Indian regulations. As noted in this paper, the massive population can only stimulate the economy by plugging into the industrialized workforce, however this development might likely lead to a drastic gap between the uneducated rural country side and the wealthiest tech CEOs.
  • alisimons on 29 Sep 15
     
    I found it interesting that China's strict regulations have made them less desirable for American technology companies. The article states, "Blocked from China itself or frustrated by the onerous demands of its government, companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as start-ups and investors, see India as the next best thing." It just goes to show that the government's role in the economy can influence the success of the economy.
  • charlesleesohn on 29 Sep 15
     
    It will be interesting to see what type of role India plays diplomatically as the United States begins to favor the Indian economy.
  • smowat on 29 Sep 15
     
    Interesting to see how globalization has affected indian society. From what we learned about their protective economy to their shift to a more liberalized one.
olivialum

Signs, Long Unheeded, Now Point to Risks in U.S. Economy - The New York Times - 2 views

www.nytimes.com/...nt-to-risks-in-us-economy.html

shared by olivialum on 29 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • The data points range from the obvious to the obscure, encompassing stock market and credit bubbles in China, the strength of the dollar relative to emerging market currencies, a commodity rout and a sudden halt to global earnings growth.
  • The United States economy would only be able to avoid for so long the deflationary forces that have taken root in China
  • global G.D.P. pie is shrinking
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Suddenly, loans in relatively cheap dollars that financed real estate and consumption booms were no longer available and the ultimate result was always a growth slowdown.
  • What was driving weakness in all these countries was the gradual slowdown in the Chinese economy. As China bought less steel from Brazil, iron ore from Australia (its stock market was down by 22 percent during this time frame) and less mineral fuel and oil from Indonesia, the effect on these economies was immediate.
  • The bottom line though, is that investors in American stocks recognized too late in the game that a global contraction was sneaking up on them.
ershai

Could Mexico Be the Next Denmark? - The Washington Post - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...c-8036-7db255bff176_story.html

mexico denmark economy

shared by ershai on 20 Oct 21 - No Cached
  • Mexico has one of the higher per capita incomes of the emerging economies
  • Mexico is becoming too similar to the U.S., particularly in terms of excess commercialization
  • To the extent Americans do not trust Chinese supply chains, the Mexican economy will pick up some of the slack.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Mexico City might end up as the technology capital of Latin America
  • ershai on 20 Oct 21
     
    An opinion's article originally published by Bloomberg, arguing that Mexico could be the next Denmark, mainly a testament to the country's rapid economic growth in many area, and lots of areas for Mexico to emerge on the global stage.
Kay Bradley

Africa's Scramble for Europe - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...ricas-scramble-for-europe.html

population Africa Europe

shared by Kay Bradley on 17 Oct 16 - No Cached
  • But mostly Calais highlights two major differences between the immigration issue in America and Europe, two ways in which migration — from Africa, above all — is poised to divide and reshape the European continent in ways that go far beyond anything the United States is likely to experience.
  • it poses a major dilemma for the European Union, which allows free movement across its internal borders, but which is composed of nation-states that still want sovereignty over their respective immigration policies.
  • America has a mild version of this tension: Witness the recent debate over “sanctuary cities,” or state-federal conflicts over immigration enforcement.
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Witness the recent debate over “sanctuary cities,” or state-federal conflicts over immigration enforcement.
    • Kay Bradley
      Kay Bradley on 17 Oct 16
       
      Discuss sanctuary cities in US, murder of San Francisco woman by illegal immigrant this summer, etc.
  • the desire for real national control over immigration policy may be as dangerous to the E.U. project in the long run as the already-evident folly of expanding the common currency to Greece.
    • Kay Bradley
      Kay Bradley on 17 Oct 16
       
      Two issues to discuss here: EU nations' desire for a an independent immigration policy; expanding common currency to a nation like Greece
  • “Brexit” from the European Union.
  • It’s behind the rise of the National Front in France, and Euroskeptical parties the continent over.
  • Europe’s already-significant north-south divisions
  • the scale of the migration that may be coming to Europe over the next fifty years.
  • 300 million people in the United States and just under 600 million in all the countries to our south
  • In 2050, according to the latest U.N. projections, Europe’s population will have dipped to (an aging) 707 million, while Africa’s population will be 2.4 billion
  • By 2100
  • 4.4 billion Africans
  • Europe’s population will be just 646 million.
  • northward migration – a kind of African “scramble for Europe”
  • Desperation might drive it, but so might rising expectations, the connections forged by growth and globalization.
  • Kay Bradley on 17 Oct 16
     
    population Africa Europe
Stuart Suplick

Cry, the beloved country - 0 views

www.economist.com/...t-continent-clawing-its-way-up

economy corruption cronyism monopoly of political power South Africa leadership

shared by Stuart Suplick on 11 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Stuart Suplick on 11 Nov 13
     
    Argues that the "incompetence" of the ANC has not been conducive for economic growth and has angered South Africans because "too little wealth trickles down" due to less economic competition from ANC's corruption. Says that the ANC needs more political competition, or should split to accurately reflect it's composition for voters: "the populist left and the fat-cat right". Contrasts this political one-sidedness with the rest of African countries. As I read this article, I wondered how the political conflict will affect the country--probably not to the point where development regresses, but it serves as a reminder that NICs have their own problems.
charlesleesohn

How Singapore can secure its economic future, Economy News & Top Stories - The Straits ... - 2 views

www.straitstimes.com/...can-secure-its-economic-future

shared by charlesleesohn on 29 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • Technicians with highly specialised skills
  • REMAIN ATTRACTIVE TO COMPANIES
  • awyers and businessmen negotiate deals spanning multiple countries across the region
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • We have to keep the environment conducive for allowing different industries to come and go... Singapore must remain an attractive place to do business for highly specialised, high value-added companies... There's no way of knowing what kind of industries they will be in. MR SONG SENG WUN, CIMB Private Bank economist
  • charlesleesohn on 29 Sep 15
     
    Really cool ideas being shared on how a modern city-state can develop its economy.
  • smowat on 29 Sep 15
     
    Interesting to see how just the geography of a country can shape its economic growth and international trades importance. Also how improving internal infrastructures affect international trade and domestic econmies.
Stuart Suplick

Chinese Leader's Economic Plan Tests Goal to Fortify Party Power - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...f-goals-for-chinas-leader.html

political economy commanding heights economic liberalization

shared by Stuart Suplick on 07 Nov 13 - No Cached
  • Stuart Suplick on 07 Nov 13
     
    All eyes are on China as its president and prime minister, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, plan to implement economic liberalization while increasing the power of the state political party. This has drawn criticism from political scientists, as discussed in the article, because of its apparent contradiction: how can you encourage markets and the private sector to open up more if you don't want to decrease the eminence of the state (and state control over sectors)? The reforms proposed by the state and government heads will try to make Chinese economic growth more sustainable in more ways than one, a task the previous president Hu Jintao shirked away from. Some political scientists also believe the problems arising from the reforms won't originate from "ideological conservatism", but rather from state-owned, controlled, or subsidized industries that do not want the increased market competition. Protectionism, anyone?
samoshay

The Two Mexicos - 1 views

www.economist.com/...-provides-lessons-all-emerging

shared by samoshay on 18 Sep 15 - No Cached
  • samoshay on 18 Sep 15
     
    A good article on the balance between freedom (economic growth) and equality.
  • Kay Bradley on 19 Sep 15
     
    Good find, Sam! Indeed, the article covers a lot of ground very concisely. We'll have to compare notes with other sources. . . this is the sunniest portrayal of Mexico's path that I have perhaps ever read. Thanks!
Kay Bradley

Pakistan: Key facts - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...7246713.stm

Pakistan

shared by Kay Bradley on 10 Sep 10 - Cached
  • Kay Bradley on 10 Sep 10
     
    overview of Pakistan's economy and tracking its growth through several miltary and civilian regimes. 2008.
Amara Plaza-Jennings

Food and Property Prices Drive China's Concern Over Inflation - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...22yuan.html

China

shared by Amara Plaza-Jennings on 22 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • Amara Plaza-Jennings on 22 Oct 10
     
    Growth recently slowed in the Chinese economy and there was also a rise in inflation. This inflation has especially affected food prices, which have risen through much of Asia. The quote from the nurse is interesting because she sheds light on the experience of the Chinese people - they feel that they have to pay too much while their salaries remain constant.
Harrison Lee

Russia Seeks Improved Relations with the E.U. - 1 views

www.nytimes.com/...18iht-germany.html

Russia EU

shared by Harrison Lee on 18 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • Harrison Lee on 18 Oct 10
     
    Russia has recently shifted from policies designed to preserve self-sovereignty ideologically to more practical policies geared toward economic growth and security. Russia is now seeking to improve relations with the E.U. for these reasons, but Germany has requested concessions in return, mainly help in helping Transnistria, a region governed by a pro-Russian movement. It would be interesting to see how far Russia is willing to go in order to solidify relations.
  • Amara Plaza-Jennings on 19 Oct 10
     
    It will also be interesting to see what comes from the talks both today and tomorrow between Russia, France, and Germany, and how France and Germany feel about Russia's involvement or if they feel that there are certain things that Russia must acheive to gain involvment on the level it wants.
Gregory Freiberg

The cracks in China's engine - 0 views

theweek.com/...the-cracks-in-chinas-engine

China

shared by Gregory Freiberg on 22 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • Gregory Freiberg on 22 Oct 10
     
    When I normally think of China's vast economic growth, I have a negative image ingrained in the back of my mind. This image surrounds the ideas of the environmental degradation, the unsafe working conditions, and the fact that they are by far surpassing the United States. However, China's economic prowess has lifted 500,000,000 people out of poverty. But, it is still not perfect: China's economy depends heavily on exports to global economies thus, when these markets experience recessions China is affected. The 2008 United States Recession had a significant impact on China's fiscal success. It is suggested that China is not yet stable. Because the Communist Party is largely in-control of the government, the nation is experiencing political, social and strain. The workers are also beginning to speak out. It is interesting to watch as China rapids morphs more and more of itself into a massive economic and industrial powerhouse.
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