A couple of these items are stories from last week that I missed….
The Historical Origins of Africa’s Underdevelopment Vox EU
House prices seen falling 30 pct Reuters
OECD advises Fed, ECB, BoJ to hold rates through ’08 Boston Globe
Frying Pan into the Fire Russ Winter. Some great charts in this post.
Are central banks diversifying away from the dollar? Brad Setser
What Doesn’t Seem to be on Anyone’s Platform Angry Bear
Reshaping the Debate on Raising Taxes Robert Frank, New York Times
voxeu.org of full of balogna on Africa. I you are interested in the real story read “IQ and the Wealth of Nations” by Lynn and Vanhalen.
VoxEU article: “According to my calculations, if the slave trades had not occurred, then 72% of the average income gap between Africa and the rest of the world would not exist today”.
While he’s at it, maybe he can calculate the effects of the 1870 Franco-Prussian war on the EU’s GDP. To two decimal places, please. Oh, and the Black Death plague of the 1340s too. For that one, plus or minus two percent accuracy would be fine.