A worker harvests rice stalks at a rice farm near Manila on Sunday, Jan. 23ROMEO RANOCO
A roundup of the best economic posts on the Web
Global food system must be transformed 'on industrial revolution scale'
A new report picked up by The Guardian says "The world will not be able to feed itself without destroying the planet unless a transformation on the scale of the industrial revolution takes place..."
Inequality and debt: the soft bigotry of low expectations
On Worthwhile Canadian Initiative, Nick Rowe looks at the theorieson debt and inequality:
"'The poor don't have enough income to save, and can't help going into debt to the rich. Debt is caused by inequality'. That statement is wrong on many levels. It's wrong theoretically. It's wrong empirically. But most of all, it's wrong because it might make inequality worse. It's the soft bigotry of low expectations. Providence is especially important to the poor. Saying that the poor can't help but be improvident is the last thing they need to hear."
A Hawk for All Seasons
Paul Krugman throws a big bucket of cold water on Jean-Claude Trichet's inflation fears:
"...[E]rozone inflation has behaved a lot like US inflation: low and falling core inflation in the face of a depressed economy, but big swings in headline inflation around that trend with fluctuations in commodity prices. But Trichet now says that the headline number is the one to watch. Those of us who memories stretch back more than a few months can only say, hmmmm."