World poverty is falling faster than expected
"From 1970 to 2006, poverty fell by 86% in South Asia, 73% in Latin America, 39% in the Middle East, and 20% in Africa." And: because world inequality fell, welfare measured for the world as a whole grew even faster than world GDP did, and more than doubled over the period 1970-2006.
Meanwhile, in the real world
- Judge strikes down part of the Patriot Act. The feds now have to go to a judge before requesting records from ISPs. Time to renew my ACLU membership.
- There are a lot of entities that look like banks but aren't regulated like banks. This seems important. Think "a run on the
banksstructured investment vehicles".
Ha! it has a tag cloud.
Compelling corrective on the potential of microfinance
Lots of financial info ... friend uses the 100-day as rough measure of volatility.
(Not that I'm going to use this. I am absolutely not going to start day-trading and spend all day checking stock quotes and trading "hot tips" with friends.)
(Not that I'm going to use this. I am absolutely not going to start day-trading and spend all day checking stock quotes and trading "hot tips" with friends.)
"Various intelligent and readable weblogs by economists"
"It is a country that seems to have achieved a sweet spot, combining the vigor of American capitalism with the humanity of European welfare, yet suffering the drawbacks of neither. And it manages this while keeping a consistent budget surplus. That country, rolling into its 16th year of uninterrupted growth, is Australia."
Shortage of skilled workers, you say? Hmmm...
Shortage of skilled workers, you say? Hmmm...
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
Just published, sounds v. good. Buy at Amazon or download CC-licensed PDFs. Also see the associated wiki maintained by the author.
Just published, sounds v. good. Buy at Amazon or download CC-licensed PDFs. Also see the associated wiki maintained by the author.
The Global Baby Bust
Philip Longman argues that declining birthrates will be socially and economically ruinous.
Philip Longman argues that declining birthrates will be socially and economically ruinous.
Nationmaster
Tons of statistics in a bunch of categories, with different visualization options. Very interesting feature that shows you which variables are correlated with the variable you're looking at. Shame you can't look at things over time.
Tons of statistics in a bunch of categories, with different visualization options. Very interesting feature that shows you which variables are correlated with the variable you're looking at. Shame you can't look at things over time.
