The Failed States Index
Foreign Policy Jul/Aug 2005
Two billion people around the world live in vulnerable and insecure states, according to the first annual Failed States Index, produced by Foreign Policy, in collaboration with the Fund for Peace. Find out which countries are on the brink, what might happen if they fail, and whether foreign intervention can pull them back from the edge.
How Investing in Education Boosts Development
Finance and Development Volume 42, Number 2 Jun/Aug 2005
This issue of F&D takes stock of the enormous gains that have been made on the educational front over the past century and examines what still needs to be done if education for all is to become a reality, as pledged by the global community at the United Nations Millennium Development Conference in 2000. Five years later, East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean are close to achieving the goal of universal primary education by 2015, but sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag far behind. Other articles look at capital market development - or the lack thereof - in Latin America, and at Brazil's economic success. In Straight Talk, Raghuram Rajan takes on yet another contentious topic: how to achieve optimal debt relief for poor countries. In People in Economics, Mario Monti reflects on his time as Europe's Commissioner for Competition and discusses Europe's future. Finally, Country Focus gives a snapshot of Turkey's economy.
Do Trade Promotion Organizations Boost Exports?
Trade Forum 1/2005 Jun/Aug 2005
Plus: Exporting Textiles & Clothing: What’s the Cost for LDCs?; and Building African Trade Expertise.
Research summaries on interest rate rules for developing economies
IMF Research Bulletin Jun/Aug 2005
Plus: Labor market performance and policy effectiveness; summary of IMF study on adopting the euro in Central Europe; country study on Indonesia; visiting scholars at the IMF; contents of recent IMF Staff Paper; titles of recent IMF working papers; summary of recent book entitled Postconflict Economics in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; summary of the IMF Conference on Trade and Developing Countries.
How to Help Poor Countries | Alternative
Nancy Birdsall, Dani Rodrik, and Arvind Subramanian (Foreign Affairs) Jul/Aug 2005
Increasing aid and market access for poor countries makes sense but will not do that much good. Wealthy nations should also push other measures that could be far more rewarding, such as giving the poor more control over economic policy, financing new development-friendly technologies, and opening labor markets.
A Trade War with China?
Neil C. Hughes (Foreign Affairs) Jul/Aug 2005
With China's economic clout growing rapidly, Americans are accusing Beijing of every offense from currency manipulation to crooked trade policies. None of these charges has much merit, but they have increased the probability of a U.S.-Chinese trade war that would do considerable damage to both sides.
Antidumping: The Third Rail of Trade Policy
N. Gregory Mankiw and Phillip L. Swagel (Foreign Affairs) Jul/Aug 2005
Although few U.S. politicians will admit it, antidumping policy has strayed far from its original purpose of guarding against predatory foreign firms. It is now little more than an excuse for a few powerful industries to shield themselves from competition -- at great cost to both American consumers and American business.
Cafta Recriminations
WSJ Aug 1, 2005
The political recriminations from Cafta are even worse than we thought.
Cafta's False Advertising
Bernard K. Gordon (WSJ) Aug 1, 2005
Cafta won't mean anything special for U.S. trade.
Sustained strong growth in Belarus
IMF Survey Aug 1, 2005
Plus: Egypt's policies; Samoa outpaces comparators; Bahamas needs fiscal tightening; Georgia's oil/gas transit revenues; Mauritius must improve competitiveness; Tanzania's growth/poverty reduction; Making surveillance more effective.
Byrd Flu
WSJ Aug 2, 2005
Japan joins the crowd in calling for tariffs on U.S. goods.
Africa After the Music Stops
Susan E. Rice (YaleGlobal) Aug 2, 2005
The fine print of promised aid is less than what it is cracked up to be.
Statement by the IMF Managing Director Following Executive Board Discussion on the G-8 Proposal for Further Debt Relief
IMF Aug 3, 2005
Mr. Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement after today's meeting of the Executive Board to discuss the proposal for HIPC debt cancellation agreed by the G-8 Heads of State and Government at the Gleneagles Summit on July 8, 2005.
Free Trade and Poverty
Joachim Bamrud (Latin Business Chronicle/YaleGlobal) Aug 3, 2005
As China's example shows, Latin America needs more, not less, globalization to reduce poverty.
Yuan hits 4th straight high against dollar
AT Aug 4, 2005
China's yuan strengthened beyond 8.1040 per dollar August 2, recording a post-revaluation high for the fourth straight session as dealers gained confidence that the central bank would allow small gains. After more than a week of small upward moves, the yuan's gain has been extended to 2.16% from its initial 2.07%.
The admiral and the yuan
Pietro Ventani (AT) Aug 4, 2005
In 1405, Chinese Admiral Zheng He set sail from Nanjing's harbor with a massive fleet. Six hundred years later, China again took a major step to open itself to the outside world and claim the role of superpower - this time, by letting its currency sail off into the treacherous seas of international financial markets.
No Way to Treat a Dragon
NYT Aug 4, 2005
The victory of Congressional China bashers in preventing a Chinese oil company from buying Unocal is a loss for the United States' global interests.
The Coming Trade War, Part 5 - Intellectual property rights: Bad TRIPS
Henry C K Liu (AT) Aug 5, 2005
Society benefits in the long term when intellectual propert protection encourages creation and invention. However, under the provisions of a WTO rule produced by the Uruguay Round in 1986, the wealthy countries and giant corporations have manipulated this principle for their own short-term gain. But the developing economies are fighting back.
Asia and Globalization
Globalist Aug 9, 2005
How are smaller Asian countries dealing with the effects of globalization?
CAFTA's Close Call A Warning to US Policy Makers
Edward Gresser (YaleGlobal) Aug 9, 2005
The narrow passage of the Central American trade agreement calls for a stronger, proactive approach to WTO.
A Tool for Democracy Could Use Some Help
WP Aug 10, 2005
Five years ago a new group of nations was created: the Community of Democracies. Popularly known as the CD, it was a response to the fact that for the first time in history, most countries have some form of representative government.
Dodging the Curse of Diamonds and Gold
Desha Girod (YaleGlobal) Aug 11, 2005
Foreign aid to Africa can be effective - if donors avoid resource-rich countries.
Perils at the pump
Economist Aug 12, 2005
Oil prices hit yet another record this week, on fears of political instability in the Middle East and refining problems in America. So far, the world economy has managed to chug along without much ill effect. But how long can consumers go on paying ever more at the pump without cutting back elsewhere? And why aren’t high prices bringing new supplies to market?
Europe's economies unfazed by surging oil prices
IHTI> Aug 12, 2005
Even the 12-nation euro zone is showing signs of life despite the rising oil prices.
Yuan reforms pressed - Currency basket specified
AT Aug 12, 2005
In a rapid-fire series of moves the last few days, China's central bank revealed more information about its currency policy and further liberalized the foreign exchange regime in the country. The foreign currencies in the yuan "basket" were identified; swaps and forwards were permitted; the central bank opened a second headquarters in Shanghai; and the China Export-Import Bank said it would help firms to hedge currency risks.
Trade War
WSJ Aug 15, 2005
U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber hurt American home buyers.
What Comes After 'Bretton Woods II'?
John B. Taylor (WSJ) Aug 15, 2005
China's shift from a pegged to a flexible exchange rate starts a new chapter in international finance.
Niger relief effort
IMF Survey Aug 15, 2005
Plus:EB commitment to debt relief; Kato's visit to Mozambique, Zambia; U.S. economic expansion; Austria looks eastward; Attracting FDI to Southeastern Europe; IMF conditionality; hedge funds seminar; IEO priorities.
Why nations die
Spengler (AT) Aug 16, 2005
The topic of mass extinction, particularly through environmental factors, commands the attention of the reading public, but books that compare the present to bygone civilizations do not tell the whole story. We might be gone today, but the world will survive tomorrow.
Unwinding global imbalances
Huw McKay (AT) Aug 16, 2005
The global "imbalances mess" is a structural issue, not a cyclical one. Its root cause is a global misallocation of capital toward the Anglo-Saxon countries, and tinkering with the yuan-dollar exchange rate won't help - but try telling that to the US Congress.
An open economy, a closed society
IHT Aug 17, 2005
Market liberalization does not necessarily lead to democratic reform, as savvy regimes have learned to supress crucial freedoms while enjoying economic growth.
India, China, tortoise, hare
Aruni Mukherjee (AT) Aug 18, 2005
Comparative analysis of China and India has become a cottage industry. The conventional wisdom is that China is still doing better, but cracks are appearing in its forced-march economic model. While India has its problems, pundits should remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare before handing the trophy to China.
Basket Case
Mike Cosgrove (WSJ) Aug 18, 2005
The yuan is linked to the euro, the yen and the South Korean won: Dollarization is gone.
Rice Warns China to Make Major Economic Changes
Joel Brinkley (NYT) Aug 19, 2005
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned China that it must make changes to its economic policies, lest it remain "a problem for the international economy."
Moving Toward Smarter Aid?
Lex Rieffel and James W. Fox (Globalist) Aug 19, 2005
Can the Millennium Challenge Corporation overcome its slow start and setbacks?
Promises, Promises
NYT Aug 22, 2005
For poor countries, the process of compromise on trade has been a one-way street for more than half a century. It's time for the rich world to start doing a little compromising.
The Grave Danger of Catfish Terrorism
William Anderson (Mises Daily) Aug 22, 2005
Read a typical news article, editorial, or even a history or economics text, and the “case” for regulation is posed in the following way: In their zeal for profits, business owners will cut corners when it comes to safety, which is even truer when their product falls into the categories of food and drugs.
Africa Needs Fair Trade, Not Charity
Mary Robinson (YaleGlobal) Aug 23, 2005
Allowing producers to export to a subsidy-free world market will lift many out of poverty
Different this time?
Economist Aug 23, 2005
Foreigners are again pouring cash into emerging markets. What will happen when they stop?
Can citizenship be abolished?
IHT Aug 23, 2005
A look at the meaning of citizenship---and of governments' attempts to take it away.
EU backpedals on textile quotas
Aug 25, 2005
A Chinese shopkeeper arranged her wares at a textile market in Beijing. Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, was forced to admit that a "serious glitch" in the quotas imposed on Chinese textiles by the EU has left 75 million Chinese-made garments piled up in European ports.
Trade disputes: Europe’s textile war with China—and itself
Economist Aug 25, 2005
Chinese-made bras, blouses and T-shirts are piling up at customs checkpoints across Europe, having already bumped up against import limits set earlier this year. The European Union has sent a team of officials to Beijing to negotiate a way out of the crisis. But European retailers are just as annoyed at the quotas as the Chinese.
How Iran's oil bourse could kill the dollarHow Iran's oil bourse could kill the dollar
Toni Straka (AT) Aug 26, 2005
Oil is priced and traded in the greenback, entailing huge transaction costs for non-dollar countries that have to buy these dollars. The oil bourse that Iran plans to start next year would change all that. It would make transactions cheaper, and it could drive a nail into the dollar's coffin, because a large part of the currency's clout stems from the fact that resources are quoted in it.
Hold Everything
Daniel Gross (Slate) Aug 26, 2005
Obscure Economic Indicator: Port of Los Angeles container counts.
Workers Of the World Uniting
WP Aug 27, 2005
The business at hand was furthering globalization, but the usual suspects were nowhere to be seen. No U.S. trade representatives set the agenda. No corporate executives stalked the hall.
Plan to end impasse on textiles
IHT Aug 29, 2005
Peter Mandelson vowed to release within a month the 80 million Chinese-made clothes held up in European ports.
Iraq's priorities
IMF Survey Aug 29, 2005
Plus: IMF reviews of Latvia, Sri Lanka, Angola, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia; IT in low-income countries; African currency blocs; Legacy of Soviet empire; Indonesia looks to keep pace with Asia; Bhutan's national happiness; IMF governance.
Asian power blocs begin to form
Chietigj Bajpaee (AT) Aug 30, 2005
Asia faces a volatile future, with energy competition a major catalyst for conflict. A number of states with historical rivalries are growing bold as a result of economic prosperity and increasing defence budgets, a rediscovery of their identities, and dependence on imported energy resources. Power blocs are starting to coalesce, as a number of recent, apparently unconnected events indicate, but the real threat will emerge only when the new alliances solidify.
$100 oil and how to profit from it
Kathy Lien (AT) Aug 30, 2005
For those banking on higher oil prices, trading currencies instead of oil may be a more profitable endeavor as it generates both capital appreciation and interest income. And the currency pair to bet on is the Canadian dollar-Japanese yen duo. If oil ever hits $100, CADJPY will too.
Third World feels staggering bite of petty corruption
IHT Aug 30, 2005
It is being recognized as a major obstacle to economic development, eating into already impoverished incomes.
That's No Way to Treat Visitors
NYT Aug 30, 2005
Two weeks before world leaders are due in New York to talk about global poverty, the United States is trying to renege on commitments to fight poverty.
Set Chinese bras free, Mandelson tells EU
David M Lenard (AT) Aug 31, 2005
Europe's farcical "bra wars" over imported Chinese clothes, now sitting in ports and warehouses undelivered, have embarrassed EU officials, who are frantically trying to salvage a quota agreement with China they concluded just weeks ago. Americans shouldn't laugh, though, because a second front in this "war" might be opening up in the US any week now.
China in delicate trade game with U.S. and EU
IHT Aug 31, 2005
China found itself entangled with the world's largest economic superpowers on Tuesday as negotiators from the U.S. pressed Beijing to reduce the flow of cheap textile exports.
Aid is Not the Answer
C.K. Prahalad (WSJ) Aug 31, 2005
Wealth-creation alone will "make poverty history."
Unblock the Silk Road
Ralph Kamphoener (WSJ) Aug 31, 2005
Protectionism hasn't helped anyone.