News and links, January 28, 2010

• Tymoshenko promises to introduce an electronic registration of entrepreneurs, KyivPost   It would be great! Will she do it if she is not elected?

• Yanukovych backs wage rises opposed by IMF, KyivPost   We will see what Azarov tell us after elections are over.
• Ukraine plans to borrow abroad in April-May, KyivPost  New Eurobonds are likely in April.
• Oil and Democracy in Russia, Daniel Treisman   Treisman does not agree that Russia falls under the "resource curse"
• U.S. Growth in the Decade Ahead, Martin Feldstein  1.9% per year is the prediction

Google WDI data works with population as well!

WDI data in Google

Google makes life easier than ever. Now, one can access the WDI data by typing queries in Google:  e.g. "GDP of Ukraine". Also, nice figures are easy to produce and share. For example, look at the great divergence between Turkey and Ukraine, two neighbors across the Black Sea:

News and links, January 26, 2010

Tom Coupe on example of trade diversion:
"In 2006 the top countries of origin were Russia, Ukraine and Romania - in that order, the Tampep network reports. But in 2008 the top three were Romania, Russia and Bulgaria. Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007.


M. Azarov on the driving force of economic growth in Ukraine in 2011: vote for our candidate and the team of professionals. I wonder who those professionals are, he himself is a geologist by education.


Kommersant reports that the unemployment in Ukraine is down from 9.5% in 1q2009 to 8.6% in the January-September 2009