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Category: Economics

World’s growth cools and the rich-poor divide widens

World’s growth cools and the rich-poor divide widens

The New York Times reports: As the world economy struggles to find its footing, the resurgence of the coronavirus and supply chain chokeholds threaten to hold back the global recovery’s momentum, a closely watched report warned on Tuesday. The overall growth rate will remain near 6 percent this year, a historically high level after a recession, but the expansion reflects a vast divergence in the fortunes of rich and poor countries, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest World…

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A record number of workers are quitting their jobs, empowered by new leverage

A record number of workers are quitting their jobs, empowered by new leverage

The Washington Post reports: The number of people quitting their jobs has surged to record highs, pushed by a combination of factors that include Americans sensing ample opportunity and better pay elsewhere. Some 4.3 million people quit jobs in August — about 2.9 percent of the workforce, according to new data released Tuesday from the Labor Department. Those numbers are up from the previous record set in April, of about 4 million people quitting, reflecting how the pandemic has continued…

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Global supply-chain problems escalate, threatening economic recovery

Global supply-chain problems escalate, threatening economic recovery

The Wall Street Journal reports: Global supply-chain bottlenecks are feeding on one another, with shortages of components and surging prices of critical raw materials squeezing manufacturers around the world. The supply shocks are already showing signs of choking off the recovery in some regions. Part of the problem is a global economy that is out of sync on the pandemic, restrictions and recovery. Factories and retailers in Western economies that have largely emerged from lockdowns are eager for finished products,…

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Cargo piles up as California ports jostle over how to resolve delays

Cargo piles up as California ports jostle over how to resolve delays

The Wall Street Journal reports: Nike Inc. doesn’t have enough sneakers to sell for the holidays. Costco Wholesale Corp. is reimposing limits on paper towel purchases. Prices for artificial Christmas trees have jumped 25% this season. Despite mounting shipping delays and cargo backlogs, the busiest U.S. port complex shuts its gates for hours on most days and remains closed on Sundays. Meanwhile, major ports in Asia and Europe have operated round-the-clock for years. “With the current work schedule you have…

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Vaccinated Democratic counties are leading the U.S. economic recovery

Vaccinated Democratic counties are leading the U.S. economic recovery

Joshua Green writes: With Covid-19 cases once again rising across the country, the U.S. is struggling to curb the latest, delta-driven surge, as hospitalizations and deaths have steadily climbed. But at least so far, the economy has proved highly resilient. There are many reasons for this, ranging from generous stimulus checks to the Federal Reserve’s commitment to buying bonds and holding interest rates low. But some interesting new data on the overlap of electoral politics and economic dynamism suggest another…

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Work is a false idol

Work is a false idol

Cassady Rosenblum writes: In China this April, a 31-year-old former factory worker named Luo Huazhong drew the curtains and crawled into bed. Then he posted a picture of himself there to the Chinese website Baidu along with a message: “Lying Flat Is Justice.” “Lying flat is my sophistic movement,” Mr. Luo wrote, tipping his hat to Diogenes the Cynic, a Greek philosopher who is said to have lived inside a barrel to criticize the excesses of Athenian aristocrats. On Chinese…

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From probable to possible: The ideas of Albert O Hirschman

From probable to possible: The ideas of Albert O Hirschman

Michele Alacevich writes: Like most disciplines, the field of development economics came into being not because of disinterested intellectual curiosity but rather due to pressing contemporary events. In the late 1960s, one prominent international civil servant and development economist reflected that: the cue to the continual reorientation of our work has normally come from the sphere of politics; responding to that cue, students turn to research on issues that have attained political importance. Theories are launched, data collected, and the…

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Iceland tried a four-day work week. It was an overwhelming success

Iceland tried a four-day work week. It was an overwhelming success

ZME Science reports: Among the many things the coronavirus pandemic has affected, our work-life balance has also taken a hit. Most people are simultaneously working from home while doing their day-to-day activities, with many reporting they actually work more than they did before the pandemic struck in 2020, which leaves many feeling burnt out and stressed — but also unwilling to return to the office. This has raised discussions over a four-day working week as a way to increase productivity…

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The looming stagflationary debt crisis

The looming stagflationary debt crisis

Nouriel Roubini writes: In April, I warned that today’s extremely loose monetary and fiscal policies, when combined with a number of negative supply shocks, could result in 1970s-style stagflation (high inflation alongside a recession). In fact, the risk today is even bigger than it was then. After all, debt ratios in advanced economies and most emerging markets were much lower in the 1970s, which is why stagflation has not been associated with debt crises historically. If anything, unexpected inflation in…

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Warren Buffett and the myth of the ‘good billionaire’

Warren Buffett and the myth of the ‘good billionaire’

Anand Giridharadas writes: Warren Buffett appears to be the safest kind of billionaire: the good kind. Mr. Buffett is neither Zuckerbergian messiah nor Musky provocateur, neither Bezosist space cadet nor Sacklerian undertaker. He is, or seems to be, quiet, humble, indifferent to money, philanthropic and critical of the system that allowed him to rise. Years ago, a proposed tax increase was named after him. It’s easy for people to think: If only members of the Sackler family were more like…

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Workers are gaining leverage over employers right before our eyes

Workers are gaining leverage over employers right before our eyes

Neil Irwin writes: The relationship between American businesses and their employees is undergoing a profound shift: For the first time in a generation, workers are gaining the upper hand. The change is broader than the pandemic-related signing bonuses at fast-food places. Up and down the wage scale, companies are becoming more willing to pay a little more, to train workers, to take chances on people without traditional qualifications, and to show greater flexibility in where and how people work. The…

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Just In Time is now running late

Just In Time is now running late

The New York Times reports: In the story of how the modern world was constructed, Toyota stands out as the mastermind of a monumental advance in industrial efficiency. The Japanese automaker pioneered so-called Just In Time manufacturing, in which parts are delivered to factories right as they are required, minimizing the need to stockpile them. Over the last half-century, this approach has captivated global business in industries far beyond autos. From fashion to food processing to pharmaceuticals, companies have embraced…

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Covid pandemic: How rising inequalities unfolded and why we cannot afford to ignore it

Covid pandemic: How rising inequalities unfolded and why we cannot afford to ignore it

Hyejin Kang/Shutterstock By Ian Goldin, University of Oxford Historian Walter Scheidel argues in The Great Leveler that pandemics are among the four great horsemen that, through history, have led to greater equality – the others being war, revolution and state failure. Economist Thomas Piketty in Capital in the Twenty-First Century similarly points out that the world wars and the flu pandemic in 1918 and 1919 contributed to the decline in inequality after 1945. But while mass death can drive up…

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Big Oil’s bad, bad day

Big Oil’s bad, bad day

Bill McKibben writes: In what may be the most cataclysmic day so far for the traditional fossil-fuel industry, a remarkable set of shareholder votes and court rulings have scrambled the future of three of the world’s largest oil companies. On Wednesday, a court in the Netherlands ordered Royal Dutch Shell to dramatically cut its emissions over the next decade—a mandate it can likely only meet by dramatically changing its business model. A few hours later, sixty-one per cent of shareholders…

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Green finance goes mainstream, lining up trillions behind global energy transition

Green finance goes mainstream, lining up trillions behind global energy transition

The Wall Street Journal reports: Some of the world’s biggest companies and deepest-pocketed investors are lining up trillions of dollars to finance a shift away from fossil fuels. Assets in investment funds focused partly on the environment reached almost $2 trillion globally in the first quarter, more than tripling in three years. Investors are putting $3 billion a day into these funds. More than $5 billion worth of bonds and loans designed to fund green initiatives are now issued every…

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Bitcoin mining is giving new life to old fossil-fuel power plants

Bitcoin mining is giving new life to old fossil-fuel power plants

The Wall Street Journal reports: Across America, older fossil-fuel power plants are shutting down in favor of renewable energy. But some are getting a new lease on life—to mine bitcoin. In upstate New York, an idled coal plant has been restarted, fueled by natural gas, to mine cryptocurrency. A once-struggling Montana coal plant is now scaling up to do the same. The lofty price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has investors pouring money into power generation—and risking a backlash. Elon…

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