Are Dictators The Future? - Overcoming Bias
I find it kind of entertaining how economists feel they can analyze government’s like stock market portfolios. Other than that this post suffers from an overly simple “democracy vs. autocracy” starting point, which is a really bad way of looking at political systems. If take out the stock market metaphor and instead think of the analysis as being about the level of liberalism in societies without democratic institutions (taking into account non-enforcement of existing repressive laws in the more successful autocratic societies), then this piece is actually quite interesting.
Is opera good for growth? – Free Exchanage
Who knew education spending had such a long time horizon?
Eating Bitterness in China’s Financial System – China Real Time Report
Nothing new here, but a good description of why banking reform is greatly needed in China, and why its unlikely to show up any time soon. (One of those problems with autocracies)
China’s ICBC linked to Standard Bank Argentina – Beyond BRICs
This is important. Standard Bank has been a major conduit for funds into Africa, and, if this deal successfully goes through, it’ll show China’s interest in latin America is likely to continue growing.