Word: economisters
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Optimism for this so-called third-Way economics is amplified in Michael Reid's Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America's Soul (Yale University Press; 400 pages). Reid, editor of the Americas section of the Economist, concedes that Latin America's chronic ills, especially its inequality between rich and poor, are among the world's worst. But his comparison of past and present yields a more sanguine picture: the region is "one of the world's most important testing laboratories for the viability of democratic capitalism as a global project." Reid insists that Latin America's democratic and capitalist...
...have been able to increase output in recent years because the global economy has been on a tear. The 2004-07 period saw the second strongest bout of global growth on record--which translated into strong demand for cheap Chinese-made products. But this era may be ending. Most economists are forecasting a significant slowdown in worldwide GDP growth in 2008. This slowdown, predicts Lehman Brothers economist Sun Ming-chun, will prove to be the "unmasking of [manufacturing] overcapacity in China." Says Li of the Asia Footwear Association: "The cake is only so big, and when you have too many...
...cheap workers, but that edge is getting dull. Labor costs have increased 50% in the past four years across southeastern provinces--an area of China sometimes called the "workshop of the world"--and a new labor law passed by Beijing will only add to the burden. Jonathan Anderson, an economist at UBS in Hong Kong, says factory owners in southern China believe the new law will drive labor costs an additional 10% to 25% higher. Among other provisions, the new law entitles laid-off workers to one month of severance pay for every year of employment. "In a case where...
...have serious consequences for China's economy and society. The specter of legions of laid-off migrant workers roaming the streets in search of jobs is bound to keep Beijing's economic policymakers--who fear the political consequences of widespread social unrest--up at night. Sun, the Lehman Brothers economist, says that as manufacturers are pushed to the brink, China's stock markets could see sharp declines. Given that many large, listed Chinese companies pad their profits by investing in stocks themselves, "a big correction could bring [corporate earnings] even lower, and a vicious cycle could result," says...
...same dramatic topography inspired the 18th century economist Adam Smith, a hero of Brown's and a fellow alumnus of the local high school in Kirkcaldy, to think about the virtues of global trade. The ships Smith watched on the Firth of Forth, Brown says, carried both goods and people - Scottish emigrants leaving for the New World. "All the songs of Scotland are sad songs," Brown says, in a two-hour interview with TIME. "They're songs of departure about people who will never see each other again because they've gone to America." Brown, who is making a trip...