There are 195 sovereign states, according to the United Nations, and two, “observer states” (Vatican and Palestine). The high income countries in North America, Western Europe and Asia-Pacific account for about 15% of the sovereign states. Most of the rest of the world live in low and medium income countries.
The cliché “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” from Dante’s Inferno appears more appropriate to the current housing situation in India than anywhere else. India is facing a daunting housing shortage of 49 million units (Tiwari and Parikh 2012).
Personal incomes and spending rose, but home sales fell significantly despite expectations of growth.
Pending home sales fell 1.4% in August compared to the prior month, while remaining 6.1% above the level of total pending home sales in August 2014. The National Association of Realtors released a report containing its Pending Home Sales Index, which the NAR says indicates a fall in total home sales is coming later in the year.
The end of a horrendous quarter of equities and emerging markets is generating a sigh of relief that is helping lift those battered markets. The MSCI Emerging Market is up almost 1.75% prior to the open of the Latam markets. Its Asian-Pacific Index is up 2.1%. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 is up 2% near midday in London led consumer staples and materials. Core bond yields are firmer, including US 10-year Treasuries, which are back at 2.09% after testing 2.04% yesterday.
Two developments make a shutdown of the US government on October 1 less likely. First, the outgoing Speaker of the House made it clear he is determined to avoid the government shutdown, and with his resignation (as of the end of October), he is freed from some of the political constraints.
At the end of April 2015, FXI — China’s prestigious Xinhua China 25 index, a key indicator of China’s stock market value — climbed dramatically, reaching over US$52 per share. By 5 September, the index had dropped to a low of about US$33 per share, representing the destruction of almost 40 percent of its value for the period and trillions of dollars in total. Both retail and institutional investors in China felt the bite. As financial markets react, the question remains, what is happening in China? Is the Chinese economy likely to collapse?
The UN declared 2015 the year for global action on development. The post-2015 agenda aims to fill the gaps in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and is far more ambitious than ever before. The year could prove crucial for integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment into the global development and climate agenda. However, will these global processes reach their intended goals? In addition, what do they entail for gender justice in developing countries like India?
In a still familiar refrain, EM assets are starting the week off on a soft note. The global backdrop remains negative, with Yellen’s speech bringing Fed lift-off back into focus. US jobs data this Friday should support the notion of lift-off by year-end. Chinese data is likely to remain soft, while commodity prices are still struggling to get some traction. MSCI EM is on track to test the low from August near 763, while the EMBI Global spread is on track to test the August high near 474 bp.
After arguably squandering his limited political capital on pursuing a controversial agenda for an expanded role for the military and re-starting nuclear plans, Japan’s Prime Minister has turned his attention back to the economy. He unveiled Abenomics 2.0.
Recall that Abenomics was the traditional LDP economic policy but ramped up. The LDP relied on easier fiscal and monetary policy and a weaker yen. It has pursued structural reforms, with varying degrees of success.
Corruption has existed in Thai society for a long time. It has contributed to the failure of government projects. The Klong-Dan water treatment scandal in the late 1990s spent around 23 billion baht (US$ 638 million) of public funds needlessly. More recently, the rice-pledging scheme suffered losses of around 700 billion baht (US$ 14 billion) but resulted in little concrete improvement in poor farmers’ welfare. These instances provide some evidence of the increasing magnitude of damages caused by corruption.
