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482. Currency market in Azerbaijan: Challenging environment for the national currency
- Author:
- Rashad Hasanov
- Publication Date:
- 09-2016
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD)
- Abstract:
- In August, the exchange rate of national currency of Azerbaijan-“Manat” beat all historical records. That is to say, the exchange rate was 1 USD= 1.61 Manat in previous month . It should be noted that, the exchange rate hit 1 USD= 1.6 Manat in March, 2016. Since the second half of 2014, due to the fall of oil prices in the world markets there is a visible pressure on the national currency ‘Manat’. Overall, the Azerbaijani “Manat” lost 49.6% of its value in 2015 and in addition, a depreciation of more than 3% in the first 8 months of 2016, the losses could reach 52.2%. Although the occurring rapid dollarization and the observed stagnation in the business environment especially in imports in the first months of 2015 and 2016 resulted in short-term reduction in foreign exchange demand in the March-May period of this year and strengthening the exchange rate of USD/Manat at the level of 1.49, the process of depreciation proceeded again afterwards.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Political Economy, and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Azerbaijan
483. Global Challenges, Progressive Solutions
- Author:
- Andrew Little
- Publication Date:
- 03-2016
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for American Progress - CAP
- Abstract:
- A few years ago, a Labour government in New Zealand introduced a series of payments to families on modest incomes. The payments increased with the number of children in the family. The policy was based on the radical ideas that kids need food and clothing to learn and thrive; it’s not a child’s fault if she is born into a family of modest means; and the entire community benefits when its young are doing well. The disgust among our opponents was visceral. They railed against the payments. One of their members of parliament, now New Zealand’s prime minister, derided the policy as “communism by stealth.” Now New Zealand has a conservative government in its third term, but the payments haven’t been touched. Families are still receiving the money, more of it if they have more dependent children. Yet again a major social initiative, introduced by a progressive government against a tirade of conservative abuse, has become part of the political furniture. Untouchable. Sacrosanct. For progressives, that’s what victory looks like. Even when we’re out of office, our ideas remain dominant, our policies in force. Our influence on the future far outlasts our ministerial warrants.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Environment, Science and Technology, and Progressivism
- Political Geography:
- New Zealand and Oceania
484. The Conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Actions Violate HERA and Established Insolvency Principles
- Author:
- Mark A. Calabria and Michael Krimminger
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Not long ago a colleague of mine, who works regularly with legislators, attended a conference at which the lunch speaker, a famous economist, began by telling everyone why governments regulate financial institutions. The reasons the economist gave consisted of various (supposed) financial - market failures. Said the colleague to me later: “I just wanted to stand up and shout, 'That's got nothing to do with it!'”
- Topic:
- Economics
485. Agriculture and rural development for inclusive growth and food security in Morocco
- Author:
- Hafez Ghanem
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- Morocco has so far been a success story in the Arab world. It has followed a gradual approach to political reforms and democratization, which led to the adoption of a new constitution and the holding of free parliamentary elections in 2011. At the same time, economic growth averaged 4.5 percent between 2000 and 2010, reached 5.0 percent in 2011, 2.7 percent in 2012, and 4.4 percent in 2013. That is, Morocco has avoided the political upheavals and economic meltdowns that plagued other Arab Countries in Transition (ACTs). Maintaining this record of success will require continued political and economic reforms.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
- Political Geography:
- Arabia and Morocco
486. Investing in Early Childhood Development: What is Being Spent, And What Does it Cost?
- Author:
- Vidya Putcha and Jacques van der Gaag
- Publication Date:
- 02-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- In the developing world, more than 200 million children under the age of five years are at risk of not reaching their full human potential because they suffer from the negative consequences of poverty, nutritional deficiencies and inadequate learning opportunities. Given these risks, there is a strong case for early childhood development (ECD) interventions in nutrition, health, education and social protection, which can produce long-lasting benefits throughout the life cycle. The results from the 2012 round of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)—an international, large-scale assessment that measures 15-year-olds\' performance in mathematics, reading and science literacy—demonstrate the benefits of ECD: Students in the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) who had the benefit of being enrolled for more than one year in preprimary school scored 53 points higher in mathematics (the equivalent of more than one year of schooling), compared with students who had not attended preprimary school. Although there is much evidence that ECD programs have a great impact and are less costly than educational interventions later in life, very few ECD initiatives are being scaled up in developing countries. For example, in 2010, only 15 percent of children in low-income countries—compared with 48 percent worldwide—were enrolled in preprimary education programs. Furthermore, even though the literature points to larger beneficial effects of ECD for poorer children, within developing countries, disadvantaged families are even less likely to be among those enrolled in ECD programs. For instance, in Ghana, children from wealthy families are four times more likely than children from poor households to be enrolled in preschool programs.
- Topic:
- Development and Economics
487. Afghanistan's Continuing Fiscal Crisis: No End In Sight
- Author:
- William A. Byrd
- Publication Date:
- 05-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- United States Institute of Peace
- Abstract:
- For several years, Afghanistan’s economy and public finances have worsened, culminating in a full-blown fiscal crisis in 2014. Political uncertainties, the weakening Afghan economy, corruption in tax collection, stagnant government revenues, and increasing expenditures have contributed to the current fiscal impasse. In the absence of bold actions by the Afghan government along with proactive international support to turn around the fiscal situation, the fiscal crisis and its insidious effects will continue.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Corruption, Economics, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and Central Asia
488. Power, Markets, and Top Income Shares
- Author:
- Evelyne Huber, Huo Jingjing, and John D. Stephens
- Publication Date:
- 04-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The rise of the super-rich has attracted much political and academic attention in recent years. However, to date there have been few attempts to explain the cross-national variation in the recent rise of very top incomes. Drawing on the World Top Incomes Database, we study the income share of the top 1% in almost all current postindustrial democracies from 1975 to 2012. We find that extreme income concentration at the very top is a predominantly political phenomenon, not the outcome of economic changes. Top income shares are largely unrelated to economic growth, increased knowledge-intensive production, export competitiveness, market size, financialization, and wealth accumulation. Instead, they are driven by various political and policy changes that reflect a decline in the relative power and resources of labor, such as union density and centralization, secular-right governments, and cuts in top marginal income tax rates as well as in public spending on education.
- Topic:
- Economics, Industrial Policy, Political Economy, and Social Stratification
489. Guarantees, Subsidies, or Paying for Success? Choosing the Right Instrument to Catalyze Private Investment in Developing Countries
- Author:
- Owen Barder and Theodore Talbot
- Publication Date:
- 05-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Governments, donors, and public sector agencies are seeking productive ways to ‘crowd in’ private sector involvement and capital to tackle international development challenges. The financial instruments that are used to create incentives for private sector involvement are typically those that lower an investment’s risk (such as credit guarantees) or those that lower the costs of various inputs (such as concessional loans, which subsidise borrowing).
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
490. Comparing Transnational IPR Policy: Closing the Gap in Canada's Patenting Regime
- Author:
- Samah Rahman and Shashanth Shetty
- Publication Date:
- 07-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Canada is lagging behind in research and development (R&D) commercialization, ranking fifteenth in the World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Competitiveness Report. One of the most important contributing factors to the gap between R&D and competitiveness is that new entrepreneurs lack the monetary and informational resources to access intellectual property (IP) legal expertise. The authors of this brief argue that the Canadian government’s strategies have been ineffective, and its current policy initiatives have failed to consider the importance of disseminating IP legal knowledge directly to innovators. It is recommended that the government look to the models used by the United States and South Korea to mobilize IP legal knowledge within the entrepreneurial community. This can be achieved by establishing a national IP legal clinic at the university level — as well as increasing funding for existing programs and creating a virtual clinic — and including an IP rights application course in select university programs, targeting innovators who will require IP legal advice in the future.
- Topic:
- Economics and Intellectual Property/Copyright
- Political Geography:
- United States, Canada, and South Korea