From currency warfare to lasting peace | vox - Research-based policy analysis and commentary from leading economists

From currency warfare to lasting peace by Barry Eichengreen VoxEU

A piece of advise on what small emerging economies can do when the giants are fighting currency wars.

"A better solution would be to encourage the domestic demand for manufactures. Demand could be encouraged through, inter alia, tax credits for purchases of household appliances like those with which Japan has experimented. Married with some further appreciation of the currency, this would leave the demand for manufacturing products unchanged.
Better still would be to figure out exactly which manufacturing sectors are sources of learning-by-doing and technology spillovers. Not all manufacturing sectors, presumably, are. Only those which generate these favourable external effects for growth should be the recipients of preferential tax treatment."

FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf - Currencies clash in new age of beggar-my-neighbour

FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf - Currencies clash in new age of beggar-my-neighbour: "Currencies clash in new age of beggar-my-neighbour"

Martin Wolf makes a good point on the currency war between US and China

Impact of kindergarten on career

A new NBER paper have found that the early childhood development has a long-lasting effect on our careers.


How Does Your Kindergarten Classroom Affect Your Earnings? Evidence From Project STAR Raj Chetty, John N. Friedman, Nathaniel Hilger, Emmanuel Saez, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, and Danny Yagan, NBER Working Paper No. 16381

"First, kindergarten test scores are highly correlated with outcomes such as earnings at age 27, college attendance, home ownership, and retirement savings. Second, students in small classes are significantly more likely to attend college, attend a higher-ranked college, and perform better on a variety of other outcomes. Class size does not have a significant effect on earnings at age 27, but this effect is imprecisely estimated. Third, students who had a more experienced teacher in kindergarten have higher earnings. Fourth, an analysis of variance reveals significant kindergarten class effects on earnings. Higher kindergarten class quality – as measured by classmates' end-of-class test scores – increases earnings, college attendance rates, and other outcomes. Finally, the effects of kindergarten class quality fade out on test scores in later grades but gains in non-cognitive measures persist. We conclude that early childhood education has substantial long-term impacts, potentially through non-cognitive channels."

EU trade policy

Simon J Evenett has a nice piece on the EU trade policy. Here is the key paragraph for Ukrainian RTA:

EU RTA policy runs into two constraints. First, EU negotiating objectives are far too diffuse, ranging from traditional tariff considerations to new behind-the-border rules to "sustainable development" and a plethora of other non-economic goals. The latter are often wrapped up in patronising language about promoting European values. Second, some of the RTA partners are large enough that they too have demands, demands which the EU probably cannot deliver. (Indian demands for visas being a case in point.) Both factors have eroded, if not eliminated, the basis of the deal in many negotiations. In fact, the EU negotiating package seems best suited for other industrialised countries that have either defensive agricultural interests (Korea) or are willing to forgo their offensive agricultural interests (Canada). The problem is that there aren't many such countries left for the EU to negotiate RTAs with! As far as the large emerging markets are concerned, little should be expected.

Overall, unless there is a substantial streamlining of EU negotiating demands and occasionally a willingness to make serious concessions to negotiating partners, the EU's RTA and EPA negotiations will remain a sideshow. These negotiations may afford opportunities for experimentation but there aren't enough deals in the works to dramatically scale up any innovative provisions.

Ukraine is emerging country with an agenda to promote its agricultural products to EU. That is exactly a combination of factors, EU is not prepared to deal with.

Ukrainian household spent 58 percent on food

In 1st quarter of 2010 Ukrainian household spent 58 percent on food, 33 percent on other goods and services.

Very sad numbers: 1.5 percent of total consumption was spent on entertainment and culture, 1.6 percent spent on eating out. There is no life for Ukrainian households.

Minister of Finance has no clue

Minister of Finance has no clue about what human capital means:

"Предусматривается создание условий для обновления производственных мощностей, что будет стимулировать инвестиции в человеческий капитал и рост заработных плат."

As a matter of fact the term "human capital" was introduced to show difference between investing in productive capacity (physical capital) and investing in education (human capital).

LB.ua: Перекрывать дороги в Сумах будут по приказу Госхраны - Политика

LB.ua: Перекрывать дороги в Сумах будут по приказу Госхраны - Политика: "Как подчеркнул Резников, если будут основания, то ГАИ будет действовать согласно закону"

Does it mean that generally it does not follow the law?

Министр АПК: Я гречку еще лет пять есть не смогу - Интервью на ЛІГА.Новости

I can't stop laughing. Our minister of agriculture can be a professional stand-up comedian.

Министр АПК: Я гречку еще лет пять есть не смогу - Интервью на ЛІГА.Новости: "Проверки дисциплинируют и возвращают к демократии."

Министр АПК: Я гречку еще лет пять есть не смогу - Интервью на ЛІГА.Новости

Министр АПК: Я гречку еще лет пять есть не смогу - Интервью на ЛІГА.Новости: "Кабинет Министров принял решение срочно внести в Верховную Раду соответствующий законопроект о внутренней торговле, который даст возможность урегулировать ситуацию с ценами"

Министр АПК: Я гречку еще лет пять есть не смогу - Интервью на ЛІГА.Новости

Министр АПК: "Рынок не может саморегулироваться."

"...мы приступили к созданию Научного института аналитики, прогнозирования и балансов. Ведь принцип "рынок сам все отрегулирует" не срабатывает. Рынок не может саморегулироваться. Мы все убедились в этом на примере продуктового ажиотажа."