photo: Connie Northeast China is under heavy pressure to reduce overcapacity. As the economy is rebalancing, so must “China’s Rustbelt.” But how? In the next five years, China’s steel sector should reduce capacity by 100-150 million metric tons, while the coal mining sector will cut capacity by 500 million tons, with another 500 million tons to […]
From the Multilateral Investment Fund Trends blog If women make up half of the population and almost half of professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean, why are not more women represented in senior management positions in businesses in the region? A study recently published by McKinsey & Co., Women in the Workplace 2015, estimated that in […]
photo: Oriol Salvador In the past, so the legend goes, Hong Kong feared nothing. Today, the city seems frozen by its obstacles. Can it change, once more? In a recent commentary, I argued that, in the absence of a radical new growth strategy, Hong Kong is facing an eclipse. In a response, “Hong Kong’s strength lies […]
The concept of public-private partnerships is in vogue in the Caribbean. Some governments mistakenly believe that PPPs allow the private sector to build and maintain infrastructure like roads, and provide public services like wastewater treatment, with little cost to the public sector. This is not the case. However, in certain PPP projects, private-sector efficiencies can […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the broad unemployment rate, U-6, fell to 12.2 percent in May. As the following chart shows, that was a new low for the recovery. The decrease was especially welcome because it was accompanied by an increase of 192,000 in the civilian labor force, reversing some of April’s […]
Despite one of the longest recoveries in recent US history, hiring remains subdued and the unemployment rate decreases mainly as a result of falling labour force participation. Other advanced economies face similar difficulties, even though their recovery has been less dynamic. Currently more than 8.3% of workers are out of a job in advanced economies, […]
Whenever you talk about a Job Guarantee, that promises to hire anyone ready and willing to work, the Moles Pop Up proclaiming that JG workers will never do anything useful. They’ll all be hired to dig holes, and then will be rehired to bury those holes. It isn’t desirable or feasible to run a JG […]
Private nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. are projected to post a monthly increase of 207,000 (seasonally adjusted) in tomorrow’s August update from the Labor Department, according to The Capital Spectator’s average econometric point forecast. The projected gain is substantially higher than the reported increase of 161,000 for July. Meanwhile, The Capital Spectator’s average August projection […]
As summer draws to an end, the final countdown to the September 17-18 FOMC meeting begins. Odds still favor that the Fed begins tapering asset purchases at the conclusion of that meeting. But make no mistake, whether the Fed begins the tapering process this meeting or next is essentially irrelevant at this point. What is […]
There are many ways to define rebalancing within the euro area: relative prices, trade, productivity, unit labor costs, etc. I’d argue that one could see it in the employment data as well, although it will take a long time to work its way through. Basically, Spaniards should move to Germany and vice versa to enjoy […]