Johnson: The US as developing country

The Atlantic Online | May 2009 | The Quiet Coup | Simon Johnson
Of course, some people will complain about the “efficiency costs” of a more fragmented banking system, and these costs are real. But so are the costs when a bank that is too big to fail—a financial weapon of mass self-destruction—explodes. Anything that is [...]

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Baldwin: the crisis as an oil spill

Developing nations and capital flows: The IMF’s new facility | vox – Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists
Out of a sense of guilt and responsibility (“the IMF is in search of a role and a happier reputation” as the Economist puts it) for its past failings, the new management at the IMF is [...]

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Soros worries about developing countries

Project Syndicate
When the history of this crisis is written, it will be recorded that – in contrast to the Great Depression – protectionism first prevailed in finance rather than trade.

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Guttenberg thinks we should strengthen global supervision

FT.com / Comment / Opinion – A new era of accountable capitalism
Three principles should guide this overhaul: first, risk management within banks and risk supervision by rating agencies and financial authorities must be strengthened on a global level to prevent the build-up of systemic risk. Second, to prevent an increase in moral hazard there must [...]

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Lee Sigelman on academic journals

The Monkey Cage: Improving scholarly journals — Part 1
Many — in my experience, most — political scientists take far too long to get to the point rather than telling readers right off the bat what central question they’re trying to answer. They also try to cite everything that’s ever been written on their subject, whether [...]

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Stein and Kedar ask if the IMF has learned anything

Project Syndicate
Today’s International Monetary Fund (and, to a lesser degree, the World Bank) recall Talleyrand’s description of France’s Bourbon kings: it has learned nothing and forgotten nothing.
Project Syndicate
But will the Fund now abandon its long-held emphasis on government cutbacks, monetary contraction, and overall austerity, policies that – in the opinion of many development economists – [...]

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Rachman on a summer of green protectionism

Last November:
FT.com / Columnists / Gideon Rachman – The importance of empty words
The leaders solemnly declared: “We underscore the critical importance of rejecting protectionism … We will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services.” To emphasise their determination, they “instructed” their trade ministers to complete the Doha round [...]

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Shiller calls for a confidence stimulus

Project Syndicate
The real recovery of confidence did not occur until after World War II, when the world did not sink back into depression. The US Council of Economic Advisors warned of this possibility in 1949, and it was not alone.
There appears to be more than one reason why, on the contrary, confidence came roaring back. [...]

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Becker’s three effects of the current crisis

Nobel Economist Gary Becker: Now Is No Time to Give Up on Markets – WSJ.com
Mr. Becker sees the finger prints of big government all over today’s economic woes. When I ask him about the sources of the mania in housing prices, the first culprit he names is the Fed. Low interest rates, he says, were [...]

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Mercosur’s standstill

FTD.de – Südamerika: Der Pakt der Uneinigen – Seite 1 von 2 – International
Wenn Brasiliens Staatspräsident Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva am Freitag seine argentinische Kollegin Cristina Fernández de Kirchner trifft, wird Chávez nicht anwesend sein. Und auch von seinem Milliardenprojekt wird nicht mehr die Rede sein. Denn mit der globalen Krise ist die wirtschaftliche [...]

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