BRICs Differ on Fighting Inflation

India Raises Rates Again
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-09-16/india-increases-rates-as-subbarao-breaks-with-bric-nations.html

Dealing with Economic Challenges

David Brooks of the NYTIMES summarizes the problems of the past few years wonderfully:
"Over the past decades, Americans have developed an absurd view of the power of government. Many voters seem to think that government has the power to protect them from the consequences of their sins. Then they get angry and cynical when it turns out that it can’t."

Other Interesting Items:

Will worker retraining help solve the unemployment problem?

Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme?

Robert Samuelson on the Eurozone Crisis

2011 SAT Scores - Student Performances Decline

Solyndra and Government Intervention

The recent recession and the slow recovery that followed has created pressure on governments to engage in old-fashioned industrial policy type activities. The US government has been pushing 'green jobs' and investments in alternative energy companies. Economists are typically wary of government attempts to pick "winners". Here is a great example indicating why governments are not likely to be better than markets at picking "winners":

The fall of Solyndra - a much hyped solar company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/solyndra-solar-company-fails-after-getting-controversial-federal-loan-guarantees/2011/08/31/gIQAB8IRsJ_story.html

Update -
John Stewart at his best (saw the video first on Greg Mankiw's Blog)

Emerging Market News

African Energy Infrastructure and China:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/african-energys-new-friends-in-china-09082011.html

Mobile Banking in Africa
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/in-kenya-securing-cash-on-a-cell-phone-09082011.html

Qualcomm Pushes Smartphones in India
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/qualcomm-rewires-for-india-09082011.html

China's State Capitalism
http://www.economist.com/node/21528264

Tata in Britain
http://www.economist.com/node/21528653

Global Economic Power in Transition
http://www.economist.com/node/21528591

Promoting US Economic Recovery

Prominent Harvard Economists consider challenges facing the US economic recovery.

Greg Mankiw considers ways to improve the US business investment climate in his NYTIMES piece.

Meanwhile, Robert Barro offers very sensible prescriptions for fixing the US economy:

“Three of them were identified by the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction commission: reforming Social Security and Medicare by increasing ages of eligibility and shifting to an appropriate formula for indexing benefits to inflation; phasing out “tax expenditures” like the deductions for mortgage interest, state and local taxes and employer-provided health care; and lowering the marginal income-tax rates for individuals.

I would add three more: reversing the vast and unwise increase in spending that occurred under Presidents Bush and Obama; introducing a tax on consumer spending, like the value-added tax (or VAT) common in other rich countries; and abolishing federal corporate taxes and estate taxes. All three measures would be enormously difficult — many say impossible — but crises are opportune times for these important, basic reforms.”

WEF's World Competitiveness Rankings for 2011

The World Economic Forum's annual country rankings (economic competitiveness rankings) are out.

The Top 5 (in order):

Switzerland

Singapore

Sweden

Finland

United States

European Developments

The Swiss try to implement a ceiling for the Swiss Franc exchange rate

Is Euro-zone considering a fiscal union?

Update: Euro-zone Banks - Facing Serious Trouble?