A Flailing and Cash-Strapped State Wastes Funds on Military Equipment

Pakistan’s reported J-35 deal shows Chinese stealth fighter is ready for global market: analysts
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3291826/pakistans-reported-j-35-deal-shows-chinese-stealth-fighter-ready-global-market-analysts
 
Terrorism Roars Back in Pakistan, 10 Years After a Campaign to End It
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/world/asia/pakistan-terrorism.html
Political instability, dwindling public support and economic constraints are eroding the costly gains that the country made in combating militancy after a ghastly school attack in 2014.
 
Pakistan Crisis: Here's four reasons why cash-strapped economy is under global scrutiny
https://www.livemint.com/economy/pakistan-crisis-heres-four-reasons-why-cash-strapped-economy-is-under-global-scrutiny-11728750660302.html 

The Trust Deficit

The US Economy’s Trust Deficit
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/disconnect-between-us-economic-performance-and-public-perception-by-michael-spence-2024-12
In a complex economy, agents must rely on intermediaries – including the traditional media, government, or experts – to close information gaps, anchor beliefs, and determine equilibrium. But this process can work only if the intermediaries are trustworthy, and many Americans are not convinced that they are. 

The Artificial State
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/11/11/the-artificial-state
As American civic life has become increasingly shaped by algorithms, trust in government has plummeted. Is there any turning back? 

Why the TikTok era spells trouble for the establishment
https://www.ft.com/content/2262f82e-fb65-445b-b99c-b039c1b32ce9
JOHN BURN-MURDOCH:
Print has been in decline for several decades, but perhaps less appreciated is the cratering in consumption of any written news at all. The share of adults reading news articles online in the US has fallen from 70 to 50 per cent since 2013. The share of Britons and Americans now consuming no conventional news media at all has ballooned from 8 to around 30 per cent. While the decline of print was mainly a problem for newspapers’ bottom lines, the decline in all news consumption is a problem for society.
Social media now dominates. Today, US adults under the age of 50 are more likely to get their news directly from social feeds than from a news article whether in print or online, according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s latest Digital News Report.

Is Services-Led Development Feasible?

Services Are the New Road to Development
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/services-led-development-model-now-more-promising-than-manufacturing-by-indermit-gill-and-aaditya-mattoo-2024-12
After decades of policymakers assuming that manufacturing is the key to climbing the global value chain and boosting incomes, the evidence shows that services increasingly represent a more promising path to prosperity. In fact, the countries that pioneered the old model have become a case in point.
 
Services-led development: A virtuous cycle of opportunity and capacity
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/services-led-development-virtuous-cycle-opportunity-and-capacity
 
Related:
Services Unbound: Digital Technologies and Policy Reform in East Asia and the Pacific
https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/eap/publication/services-unbound
At Your Service?: The Promise of Services-Led Development
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35599 

Future of Europe

Liberal Europe must learn some history lessons to survive
https://www.ft.com/content/4395539d-12c9-4de7-9152-0b325084221d
In recent years, Europe has been busy trying to defend a status quo that in fact ended long ago, speaking a language that is no longer comprehensible. It has wasted energy and money in an effort to restore a world that will not come back.
Now European democracies are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. They are threatened simultaneously by voter anger and elite panic. Voters dream of punishing the elites, while the establishment wishes it could tranquillise the electorate.
 
Trump Is Threatening Europe with Tariffs. Is It Ready?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/world/europe/europe-trump-tariffs.html
The incoming president promised “tariffs all the way” unless Europe bought more U.S. oil and gas. European officials have no clear strategy for avoiding a trade war.

Norway is assessing its EU options as a second Trump term looms
https://www.ft.com/content/dbd32579-7cfa-4e01-b7fd-35f1ff721203
Increased geopolitical tensions could yet see Oslo rethink its attitude towards Brussels.
 
The EU must build on past successes
https://www.ft.com/content/169fec69-3d51-46af-b01a-f1669ecb89e2
As it faces fresh challenges, Europe should remember that neither economic integration nor convergence among member states was inevitable.

A new government won’t fix France’s political crisis
https://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2024/12/new-government-wont-fix-frances-political-crisis-francois-bayrou
The country’s malaise is grinding, long-term and has few exit routes. 

US Labor Market: Misallocation of Talent and Resources?

The Hidden Threat to National Security Is Not Enough Workers
https://www.wsj.com/economy/the-hidden-threat-to-national-security-is-not-enough-workers-1dc7abe1

Tradespeople wanted: The need for critical trade skills in the US
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/tradespeople-wanted-the-need-for-critical-trade-skills-in-the-us
 
The Crisis Under the Hood: America's Skilled Labor Shortage
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2024/06/24/the-crisis-under-the-hood-americas-skilled-labor-shortage/
 
Finance, consulting and tech are gobbling up top students
https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2024/12/19/finance-consulting-and-tech-are-gobbling-up-top-students
 
America’s Plumber Deficit Isn’t Good for the Economy
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-14/plumber-jobs-have-high-demand-in-us-with-competitive-salary
Young people are shunning an occupation that’s physically demanding and sometimes dirty, though well-paid. The consequences could be far-reaching. 
 
Don’t Bet on That Marketing Degree, Gen Z
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-12/nearly-60-of-marketing-graduates-are-working-high-school-level-jobs
One study shows that nearly 60% of marketing majors are working high-school level jobs five years after graduating.
 
My take from 2022:
Is the US higher education bubble about to burst? By Vivekanand Jayakumar, The Hill - 01/24/22
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/590971-will-the-us-higher-education-bubble-finally-burst/
“… it is necessary to offer high school graduates multiple pathways to attain a well-paying career. Given that the U.S. economy is suffering from a significant and long-term skills mismatch and facing a massive shortage of truck drivers, welders, electricians, construction workers and a whole slew of various other skilled tradespeople, it is necessary to encourage more entrants into these fields”.

Revival of Chess in India

Dommaraju Gukesh and India’s Chess Comeback
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/indias-checkmate-to-china-world-chess-champion-dommaraju-gukesh-ding-liren-new-delhi-3aae06ab
He beat China’s Ding Liren to become world champion, reflecting New Delhi’s rise. 

On China's Economy

China’s Struggles with a Consumer Society
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-may-struggle-to-spur-consumption-while-controlling-society-by-stephen-s-roach-2024-12
The modern Chinese political system emphasizes stability and control, qualities that enabled the country to become the world’s “ultimate producer.” But these qualities imply tight control over social norms and individual behavior, and they are far less applicable to official efforts to boost household consumption.
 
Turning Trump’s Tariffs into China’s Opportunity
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-tariffs-china-better-prepared-than-us-for-trade-war-decoupling-by-keyu-jin-2024-12
Data over the past six years raise grave questions about whether America's trade war with China is serving its interests. While Chinese companies adapted by upgrading their supply chains, US manufacturers have had to grapple with higher input costs and disrupted production networks. 

Addicted to Trading?

More Men Are Addicted to the ‘Crack Cocaine’ of the Stock Market
https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/stock-market-trading-apps-addiction-afecb07a
Gamblers Anonymous meetings are filling up with people hooked on trading and betting. Apps make it as easy as ordering takeout. 

India's Cuisine

Why India’s Food Is the Best in the World
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-12-17/why-india-s-food-is-the-best-in-the-world
India’s culinary excellence can be traced to both the strengths and weaknesses of its economy.
 
Economist Tyler Cowen:
I write this from Kerala, on the southwest coast of India, on one of the last days of my eighth trip to this country. I’ve been to most of its major regions and cities, and over the decades I have traveled to more than 100 countries. All of which is setup for an admittedly bold claim, and one I don’t make lightly: India has the best food in the world.
For me, it is common for a random meal here, sometimes costing only a few dollars, to be more enjoyable than one from a starred Michelin restaurant in Paris. In India, the flavors are more vivid, the vegetables are at least as fresh and varied, the astonishments more common. Food in India is just flat out better than most of what you get elsewhere, with the possible exception of China, which I have not visited in several years. 

The Trump Crypto Bubble

How Long Will the Trump Crypto Boom Last? 
 https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-financial-page/how-long-will-the-trump-crypto-boom-last  
As a pro-crypto Administration prepares to take power and crypto investors cheer, there are some parallels with the dot-com boom of the late nineties.
 
Bitcoin and Hawk Tuah Aren’t So Different
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/12/18/bitcoin-hawk-tuah-memecoin-hailey-welch-trump/
The political crypto push is its own kind of scam.
 
How would a US bitcoin strategic reserve work?
https://www.reuters.com/technology/how-would-us-bitcoin-strategic-reserve-work-2024-12-16/
 
Bitcoin valuation: Transactional demand versus speculative bubble by Maarten R C van Oordt  
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/bitcoin-valuation-transactional-demand-versus-speculative-bubble
The recent surge in the price of Bitcoin has reignited debates about a cryptocurrency bubble, many of them based on intuition. This column takes a formal approach to the beliefs underlying both sides of the debate by introducing a model that builds on the classical framework for rational bubbles. If the price of a cryptocurrency can be justified from transactional demand, it may be a sound investment. However, if future investment inflows are needed to explain the price, that indicates a bubble, with payoffs resembling a Ponzi scheme. 
 
The Worst of Crypto Is Yet to Come
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/the-worst-of-crypto-is-yet-to-come/ar-AA1tcbY7

Low Quality Luxury

Obscene Prices, Declining Quality: Luxury Is in a Death Spiral
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/opinion/vuitton-chanel-burberry-lvmh-hermes.html 

Tech Innovation in EU

Cost of Failure and Competitiveness in Disruptive Innovation
https://iep.unibocconi.eu/policy-brief-cost-failure-and-competitiveness-disruptive-innovation 

The False Choice between Digital Regulation and Innovation
https://www.promarket.org/2024/12/11/the-false-choice-between-digital-regulation-and-innovation/