International Economics: IB Economics

This is a fascinating article that details how COVID has affected the US labour market, with implications for the wider macroeconomy. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NEBR) as well as 250,000 people of working age dying from the virus, around 500,000 have also left the labour force. This represents a supply-side shock and will have implications for other macroeconomic objectives too.  

Not content with Africa, being the new China, I give you another perspective: will India be the new China. (I suspect I will finish with 'Is China the new China?')

However, many commentators have always thought that India is going to overtake China at some point. Why? Demographic advantages - a younger population, a more literate population; the benefits conferred by the English language and the good fortune to have inherited English institutions; the potential labour pool available, given that India has lower levels of urbanisation relative to China.

Fascinating interview with Christine Lagarde that highlights the role that women have to play in economic growth. She suggests that increasing female participation could boost growth by 35%, which makes you think about the global PPF, if you will. 

Without higher levels of female participation, we're producing well inside inside the PPF: however, how can we foster increased participation. You might think about the policies that are needed to increase female participation - and remember, people respond to incentives. so think about a range of factors: pay differentials, the cost and availability of childcare, and all sorts of other factors. Even in the developed world, it's empirically true that women commute for less time than men, so this sort of thing would also be an issue. 

Lots of chance for good economists to practice their evaluative skills here!

More from the World Bank on reintegrating former combatants in Rwanda and the impact of this on the Rwandese economy.

For all the naysayers, like me, there are many others who see Brexit as a fantastic opportunity. In this instance, it's the Prime Minister of Poland, who is trying to encourage Polish workers to return from the UK and boost the country's labour supply and thus it's productive capacity, helping growth.

The World Bank has supported the Tongan government implement a Skills and Employment project to develop human capital, as well as spending money to create greater resilience in the face of natural disasters.

Both are important in ensuring sustainable development in the Pacific economy, and enhancing developmental prospects. 

This World Bank clip looks at the issue of gender equality in Malaysia and looks at how Malaysia might make more of women of working age, to enhance the economy's productivity capacity boosting growth, and creating the right environment to entice women back into the labour force. 

This International Finance Corporation clip looks at the importance of tackling the lack of childcare in Sri Lanka: it's an important cog in promoting female participation in the labour force, in a country where women only represent 36% of the labour force and anything that increases this could potentially boost GDP by up to 20%.

This gives you some illustration of why development is such a multi-faceted issue - in why getting women working is such an important part of the development puzzle. 

A really heartening World Bank clip about the reintegration of former combatants into civil society. Think about how this might affect the economy's labour supply and, by definition, its potential growth.

As a result, this should enhance development in the Rwandese economy, helping to offset the cost of the civil war, in terms of lost GDP.