News and Analysis: 11-15 Jan 10 | EmergingFrontierMarkets.com

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Posted on Fri, 15 Jan 10:

Obama - 'We want our money back'; critics decry new bank 'tax': Pres Obama and aides call it a 'financial crisis responsibility fee'. Some Republicans and biz people called it a 'tax'. Either way, Obama's plan to slap fees on banks that got federal bailouts prompted renewed debate over the economy, politics, and responsibility for the fincl crisis of '08, USA Today, 14 Jan 10 (Ctr Econ & Policy Res--An open letter from economists in support of fincl transaction taxes, Dec '09 [pdf])

Joseph Stiglitz: Moral bankruptcy--Why are we letting Wall Street off so easy?: It is said that a near-death experience forces one to reevaluate priorities and values. The global economy has just escaped a near-death experience. The crisis exposed the flaws in the prevailing economic model, but it also exposed flaws in our society, says Nobel Laureate '01, Mother Jones, Jan-Feb '10 (Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission | Freefall: America, free markets, and the sinking of the world economy)

Posted on Thu, 14 Jan 10:

Global Risks Report warns of long shadow of the financial crisis: The annual Global Risks 2010, on its 5th ed., was released today, highlighting a no. of underlying risks that contributed to and were exacerbated by the global econ downturn. Fiscal crises and unemployment, underinvestment in infrastructure - esp. in energy and agric - and chronic disease are identified as the pivotal areas of risk over the next yrs. Other risks identified as equally systemic in nature, and requiring better global governance, are transnational crime and corruption, biodiversity loss and cyber-vulnerability, World Econ Forum, 14 Jan 10

Laura Freschi: Help navigating complex terrain of disaster relief in Haiti--Ideas for how to help and where to give: Someone who has experience coordinating tsunami relief in Thailand highlights some of the problems that arise in responding to a large scale disaster. Immediately after a disaster is prime fundraising time for NGOs. So they all rush in and put out immediate appeals before there's any clear idea of what or how much they can actually help. Only fund those that already have an office established in-country. It's preferable to try to support small, local community-based orgs as they are already on the ground responding, and will be helping in the nation for a long time, notes NYU Devt Res Inst assoc dir, Aid Watch, 13 Jan 10

Robert Solow: Hedging America--Review of How Markets Fail: The logic of economic calamities, by John Cassidy: We all know that if we each dash for the exit at a hint of fire in a crowded theater, the likely result is a stampede and fatalities, but we are individually tempted anyway, and such disasters sometimes happen. A managed--regulated--exit will be better. The market evangelists simply propose the blanket principle that the market knows best. What is improper in this argument is the frequent hint that it is authorized by econ theory. Nothing so general is ever authorized by econ theory, says Nobel Laureate '87/ MIT Inst prof emeritus, New Republic, 12 Jan 10

Posted on Wed, 13 Jan 10:

Three million affected by Haiti quake - Red Cross: The Red Cross believes as many as 3 mln Haitians have been affected by the devastating magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince Tue, flattening buildings and leaving thousands homeless in its aftermath. A US Geological Survey geophysicist called it the strongest earthuake in the area since 1770, AP (self-updating link courtesy CTV News/ Canada), 13 Jan 10 (Info on Haiti--World Bank | ReliefWeb)

Sparking less poverty and more growth via science, technology, and innovation: Developing nations don't need to climb technology ladders from the bottom - they can leapfrog on new biotech, wireless, mobile, and digital technologies. But often, their main challenge is to develop the STI capacity to solve everyday challenges, modify technologies for local use and deploy them to local villages and enterprises, small and large, World Bank, 11 Jan 10

Posted on Tue, 12 Jan 10:

Emerging countries lead global economy back to normality: Emerging economies are driving a global recovery, the European Central Bank head said Mon on behalf of the central bank chiefs after the 1st quarterly meeting of the yr at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). However, he also warned that commercial banks must ensure that they clean up their balance sheets in the wake of the financial crisis, Ag. France-Presse (courtesy Business Report/ SAfrica), 11 Jan 10

All over the world, the quality of democratic governance is declining: Although the no. of formal democracies remains constant worldwide, in many cases their quality is showing a significant decline. This is the conclusion reached by the Transformation Index of Germany's biggest foundation, which analyzes the quality of democracy, market economy and political management in 128 developing and transition nations. Among the nations w/ the most successful governance over the past few yrs are Uruguay, Chile, Estonia, SKorea and Brazil. Those identified as having the worst political leadership are NKorea, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Somalia and Uzbekistan, Bertelsmann Foundation, Nov '09 (Transformation 2010 rankings: Status index | Management index | In alphabetical order [pdf])

Posted on Mon, 11 Jan 10:

China ends US's reign as largest auto market: China supplanted the US as the world's largest auto market after its '09 vehicle sales jumped 46%, ending more than a century of US dominance that started w/ the Model T Ford. China's sales of passenger cars, buses and trucks rose to 13.6 million, the fastest pace in at least 10 yrs. In the US, sales slumped 21% to 10.4 mln, the fewest since '82, Bloomberg, 11 Jan 10

Chile invited to become a member of OECD: The OECD invited Chile to become its 2nd member in Latin America after Mexico. Chile will formally accept this invitation when an accession agreement is signed on 11 Jan in Santiago. Chile began its path to accession in '07 as one of 5 nations, along w/ Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia, that were invited by OECD to begin accession talks. In parallel, the OECD has broadened its reach to engage w/ major emerging economies, incl Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and SAfrica, OECD, 15 Dec 09 (OECD Econ Outlook--Chile, Nov '09 [pdf] | Citywire/ UK--If BRIC is so '08, which nations are next: MIC?, Sep '09)

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