Crisis Roundup: Trade and Finance Edition
Chinese car sales are up 35 percent this year.
A look at tariffs over the past eight years. In 2008, they were significantly below the eight-year average.
The Baltic Dry Index is down, i.e. shipping costs have plummeted. Does this mean less trade, and lower growth? Or just increased capacity?
Global capital markets are entering a new era, with a greater role for emerging markets. The McKinsey Global Institute explains why.
Should the ratings agencies be downgraded?
Tensions are high at the G20 over how to reform the IMF. Simon Johnson's solution? Move it to Europe.
The World Bank is boosting its support to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This past week Hungary, Ukraine and Latvia received a combined $2bn in assistance.
In other World Bank news, Robert Zoellick will be leading a discussion on the financial crisis next Monday (the 28th) from 1100-1230 EST. Crisis Talk will be Tweeting the event live.
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I went to SAIS and made the following to Mr. Robert Zoellick
We all know for sure that capital is extremely coward and so a very important part of development has to do with teaching “prudent risk-taking”, since (paraphrasing Bob Marley) no risk, no development.
Unfortunately our financial regulators by providing incentives like very low capital requirements for banks when lending to “low-risk” clients and by empowering the credit rating agencies to set up their AAA signposts pointing to some “no-risk green valleys” pushed the world down the road of “imprudent risk-averseness”.
Today when all the puritans are calling for even more risk-averseness, there is an immense need for a Champion of the “prudent risk-taking”. Should not the World Bank, as a development bank, be that Champion?
I did not really get an answer, nor was I expecting one. What I do hope for is that Robert Zoellick, and who I got the impression knows what I am talking about, now goes back to his own financial people at the World Bank and asks the same question.
One thing I know though is that to become such a Champion, the World Bank cannot afford to silence its voice any more in the name of a very wrong harmonization agreement with Mr. Stability, the IMF.
Posted by: Per Kurowski | Sep 28, 2009 2:01:15 PM