Weak Euro – Good or Bad?

An interesting piece of analysis from Der Spiegel

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/ecb-decision-to-weaken-euro-comes-with-pluses-and-minuses-a-1015322.html

Joe Stiglitz on the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement Negotiations

The dangerous extent to which big pharma is influencing trade talks:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/opinion/dont-trade-away-our-health.html

On P-Values

From XKCD
http://xkcd.com/1478/

Impact of Commodity Price Collapse

Venezuelan Economy is Hit Hard by Oil Price Drop

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/world/americas/strict-rationing-in-venezuela-as-plunging-oil-prices-hurt-economy.html

Russian Currency Wobbles

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/ruble-breaches-70-per-dollar-after-russia-s-surprise-rate-cut

Investors Take a Hit

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-30/oil-plunge-puts-390-billion-hole-in-investors-pockets

What is China’s Potential Growth Rate?

Top Chinese economist Justin Yifu Lin addresses concerns regarding China’s potential growth rate:

http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/china-2015-five-year-plan-by-justin-yifu-lin-2015-01

Other China Related News:

Financial Diplomacy – Chinese Style

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21641259-challenge-world-bank-and-imf-china-will-have-imitate-them-rich

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is apparently a big fan of Nobel Laureate Edmund Phelps:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-29/a-u-s-economist-s-book-turns-into-a-hit-in-china

Income and Wealth

Distinguishing income (a flow variable) from wealth (a stock variable) is important:

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21640444-oxfam-causes-stir-stat-wrong-yardstick

Trends at the top of income distribution:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/upshot/gains-from-economic-recovery-still-limited-to-top-one-percent.html

Greece and the European Project

Far-left party Syriza (which is opposed to austerity conditions imposed on Greece by creditors) is victories in Greek elections:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/25/syriza-historic-win-greece-european-union-austerity

The Euro not surprising fell:
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/EURUSD:CUR/chart

2015 FT Global MBA Rankings

The Financial Times ranking of MBA programs:
http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2015

Scientific Rigor Matters

Physicist Lawrence Krauss highlights the importance of proper scientific reasoning in his critique of a WSJ op-ed:

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/astrobiology-made-case-god

Economic Development – Interesting Items

Goals of Development

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21640361-debate-heats-up-about-what-goals-world-should-set-itself-2030

Gates Foundation – Annual Letter

http://www.gatesnotes.com/2015-Annual-Letter

Africa’s Economy Is Rising. Now What Happens to Its Food? By DAVID LEONHARDT

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/upshot/africas-economy-is-rising-now-what-happens-to-its-food.html

               

World Bank Chief Economist on Global Poverty

http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/global-inequality-persistence-of-poverty-by-kaushik-basu-2015-01

FT’s Wolf on Global Imbalances

ECB Announces a QE Program

The European Central Bank's QE program entails the monthly purchase of 60 billion euros worth of assets at least until Sept 2016:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-22/draghi-commits-ecb-to-trillion-euro-qe-plan-in-deflation-fight.html

Innovation and R&D

The Most Innovative Countries

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-innovative-countries/

Canadian Surprise

A surprise rate cut from Canada:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-21/bank-of-canada-cut-shows-housing-another-worry-from-oil.html

The Canadian dollar continues to decline – not surprising given the fall in global commodity prices

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USDCAD:CUR/chart

UK Labor Market Update

UK labor market appears to be improving:

3-D Printed House?

A Chinese company has apparently constructed a building using 3-D printed materials:
http://www.cnet.com/news/worlds-first-3d-printed-apartment-building-constructed-in-china/

Effective Approaches to Taking Notes in Class

Recommended for College Students:

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/4/5776804/note-taking-by-hand-versus-laptop

http://www.boston.com/health/2014/06/05/take-note-this-handwritten-notes-are-more-effective-than-typed-ones/Ypp4ahKuX2Zd0OtUqBw79H/story.html

Original Post on the Topic:
Technology is Not Always Helpful in Education

Global Economic Conditions – An Update

UPDATES (Jan 20): 
IMF WEO Outlook Jan 2015 Update
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/update/01/pdf/0115.pdf

China 2014 GDP Growth Comes in at 7.4%
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-19/china-gdp-beats-estimates-leaving-2014-expansion-close-to-target.html
(Given the turbulent global economic conditions, that is a pretty decent growth rate)

Low Bond Yields
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-20/trillion-dollar-punishment-makes-european-buyers-pay-for-safety.html

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The Economist on Global Financial Market Volatility

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21639582-markets-slide-investors-should-worry-more-about-some-price-drops-others

World Bank’s GEP Jan 2015

http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2015a/pdfs/ExecutiveSummary_GEP_Jan2015_Eng.pdf

http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/infographic-global-growth-january-2015

Economic Development - Interesting Topics

Economic Development - Saving and Financial Inclusion in Poor Countries

Incentives for Saving in Poor Countries

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21618900-coaxing-does-more-boost-saving-compelling-beyond-cows

Technology and non-traditional banking may boost access to financial services in poor countries

http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21632441-worlds-poor-need-stability-and-security-banks-have-traditionally-offered

Saving and Credit Access in Africa

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/an-inclusive-emerging-economy-with-africa-in-the-lead/

Financial Challenges Afflicting MENA Economies:

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2013/03/pdf/barajas.pdf

[UPDATE] - India Pushes Mobile Banking

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/01/26/india-banking-idINKBN0KZ04H20150126

Banking and the Poor

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21641272-banks-have-signed-up-120m-customers-five-months-was-easy

Other Development Economics Issues -

The Tsetse Fly and Early African Economic Development

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21639588-how-insect-held-back-continent-ointment

Behavioral Economics and Economic Development

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21635477-behavioural-economics-meets-development-policy-poor-behaviour

MIT Poverty Action Lab

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-04/poverty-lab-mit-economists-pursue-new-way-to-study-the-problem

Public Goods Provisions – Water Supply in Mexico

Currency Market Developments

Where is the Euro headed?

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21639505-tumbling-currency-reflects-europes-dismal-prospects-it-second-best-route-curing

The Swiss Franc shock

http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/swiss-central-bank-stops-swiss-franc-euro-peg-by-markus-brunnermeier-and-harold-james-2015-01

Related:

http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/01/snb-abandons-swiss-franc-exchange-rate.html

Dollar’s current strength may not last

http://www.project-syndicate.org/print/strong-dollar-downside-risks-by-barry-eichengreen-2015-01

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UPDATES [Jan 20]:

Fallout from Swiss Central Bank Decision

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-20/swiss-turmoil-spreading-in-europe-as-saxo-credit-suisse-hurt.html

Denmark struggles to maintain its Krone-Euro peg:
 Denmark Cuts Interest Rates to Defend the Krone

RBI Surprises with an Early Interest Rate Cut

India’s central bank cuts interest rate as inflationary pressures ease:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2015/01/15/investors-hop-on-india-after-rajan-cuts-rates/

http://in.reuters.com/subjects/rbi-policy-review

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21639584-central-bank-cuts-interest-rates-first-time-two-years-cycle

Meanwhile, India’s growth rate is projected to overtake that of China’s around 2017:

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/01/14/world-bank-india-set-to-become-worlds-fastest-growing-big-economy/

Things Only Economists Understand

Matthew Yglesias has posted a tongue-in-cheek piece on Vox - 9 things only neoclassical economists will understand

http://www.vox.com/2015/1/13/7532671/9-things-only-neoclassical-economists-will-understand

Corruption and Economic Development

A fascinating piece in the New Yorker notes:

“But corruption has outlived all predictions of its demise. Indeed, it appears to be thriving. According to the African Union, during the nineteen-nineties a quarter of Africa’s gross domestic product was siphoned off by graft. The United Nations estimates that corruption adds a ten-per-cent surcharge to the cost of doing business in many parts of the world. Corruption infects every level of government, bedevils foreign development, enables terrorism, and fuels transnational crime. It is a recurring conundrum in business, in religious institutions, in education, in sports. Yet our conceptual vocabulary for understanding this pathology, let alone combatting it, remains conspicuously meagre. The very term “corruption” is so inclusive as to be almost meaningless, encompassing bribery, nepotism, bid-rigging, embezzlement, extortion, vote-buying, price-fixing, protection rackets, and a hundred other varieties of fraud.”

Related:
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2014/11/rule-of-law-and-economic-development.html

SNB abandons Swiss Franc Exchange Rate Ceiling

Updates:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/15/why-switzerlands-currency-is-going-historically-crazy/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2015-01-15/heres-what-the-swiss-central-bank-just-did-and-why-its-such-a-shocker
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-15/polish-banks-zloty-slump-as-swiss-franc-mortgages-get-expensive.html