Nathan VanderKlippe
A roundup of the best economic posts on the Web
The bailout: A bloody financial ritual that no longer makes sense
The long version of Doug Saunders' Globe and Mail piece on the three letters countries have come to fear -- IMF
"From the point of view of the people on the street, what unfolded in Ireland this week was exactly what people saw in Nigeria in '89, or Britain in '76 - first the country discovers that international bond markets, frightened by its unstable economy, will no longer loan it money at a price it can afford. So the IMF team arrives from Washington, checks into the expensive hotel across from the finance ministry, pores over the country's books, and then delivers a Structural Adjustment Program - a set of drastic reforms that essentially turn the entire country's economy into a debt-repayment machine."
The true costs of carbon
New York Times Economix points to a new study out today that digs deep into the true costs of America's energy policies:
"For example, Mr. Greenstone and Mr. Looney estimate that a coal plant must spent 3.2 cents to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity (and consumers then pay slightly more than this). This price appears to be a bargain, the economists write, but the true costs - once health costs, military costs and the like are taken into account - are more than twice high: 8.8 cents per kilowatt hour."
Euro zone design and management failures
On VoxEU, Guillermo de la Dehesa says "Europe's sovereign debt crisis ... exposes weaknesses in the monetary union's design, governance, and management - many of which were pointed out long before the euro existed. But, despite this, ... the euro zone still has the ability to make good."
Recent posts on Global Exchange, The Globe's new International Business blog:
Carolynne Wheeler in Beijing says the government is enlisting the state's media to help expose flaws and scandals in the country's food industry.
Kevin Carmichael in Washington on Brazil's rush to find as many trading partners as possible.
Tavia Grant with a new World Bank report suggesting a major shift in global economic power to emerging economies by 2025