International Economics: IB Economics

This World Bank clip looks at the development of a massive electricity generating project in West Africa, with the building of an advanced electricity network spanning the region, linking a power station in Mali with one in Senegal. As a result, the region now has a reliable source of electricity and this is fostering development across the region. 

As well as improving healthcare outcomes, the Health and Energy Platform of Action (HEPA) is looking to improve access to clean cooking, and reduce domestic air pollution. An additional benefit, would be reducing the opportunity cost of collecting fuel. 

Both of which would enhance development in a number of ways - improving air quality, enhancing gender equality and allowing children greater access to education as well as better healthcare outcomes too. 

Sri Lanka is about to default on its debt for the first time since independence as the financial crisis there comes to a head. The economy is negotiating with the IMF to reschedule debt repayments, and get an emergency loan to help overcome the shortages of food, fuel, electricity and medicine, and rampant inflation currently paralysing the economy. 

Another World Bank clip looking at sustainability, and how climate change is impacting Indian agriculture, and how this is exacerbated by the unintended effects of government policy.

It's an interesting insight into how policy issues are interlinked, and how appropriate policy can improve the prospects for sustainable development.

The IMF has launched a new social media offensive, with an increased focused on its research.

In this case, two of its economists look at inequality in a sub-Saharan African setting using a variety of measures - traditional measures looking at household incomes, supplemented by newer indicators looking at satellite images measuring light intensity across the continent. 

You might think about how inequality affects development, and what sorts of relationships you'd expect to find between regional inequality and a range of factors, such as macroeconomic stability, access to electricity and other aspects of poverty. 

An important clip from the International Finance Corporation looking at the extent to which Africa lacks electricity and what it is doing to tackle it.

It demonstrates the key role of infrastructure development in fostering development more generally. And interestingly, also suggests that government intervention in the market for energy might impede, as well as improve, provision.

This BBC documentary looks at how the South African economy is potentially on the brink of crisis, because its energy system is overloaded and on the brink of collapse and the country cannot keep the lights on. 

It's a fascinating insight into one of the most basic supply-side needs, and the implications of this for the economy as a whole. And as ever, the distributional effects of this are unequal, with the greatest burden falling on the poor. 

This World Health Organisation (WHO) clip looks at how electricity is essential to the provision of healthcare, not least in the developing world. However, the Health and Energy Platform of Action (HEPA) is looking at trying to roll out renewable energy solutions to allow rural healthcare to use the most modern equipment, and enhance developmental outcomes. 

The Observer looks at the extent of the ongoing financial crisis in Sri Lanka, with shortages of food, medicines, fuel and electricity have seen the economy grind to a halt. And it's having a catastrophic effect on living standards and developmental prospects for the beautifully island nation and its fabulously welcoming citizens. 

West Africa is looking to increase its energy security, by creating a regional electricity market to facilitate regional trade in power, and in doing so, provide incentives to increase the supply of power and its security going forward. 

At present, only around a third of people have direct access to electricity in the region. Giving more people access to power will offer economic opportunities and development for all. 

Crikey! Having seen my YouTube subcriptions this morning, there's lots of new World Bank material, starting with this clip which highlights the positive developmental effects of rolling out a solar-powered mini-grids, to help bring sustainable electricity to 10,000 Ghanaians along the Volta River.

Ghanaians are already relatively well-served in terms of electricity; however, for those people without access to the existing electricity network, solar mini-grid have provided an unusual way of bring electricity to the poorest members of society, significantly enhancing their quality of life, allowing them to run their businesses for longer, boosting both incomes and development.