Profile of BOE

A neat article on the Bank of England -
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/nov/10/inside-bank-of-england

The Future of the Global Oil Industry

An interesting piece on the global energy sector
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/11986070/World-energy-watchdog-fears-1970s-oil-crunch-as-Mid-East-regains-stranglehold.html

‘Pump and Dump’ – Are Hackers Becoming Savvy Investors?

Another day, another story of hacking at a major US financial firm. However, this time around the strategy of the hackers was a bit different –

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34782369

“Personal information for 100 million people was accessed by cyber-thieves between 2012 and the summer of 2015. At a press conference on Tuesday, US federal prosecutor Preet Bharara called the scheme "securities fraud on cyber-steroids". Twelve institutions were victims of the hacking, including JPMorgan, and asset manager Fidelity. US prosecutors said they were expanding charges against two Israeli men, Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein, as well as a US citizen, Joshua Samuel Aaron. …Investigators said the hackers used the personal details to send out information to bosses' email addresses, promoting certain stocks that hackers had bought cheap. The price would rise, and the hackers will then sell off their now very valuable shares. It's a technique known as "pump and dump"”

Related:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-10/digital-don-accused-of-hacks-at-jpmorgan-dow-jones-over-8-years

Industrial Policy, Trade, Innovation and Economic Development

The following might be of interest to serious students of economic development:

Should Industrial Policy in Developing Countries Conform to Comparative Advantage or Defy it? A Debate Between Justin Lin and Ha-Joon Chang

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETTRADE/Resources/Internal-Training/287823-1256848879189/LinChangeDPRDebateIndustrialPolicy.pdf

Trade, Foreign Investment, and Industrial Policy.

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/15561/2/MPRA_paper_15561.pdf

Chinese Innovation – The Next Big Trend?

McKinsey report on China’s innovation capacity

http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Innovation/Gauging_the_strength_of_Chinese_innovation

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-innovation-research-and-development-leader-by-martin-neil-baily-and-jonathan-woetzel-2015-10

Related:

Areas that still lack electricity

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/world-without-power/

Informal/Unofficial Economic Indicators

Economist Diane Coyle on the need for better indicators of underlying economic conditions –

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/opinion/sunday/what-scented-candles-say-to-an-economist.html

“… All these signs, statistical or anecdotal, tend to be clearest when the economy is growing fast, because they reflect spending that is sensitive to the state of the business cycle. Economists working in governments and central banks need indicators that give prompt warning of the trends, supplementing these with informal signs that can act as early alarm signals. By the time official stats are available, the last wave of specialty stores will have closed down — then it’s too late either to cool the boom or to temper the recession quickly by adjusting interest rates or using fiscal measures.”

Gene Hackers

A fascinating piece from the New Yorker on the frontiers of research in the Biological Sciences:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/16/the-gene-hackers

“… It didn’t take Zhang or other scientists long to realize that, if nature could turn these molecules into the genetic equivalent of a global positioning system, so could we. Researchers soon learned how to create synthetic versions of the RNA guides and program them to deliver their cargo to virtually any cell. Once the enzyme locks onto the matching DNA sequence, it can cut and paste nucleotides with the precision we have come to expect from the search-and-replace function of a word processor. “This was a finding of mind-boggling importance,” Zhang told me. “And it set off a cascade of experiments that have transformed genetic research.”

With CRISPR, scientists can change, delete, and replace genes in any animal, including us. Working mostly with mice, researchers have already deployed the tool to correct the genetic errors responsible for sickle-cell anemia, muscular dystrophy, and the fundamental defect associated with cystic fibrosis …”

Related:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/magazine/the-crispr-quandary.html

Effect of Share Buybacks on Stock Prices

An interesting piece on the impact of share buybacks on Microsoft’s stock price:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/your-money/microsofts-stock-math-fewer-shares-pricier-shares.html