Economics and International Affairs Blog

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Venezuela’s Economic Decline – A Sorry State of Affairs

President Maduro’s disastrous reign has drastically altered the fortunes of ordinary Venezuelans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-04/here-s-how-venezuela-s-economy-has-tanked-under-president-maduro

Monetary Policy - Updates

Fed – Headed Towards a Gradual Interest Rate Hike Path?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/business/fed-might-not-have-the-luxury-of-slow-and-steady-rate-increases.html
Related: http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/12/fed-rate-hike-projections.html

Expectations, Announcements and Policy Actions

Nobel laureate Robert Shiller - Don’t Assume a Fed Action Will Move the Market

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/upshot/for-any-fed-action-on-interest-rates-an-unforeseeable-reaction.html

Growing Prevalence of Negative Interest Rates in the Advanced World

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/upshot/why-negative-interest-rates-are-becoming-the-new-normal.html
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21679231-central-banks-are-still-testing-limits-how-low-interest-rates-can-go-bankers

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen on the outlook for the US economy:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/yellen20151202a.pdf

Yellen notes –

“Although developments in foreign economies still pose risks to U.S. economic growth that we are monitoring, these downside risks from abroad have lessened since late summer. Among emerging market economies, recent data support the view that the slowdown in the Chinese economy, which has received considerable attention, will likely continue to be modest and gradual. China has taken actions to stimulate its economy this year and could do more if necessary. A number of other emerging market economies have eased monetary and fiscal policy this year, and economic activity in these economies has improved of late. Accommodative monetary policy is also supporting economic growth in the advanced economies.”

Federal Reserve Board of Governor Lael Brainard's interesting speech on monetary policy normalization:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/brainard20151201a.pdf

Nigeria - Economic Development Challenges

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

The Gold Standard – Theory versus Reality

A pretty insightful piece from the NYT - The Good Old Days of the Gold Standard? Not Really

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/business/economy/the-good-old-days-of-the-gold-standard-not-really-historians-say.html

Why a Return to Gold Standard May Not be Feasible [Commentary by Greg Ip of WSJ]

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/11/12/greg-ip-what-republicans-get-wrong-about-the-gold-standard/

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Climate Change, Fossil Fuels and Energy Needs

Bjorn Lomborg’s observes –

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9b82ed46-952c-11e5-8389-7c9ccf83dceb.html

“We will hear from Paris the suggestion that the green economy will make us all richer. If this were true, we would not need a Paris treaty; greed would long ago have triggered a stampede for green energy. In fact, cutting temperatures by even a trivial amount will cost trillions. Spending money that way — while billions lack food, health, water and education — is nothing short of immoral.”

Solar Power - Affordable Energy Source?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-30/the-silicon-valley-idea-that-s-driving-solar-use-worldwide

Jeffrey Sachs argues for 'Deep Decarbonization'
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/paris-climate-talks-deep-decarbonization-by-jeffrey-d-sachs-et-al-2015-12

http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/11/carbon-imperialism-versus-economic.html