Fiscal policy and taxation Transparency and taxes - what we knew before #PanamaPapers The scale of the "missing wealth": "Gabriel Zucman estimated in his paper ‘The Missing Wealth of Nations’ (2013) that 8% of the global financial wealth of households is held in
Slovakia Martin Filko A talented, energetic, and highly productive young Slovak economist Martin Filko has disappeared. It is truly terrible news for Slovakia. Martin's (probably) last interview: Martin Filko: Sme ochotní riskovať naše kariéry | TREND.sk;
Books The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement This book is very critical of the way (some) Americans lead their lives. The main thesis is the "American culture encourages self-admiration with the belief that it will improve our lives."
PIIE State of the global economy Kenneth Rogoff: The Fear Factor in Global Markets A big enough hit to China’s growth or to Europe’s financial system could certainly tip the global economy from slow growth to recession.
China Happening in China - March 2016 News China state firms seen boosting green energy investment in Australia - Yahoo News China makes gains, faces hurdles in extending financial services - Chinadaily.com.cn LinkedIn s’étend en Chine Heard
behavioral economics and psychology Opposition to behavioral economics In their tribute to Gary Becker, Andrei Shleifer and Edward Glaeser document the sources of early skepticism of non-rational modeling of economic behavior: In his brilliant 1962 essay “Irrational Behavior and Economic Theory,
Data science and visualization Data visualization principle: Does the chart needs to be interactive? Re-posting a reminder that: Yes, interactive charts can be engaging. But many viewers will not see the data that is not shown by default. It can be rewarding to let users explore various
International economics United Kingdom's trade with the rest of Europe Share of UK's trade with the rest of the EU (percent) table.tableizer-table { font-size: 14px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 8px; margin: 5px; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold;
technology Is innovation faster when countries feel threatened? In 1993, Joel Mokyr wrote for Reason: Especially after 1870, when the major European powers became steadily less friendly toward one another, the sense of one national identity competing against another was a
China Regulating digital platforms in China Today, a China Daily article described government complaints about Uber's subsidies to drivers: Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, he [the minister of transport] said the subsidies are a short-term tactic to
technology How to keep airports (un)safe with software Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 3.1 fifteen years ago, probably thinking that no one would use it anymore. Originally released in April 1992, that version of the Windows operating system was improved somewhat
EU Iveta Radičová on anti-EU sentiment In an interview with Denník N, former Slovak prime minister Iveta Radičová accurately points out that it was never monetary assistance from Brussels that "caused" corruption in the new member countries.
China China's opening to trade A striking passage from C. Fred Bergsten's comment published in 2004 in Development challenges in the 1990s: leading policymakers speak from experience, edited by Tim Besley: [Jiang Zemin] said, in perfect English, that
behavioral economics and psychology Psychological concepts: Learned helplessness I came across a dissertation in political science that contained a nice description of the concept: The basic idea of the learned helplessness theory is that noncontingency leads to performance deficits. Individuals exposed
Politics Slovak elections, March 5, 2016 Many surprises. Three anti-establishment parties made it. Several (depending on how you count) of the eight parties that will be in the parliament have nationalistic tendencies, or worse. One description: Marian Lesko, a
personal Underwood is back If I'm not back in the office on Monday, you'll know what happened... (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s)
EU The United Kingdom’s March to a Vote on Brexit Why is the referendum taking place? There is a charitable interpretation, and more realistic/cynical possibility: Lenient interpretation: The crisis in the euro area, and the steep increase in immigration, made the public
Foreign policy Ukraine update - Q1 2016 Japan to allocate additional USD 300 mln loan for Ukraine in April | uatoday.tv FT: IMF warning sparks Ukraine pledge on corruption and reform Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, said on
Data science and visualization R Shiny app: Line charts for distinct sub-samples Tutorial: reproducing a fiscal chart A few days ago, I posted a chart that looked like this [static screenshot below] The dataset is posted at: https://github.com/zilinskyjan/datasets/blob/master/fiscal/
Data science and visualization Global growth: How much slower without China? (rCharts post) A simple growth chart coded with rCharts var chartParams = { "element": "globalGrowth", "width": 800, "height": 400, "xkey": "year", "ykeys": [ "gr_w", "gr_noChina" ], "data": [ { "year": "2005", "gr_w": 4.95, "re_w": null, "gr_
China China's Belt and Road Initiative PIIE BRIEFING 16-2: China's Belt and Road Initiative: Motives, Scope, and Challenges: China's commercial ties with the outside world have long been symbolized by the ancient Silk Road, which began as a tortuous
behavioral economics and psychology How the policy world embraced the nudge agenda For better or worse, policymakers have different incentives than academics. The upside is that a public agency does not need to chase refereed publications, so the non-results (instances of interventions that "didn't
China Happening in China - February 2016 China central bank resumes easing cycle to cushion reform pain | Reuters European Chamber of Commerce in China: Overcapacity in China Xinhua: China inaugurates national R&D plan: "The plan merges several
Jan's charts The global fiscal stance (interactive chart) I thank my Peterson Institute colleagues Caroline Freund and Paolo Mauro for the idea to calculate the global fiscal stance.
Fiscal policy and taxation Background for the G20 deputies meeting in Shanghai Global Prospects and Policy Challenges: G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meetings: The global recovery has weakened further amid increasing financial turbulence and falling asset prices. Activity softened towards the end of