Category: Trends: Economic
-
‘Great Decoupling’ of Wages and Productivity Driven by New Technology
Huffington Post: 'Great Decoupling' of Wages and Productivity Driven by New Technology Interesting chart.
-
Why “Sustainable Development” is Not the Answer
New York Times: A Call to Look Past Sustainable Development – Eduardo Porter If billions of impoverished humans are not offered a shot at genuine development, the environment will not be saved. And that requires not just help in financing low-carbon energy sources, but also a lot of new energy, period. Offering a solar panel…
-
Top 1% Income Share Is The Same As 1999
From a post by Greg Mankiw (The One Percent, Updated): Over the last sixteen years, the share of pre-tax income earned by the top 1% has ranged between 17% and 23%. I calculate an average of 20% over that time frame, precisely where it is today. Read Mankiw's post for more details. A peculiar note:…
-
Globalization and Inequality: Two Complex Decades in One Simple Graph
Pew Research Center: Chart of the Week: How two decades of globalization have changed the world (Source: Milanovic, B., Lead Economist, World Bank Research Department, Global income inequality by the numbers. Annotations by James Plunkett.) I have seen the unannotated version of this graph several times, but the annotations really make things clear. The graph…
-
Invisible Fuel (and “Limits to Growth” Thinking)
Economist: Inivisble Fuel THE CHEAPEST AND cleanest energy choice of all is not to waste it. Progress on this has been striking yet the potential is still vast. Improvements in energy efficiency since the 1970s in 11 IEA member countries that keep the right kind of statistics (America, Australia, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy,…
-
Why I Won’t Shut Up About Positive Changes in The World
Most people are exceptionally illiterate about the trajectory of demographic and economic changes in the world, believing the world is decaying. That leads many to disengage in hopelessness. Globalization combined with investment in human capital and infrastructure has put extreme poverty in rapid retreat. The global poor are not getting poorer. The world is getting…
-
GDP Growing Fastest in Poor Countries
The world's poorest regions have been growing the fastest for at least twenty years. The Economist forecasts world GDP to be 2.9%, Asia and Australasia (less Australia) at 5.7%, and Sub-Saharan Africa at 4.5%. These rates indicate a considerable slowing of growth from recent years. The US forecast is 3.2%. This is more evidence that…