International Monetary Fund:Weekend Read: Risks of a High-Debt, Slow-Growth World....
Dear MARIA, In today's edition, we highlight: - Risks of a high-debt, slow-growth world
- Kristalina Georgieva on boosting China's growth
- Germany's economic challenges
- Digital money in the Pacific Islands
- Diane Coyle on renewing economics
- Digital currencies in Sub-Saharan Africa
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PUBLIC DEBT(Credit: Altayb/iStock by Getty Images) Public debt has increased significantly in recent decades, across advanced as well as emerging and middle-income economies. A new blog by Tobias Adrian, Vitor Gaspar, and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas says that countries should take three steps to bring global debt to more sustainable levels: rebuild fiscal buffers, undertake appropriate stress tests, and implement structural reforms. “It is easier to rebuild fiscal buffers while financial conditions remain relatively accommodative and labor markets robust. It is harder to do so when forced by unfavorable market conditions. Durable fiscal consolidation will also allow policy rates to fall faster, which should reduce any adverse effects on the macroeconomy. While a substantial fiscal consolidation is necessary, this is not a call for austerity,” the authors note. The authors advise that stress tests should adequately account for the impacts on banks and non-banks of higher sovereign interest rates and potential bouts of market illiquidity. They also warn against postponing structural reforms, which they recommend as the best way to help stabilize debt dynamics. |
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CHINA(Credit: Digital Vision/Photo Images) China is approaching a fork in the road: rely on the policies that have worked in the past, or update its policies for a new era of high-quality growth, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in remarks at the China Development Forum in Beijing. “According to our analysis, with a comprehensive package of pro-market reforms, China could grow considerably faster than a status quo scenario. This additional growth would amount to a 20 percent expansion of the real economy over the next 15 years – in today’s terms, that is like adding $3.5 trillion to the Chinese Economy,” said Georgieva. To achieve this growth, China will need to commit to sound macroeconomic fundamentals and strong institutions; higher reliance on domestic consumption; strengthening the business environment; and investments in human capital. China also has enormous potential in advancing the green economy, Georgieva noted. |
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IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said there is a promise to be made to the next generation and those who follow in a keynote speech at King's College, Cambridge. In this podcast based on the speech, she calls for a different kind of growth: one that is more sustainable and equitable, and more resilient, so that countries can better navigate what is likely to be a more shock-prone world. |
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GERMANY(Credit: Lena Mucha/IMF Photo) Germany’s economy has been struggling, and the country faces several obstacles to improving its medium-term growth prospects, including an impending decline in the working-age population and a lack of investment in public infrastructure. However, it has the means at hand to overcome these issues, note Kevin Fletcher, Harri Kemp, and Galen Sher in a new Country Focus article. "Germany faces important economic challenges, but it also possesses policy levers to overcome them and secure a brighter economic future," the authors note. "It's time to use them." The authors list a number of ways Germany might address these obstacles, including increasing its labor supply by making it easier for women to extend their working hours (through expanding access to reliable childcare, for example); boosting public investment to raise productivity; cutting red tape, which is a barrier to both investment and starting new business; and digitalizing government services to speed up processes. |
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PACIFIC ISLANDS(Credit: BrianScantlebury/iStock by Getty Images) Pacific Island countries face challenges to financial services and inclusion partly due to their small size and unique landscape. A new blog from the IMF’s Bo Li, Anca Paduraru, and Yong Sarah Zhou says that digital money can improve financial inclusion and cross border connectivity, as well as empowering underserved people and groups in these countries. “In an increasingly interconnected world, digital money and related innovation offer advantages such as efficiency, accessibility, and security,” the authors note. “Pacific island countries could explore a regional approach to introducing new forms of digital money and payments while managing the associated risks. That could entail connecting traditional domestic payment systems, interlinking CBDCs once in place, establishing or joining multilateral digital payment platforms and regional networks." This approach can also include knowledge sharing with peers, development partners, and the IMF and other international organizations, the authors say. |
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FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT(Credit Andre Laame/Sepia) The absence of solidly grounded welfare economics has been an uncomfortable vacuum in economics, the University of Cambridge's Diane Coyle writes in F&D magazine. Policymakers must choose what they think will be the best course of action for their society, using the best tools economics can provide. But these tools have reached their limits, she writes. “It is time for a reboot of welfare economics. And that means moving away from the simplistic set of assumptions that have shaped the worldview instilled in generations of economics policymakers.” |
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This article is from F&D’s March issue, in which we ask, Economics: How should it change? For this issue, we invited leading thinkers to share their views on how economics can rise to today’s challenges. Contributors include Angus Deaton, Atif Mian, Diane Coyle, Jayati Ghosh, John H. Cochrane, Michael Kremer, Dani Rodrik, Jeffry Frieden, Kate Raworth, Katharina Pistor, Michael Olabisi, Niall Kishtainy, Signe Krogstrup, Suresh Naidu, Ulrike Malmendier, Wendy Carlin, and many others. |
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Weekly RoundupFINTECH NOTEWhat will digital payment systems look like in Sub-Saharan Africa? A new Fintech Note summarizes the views of 30 central banks from the region. The digital landscape across Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed a dynamic transformation in recent years, with the emergence of private digital money, the usage of crypto-assets, and the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). Over 75 percent of countries are currently engaged in—or are planning to engage in—CBDC research or pilot activities, mainly to improve financial inclusion and domestic payments efficiency, the note says. AFRICA PERSPECTIVESCarlos Lopes, Professor from the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, joined Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director of the IMF's African Department for a conversation on the latest episode of Africa Perspectives. Professor Lopes shared his insights on the key obstacles to Africa’s economic performance–what he calls “the static model” based on commodity dependence–and how this model can be transformed to pioneer a new type of development. STAFF PAPERAI will affect most occupations and transform growth, but findings are inconclusive on employment and productivity effects, according to a new staff paper that reviews academic literature and policy actions related to the new technology. Summarizing the regulatory actions undertaken in different regions, the authors also find that regulations differ widely in scope and approach. STAFF PAPERThe ramp-up of climate mitigation policies in the US and Canada in recent years has elicited competitiveness concerns; however, a new staff paper finds that cross-border effects of these policies have been limited and have been restricted to energy-intensive and trade-exposed industries. The authors explore the legislated climate policy packages of Canada, Mexico, and the US, and quantify the competitiveness effects of these packages, as well as the Greenhouse Gas emissions carbon leakage effects resulting from these policies.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
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APRIL 2 | 3:30 PM ETIn this conversation with the Center for Global Development’s Masood Ahmed, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva will reflect on lessons learned from previous evolutions of the Fund and look forward to new challenges and ways the IMF can respond. The conversation will also cover the IMF’s role in responding to climate change, fragmentation, and supporting low-income and fragile and conflict-affected states. |
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Thank you again very much for your interest in the Weekend Read! Be sure to let us know what issues and trends we should have on our radar. |
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Ο Ιστοχώρος μας ΔΕΝ ΛΟΓΟΚΡΙΝΕΙ τα κείμενα των Αρθρογράφων του. Αυτά δημοσιεύονται εκφράζοντας τους ιδίους.
Απαγορεύεται η αναδημοσίευση, αναπαραγωγή, ολική, μερική ή περιληπτική ή κατά παράφραση ή διασκευή ή απόδοση του περιεχομένου του παρόντος διαδικτυακού τόπου σε ό,τι αφορά τα άρθρα της ΜΑΡΙΑΣ ΧΑΤΖΗΔΑΚΗ ΒΑΒΟΥΡΑΝΑΚΗ και του ΓΙΑΝΝΗ Γ. ΒΑΒΟΥΡΑΝΑΚΗ με οποιονδήποτε τρόπο, ηλεκτρονικό, μηχανικό, φωτοτυπικό ή άλλο, χωρίς την προηγούμενη γραπτή άδεια των Αρθρογράφων. Νόμος 2121/1993 - Νόμος 3057/2002, ο οποίος ενσωμάτωσε την οδηγία 2001/29 του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου και κανόνες Διεθνούς Δικαίου που ισχύουν στην Ελλάδα.
Tι ήταν η ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ»..για όσους δεν γνωρίζουν.
Η «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ» γεννήθηκε το 2000,ως συνέχεια του Περιοδικού «ΑΧΑΡΝΕΩΝ Έργα». Δημιουργήθηκε από Επαγγελματίες Εκδότες με δεκαετίες στον τομέα της Διαφήμισης, των Εκδόσεων και των Δημοσίων Σχέσεων και αρχικά ήταν μια Υπερτοπική Εφημερίδα με κύριο αντικείμενο το Αυτοδιοικητικό Ρεπορτάζ.
Επί χρόνια, κυκλοφορούσε την έντυπη έκδοσή της σε ένα ικανότατο τιράζ (5000 καλαίσθητων φύλλων εβδομαδιαίως) και εντυπωσίαζε με την ποιότητα της εμφάνισης και το ουσιώδες, μαχητικό και έντιμο περιεχόμενο της.
Η δύναμη της Πένας της Εφημερίδας, η Ειλικρίνεια, οι Ερευνές της που έφερναν πάντα ουσιαστικό αποτέλεσμα ενημέρωσης, την έφεραν πολύ γρήγορα πρώτη στην προτίμηση των αναγνωστών και γρήγορα εξελίχθηκε σε Εφημερίδα Γνώμης και όχι μόνον για την Περιφέρεια στην οποία κυκλοφορούσε.
=Επι είκοσι τέσσαρα (24) χρόνια, στηρίζει τον Απόδημο Ελληνισμό, χωρίς καμία-ούτε την παραμικρή- διακοπή
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=Επί είκοσι τέσσαρα ολόκληρα χρόνια, προβάλλει με αίσθηση καθήκοντος κάθε ξεχωριστό, έντιμο και υπεύθυνο Πολιτικό της Πολιτικής Σκηνής. Στις σελίδες της, θα βρείτε ακόμα και σήμερα μόνο άξιες και χρήσιμες Πολιτικές Προσωπικότητες αλλά και ενημέρωση από κάθε Κόμμα της Ελληνικής Βουλής. Η «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ» ουδέποτε διαχώρησε τους αναγνώστες της ανάλογα με τα πολιτικά τους πιστεύω. Επραττε το καθήκον της, ενημερώνοντας όλους τους Ελληνες, ως όφειλε.
=Επί είκοσι τέσσαρα ολόκληρα χρόνια, δίνει βήμα στους αδέσμευτους, τους επιτυχημένους, τους γνώστες και θιασώτες της Αλήθειας. Στηρίζει τον Θεσμό της Ελληνικής Οικογένειας, την Παιδεία, την Ελληνική Ιστορία, προβάλλει με όλες της τις δυνάμεις τους Αδελφούς μας απανταχού της Γης, ενημερώνει για τα επιτεύγματα της Επιστήμης, της Επιχειρηματικότητας και πολλά άλλα που πολύ καλά γνωρίζουν οι Αναγνώστες της.
=Επί είκοσι τέσσαρα ολόκληρα χρόνια, ο απλός δημότης–πολίτης, φιλοξενείται στις σελίδες της με μόνη προϋπόθεση την ειλικρινή και αντικειμενική γραφή και την ελεύθερη Γνώμη, η οποία ΟΥΔΕΠΟΤΕ λογοκρίθηκε.
Η ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ», είναι ένα βήμα Ισονομίας και Ισοπολιτείας, έννοιες απόλυτα επιθυμητές, ιδιαιτέρως στις ημέρες μας. Είναι ο δικτυακός τόπος της έκφρασης του πολίτη και της εποικοδομητικής κριτικής, μακριά από κάθε στήριξη αφού δεν ετύγχανε οικονομικής υποστήριξης από Δήμους, Κυβερνήσεις ή όποιους άλλους Δημόσιους ή Ιδιωτικούς Φορείς, δεν είχε ΠΟΤΕ χορηγούς, ή οποιασδήποτε μορφής υποστηρικτές. Απολαμβάνει όμως Διεθνούς σεβασμού αφού φιλοξενεί ενημέρωση από αρκετά ξένα Κράτη πράγμα που της περιποιεί βεβαίως, μέγιστη τιμή.
Η ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ» διαγράφει απο την γέννησή της μια αξιοζήλευτη πορεία και απέκτησε εξ αιτίας αυτού,ΜΕΓΙΣΤΗ αναγνωσιμότητα.
Η Εφημερίδα «ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ» κέρδισε την αποδοχή και τον σεβασμό που της ανήκει, με «εξετάσεις» εικοσι τεσσάρων ολόκληρων ετών, με συνεχείς αιματηρούς αγώνες κατά της τοπικής διαπλοκής, με αγώνα επιβίωσης σε πολύ δύσκολους καιρούς, με Εντιμότητα, αίσθηση Καθήκοντος και Ευθύνης.