Ruchir Sharma, “How the Next Downturn Will Surprise Us”
(The New York Times – metered paywall, 18 September 2018)
The editorialist argues that in their campaign to contain the risks that caused the Great Recession, central bankers may have planted the seeds for the next global economic crisis. Over the past 10 years, the world’s largest central banks have expanded their balance sheets from less than $5 trillion to more than $17 trillion, with much of the newly printed money finding its way into the financial markets where it often follows the path of least regulation. Within the $290 trillion global financial markets, there are hundreds of new risks, pools of potentially troubled debt. The most troubling are corporate borrowers and so-called non-bank lenders all over the world (reads in 5-6 min).
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(The New York Times – metered paywall, 18 September 2018)
The editorialist argues that in their campaign to contain the risks that caused the Great Recession, central bankers may have planted the seeds for the next global economic crisis. Over the past 10 years, the world’s largest central banks have expanded their balance sheets from less than $5 trillion to more than $17 trillion, with much of the newly printed money finding its way into the financial markets where it often follows the path of least regulation. Within the $290 trillion global financial markets, there are hundreds of new risks, pools of potentially troubled debt. The most troubling are corporate borrowers and so-called non-bank lenders all over the world (reads in 5-6 min).
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Adair Turner, “Japan’s Successful Economic Model”
(Project Syndicate, 20 September 2018)
Maybe counter-intuitively for many, the chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking argues that Japan does well. Yes: its GDP growth lags behind most other developed economies (and will likely continue to do so as the population slowly declines); but it is GDP per capita that matters, and on this front, the country excels. Also, as a machine for delivering prosperity to a wide range of citizens, Japan’s economy compares well with almost any other. Even government debt and unsustainable fiscal deficits are not as acute as we think, Adair shows (reads in 6-7 min).
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(Project Syndicate, 20 September 2018)
Maybe counter-intuitively for many, the chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking argues that Japan does well. Yes: its GDP growth lags behind most other developed economies (and will likely continue to do so as the population slowly declines); but it is GDP per capita that matters, and on this front, the country excels. Also, as a machine for delivering prosperity to a wide range of citizens, Japan’s economy compares well with almost any other. Even government debt and unsustainable fiscal deficits are not as acute as we think, Adair shows (reads in 6-7 min).
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Kate Gordon and Julio Friedmann, “Climate Change Is a Chronic Condition”
(Foreign Affairs (metered paywall), 18 September 2018)
This article is US-centric, but we get the point! Continuing shifts in climate around the world are driving up current and future costs, putting new strains on a short-term emergency response but also on long-term investments and economic growth. These are no longer one-off events but chronic problems, and managing them requires a fundamentally different approach from the way most policymakers currently think about climate change (around 10 min.)
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(Foreign Affairs (metered paywall), 18 September 2018)
This article is US-centric, but we get the point! Continuing shifts in climate around the world are driving up current and future costs, putting new strains on a short-term emergency response but also on long-term investments and economic growth. These are no longer one-off events but chronic problems, and managing them requires a fundamentally different approach from the way most policymakers currently think about climate change (around 10 min.)
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Liam Denning, “How Renewables Lead to a World of Peak Energy”
(Bloomberg, 26 September 2018)
This is an intriguing extension of the “peak oil” idea (the idea that we’ll eventually run out of oil). The argument: renewable energy (wind, solar, and hydropower), at higher penetration, subverts the way we think about the world’s energy consumption. By displacing not only useful thermal energy but also the waste, renewable sources add to the overall level of useful energy while simultaneously slowing and even reversing the growth in primary energy consumption (reads in 6-7 min).
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(Bloomberg, 26 September 2018)
This is an intriguing extension of the “peak oil” idea (the idea that we’ll eventually run out of oil). The argument: renewable energy (wind, solar, and hydropower), at higher penetration, subverts the way we think about the world’s energy consumption. By displacing not only useful thermal energy but also the waste, renewable sources add to the overall level of useful energy while simultaneously slowing and even reversing the growth in primary energy consumption (reads in 6-7 min).
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Joe Pinsker, “People Are Confused About the Usefulness of Buying Fancy Things”
(The Atlantic, 27 September 2018)
Luxury goods don’t impress, but repel! Recent research suggests that conspicuous consumption can temporarily increase one’s self-esteem but it does not impress potential friends. Status does not attract new friends because people, when looking for friends, don’t like feeling inadequate (reads in 3-4 min).
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