Category Archive: Emerging Markets
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Understanding Egypt
A turbulent political transition: from hope … In February 2011, a youth-led movement toppled President Hosni Mubarak. A 30 year-dictatorship ended in 18 days. About 800 people died. As elsewhere is the Arab world, the popular uprising intended to subvert an élite-centric political and economic system. The military, led by commander-in-chief and defense minister Mohamed [...]
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Africa: Second Fastest-Growing Region in the World
Sub-Saharan Africa is the second fastest-growing region of the world today, trailing only developing Asia. This is remarkable compared to the current complicated state of the global economy, with Europe still struggling and the United States slowly on the mend. In 2012, Sub-Saharan Africa maintained solid growth, with output growth at 5 percent on average. [...]
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Turkish Reforms and Their Social Implications
It has almost been two weeks since Turkish policy attacked the peaceful protesters at Gezi Park in Taksim Square, who were protesting against turning the park into a mall. There has been quite an emphasis on the economic impact of the demonstrations, which I took on at an Hurriyet Daily News (HDN) column and over [...]
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Turkey: The Chapull-Jew (çapulcu) interest rate lobby
I thought the government had forgotten about them, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan brought up the mysterious interest rate lobby during his speech outside the airport upon his arrival from his North African Rainbow Tour. Here’s the intro. to my latest Hurriyet Daily News (HDN) column, where I discuss why Erdogan’s “interest rate lobby” [...]
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Turkey: The economic consequences of #OccupyGezi
In my latest Hurriyet Daily News (HDN) column, I go over the economic consequences of the Turkish protests. You can read the whole thing at the HDN website, but basically it all boils down to whether Erdogan will take a step back or not. Not that the demands of the protesters are unreasonable, but he [...]
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Czech Floods: Little Effect on GDP
The recent floods that swept the Czech Republic exerted a heavy toll on property and infrastructure, shutting the Prague Metro, regional roads, train service, and shipping routes along the Elbe River. The floods also exacerbated concerns over the recovery prospects of the Czech economy, which is experiencing its second recession in four years. The flood [...]
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Should Policy Makers Favor Home Ownership?
The argument in favour of home ownership Many people believe that more home ownership is a good thing. It is felt that people who own homes have a greater incentive to get involved in local politics as they have a stake in higher house prices. In contrast, people who rent lack this commitment device. Indeed, [...]
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Turkey’s Protests Send a Strong Message, But Will Not Bring Democracy
What follows below is the original, unedited version of my oped in the Financial Times today, for those who cannot access it. (UPDATE: I should add that neither the title of the FT piece nor the subtitle is mine. The subtitle in the print edition “A political class has turned violent to mask its weaknesses” is misleading [...]
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What It Takes for Trade to Reduce Poverty in Africa
Despite tremendous progress in poverty reduction over the last two decades, poverty still persists. Along with South Asia, Africa is a region where large numbers of people continue to live in extreme poverty. It is also a region where there is clearly room for higher foreign trade levels (see Chart). Given that trade can generate [...]
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China: The Morphing Dragon
The Chinese economy has changed dramatically over the last three decades. While its per-capita income was only a third of that of Sub-Saharan Africa in 1978, it has now reached an upper-middle income status, lifting more than half a billion people out of poverty. The numbers are dramatic: per capita income has doubled for more [...]
