The beach at Marino Ballena National Park in southwest Costa Rica.
A roundup of the best economic posts on the Web
Copy-cat economics
Now that the shine is off American capitalism, Jeffrey Frankel of Harvard asks 'where should countries look now, in 2010, for models of economic success to emulate? Two countries on the periphery, he says, are near the top of his list. "Costa Rica in Central America and Mauritius in Africa each pulled ahead of its regional peers some time ago. Among many other decisions that have worked out well for them, both countries have foregone a standing army. The results in both cases have been a political history devoid of coups, and financial savings that can be used for education, investment, and other good things."
More to debt/income ratios that just a number
On Worthwhile Canadian Initiative, Nick Rowe looks at Canadians' growing debt to income ratios (currently around 150 per cent) and finds that reckless spending is not necessarily the cause.
Not so long ago
Paul Krugman of The New York Times offers a historical reminder to those Americans who say you can't spend your way out of a depressed economy.
The recession and migration
The OECD looks at a new study which offers further evidence of " the recession's impact on migration - some countries appear to be seeing very sharp falls in the numbers of new arrivals while the job prospects of existing migrants continue to take a hit."
Markets respond to QE2
On Modeled Behavior, a couple of charts showing that the "10 year breakeven rate seems to be moving higher indicating that the market is expecting inflation. This is the yield on 10 year treasuries minus the yield on inflation protected treasuries."
The NDP's misdiagnosis
Stephen Gordon on Worthwhile Canadian Initiative says the NDP's idea of removing the GST from heating bills is "just another example of a policy designed to fit a communications strategy instead of the other way around."