World Economics Journal Archive
The contents of all previous issues of World Economics are listed below. Subscribers have access to the complete back issue archive: click on titles to view abstracts and full text of articles (PDF). If you are not a subscriber, sign-up online now.
Milton Friedman, 1912–2006: Polemicist, scholar, and giant of twentieth–century economics
Brian Snowdon & Howard R. Vane, World Economics, December 2006
Milton Friedman is best known as the founding father and leading exponent of the monetarist school of macroeconomic thought, and for championing the case for the efficacy of free markets in a wide variety of contexts. Without doubt, Friedman’s ideas have influenced the ... More
What Future for Central Banks?
Howard Davies, World Economics, December 2006
Central banks around the world differ in their functions, size, efficiency and status. In this article, Sir Howard Davies, a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, discusses the development of central banking over the last few years, and where it might go in the ... More
Education in a Globalized World
David E. Bloom, World Economics, December 2006
The arguments in favor of education rest on various premises: legal and humanitarian—that children are entitled to an education as a basic human right; economic—that countries will advance faster when people are educated; social and political-that education is essential ... More
Running the IMF: Reducing political bias and increasing independence
Graham Bird, World Economics, December 2006
Increasing concern has been expressed by both scholars and officials about political bias and influence in the IMF. This is seen as threatening the effectiveness of the institution. But how can the problem be resolved? One way would be to try to create greater political ... More
Agricultural Reform and Trade Negotiations: Can the Doha Round deliver?
Kimberly Ann Elliott, World Economics, December 2006
In this essay, Kim Elliott examines the patterns of support for agriculture across countries and commodities in the industrialized world. She then summarizes the approach to reducing trade-distorting support that came out of the Uruguay Round, and concludes with a discu ... More
Hosting the FIFA World Cup: Economic boon or winner’s curse?
Brian Sturgess & Chris Brady, World Economics, December 2006
Countries often compete fiercely for the right to host the football FIFA World Cup finals, but apart from national prestige, are there any concrete economic benefits to be gained from hosting sporting events such as the Olympics or the World Cup? The evidence is mixed. ... More
The Stern Review: A Dual Critique
World Economics, December 2006
The Stern Review, described as the most comprehensive review ever carried out on the economics of climate change, was published on 30 October 2006. The twin papers from a combined team of scientists and economists present a critique in two parts of the Stern Review. Par ... More
A Review of the Stern Review
Richard S. J. Tol & Gary W. Yohe, World Economics, December 2006
The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change was published on 30 October 2006. In this article Richard Tol and Gary Yohe, while agreeing with some of the Review’s conclusions, disagree with some other points raised in the Review and they address six issues in par ... More
Book Review: Carol Graham on William Easterly, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good
World Economics, December 2006
An Economist Looks at Suicide Terrorism
Mark Harrison, World Economics, September 2006
Suicide terrorism has an economic aspect. The organisation of a suicide mission requires an incentive, a voluntary transaction, and a contract that is enforceable by the parties to it. A terrorist faction that competes for power in a community that is both oppressed and ... More
Economic, Neurobiological and Behavioral Perspectives on Building America’s Future Workforce
Eric Knudsen, James J. Heckman, Judy Cameron & Jack P. Shonkoff, World Economics, September 2006
A growing proportion of the US workforce will have been raised in disadvantaged environments that are associated with relatively high proportions of individuals with diminished cognitive and social skills. A cross-disciplinary examination of research in economics, devel ... More
Has the European Social Model a Future?
J. R. Shackleton, World Economics, September 2006
The European Social Model, involving high levels of government spending and taxation, labour and product market regulation and the involvement of the “social partners”, is in crisis. The core European economies are experiencing low economic growth, slow job creation and ... More
What Could Brake China’s Rapid Ascent in the World Economy?
Friedrich Wu, World Economics, September 2006
There has been much hype about China’s rapid ascent in the world economy. For instance, economists from Goldman Sachs and the OECD have predicted that the Chinese economy will overtake the Japanese and the US economies well before the mid–21st century. However, these op ... More
Making Fiscal Space Happen!: Managing fiscal policy in a world of scaled-up aid
Peter S. Heller, Menachem Katz, Xavier Debrun, Theo Thomas, Taline Koranchelian & Isabell Adenauer, World Economics, September 2006
Debt relief and the scaling up of aid to low-income countries should allow for increased fiscal space for expenditure programs to spur long-term growth and reduce poverty. But as discussed in Peter Heller’s article “Pity the Finance Minister” (World Economics, Vo ... More
From The Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference to the Suspension of the Negotiations: Developing countries reclaim the development content of the WTO Doha Round
Faizel Ismail, World Economics, September 2006
This paper makes an assessment of the WTO Doha Negotiations from the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference until the suspension of the Doha Round at the end of July 2006. The paper analyses the events from a development perspective distinguishing between the perspectives of ... More
The Emergence of a Regional Financial Architecture in Asia: Recent developments and prospects
Anthony Elson, World Economics, September 2006
This paper provides an assessment of monetary and financial cooperation in Asia since the regional financial crisis of 1997–98, with a view to determining whether the emerging Regional Financial Architecture in Asia is compatible with the global financial architecture a ... More
Comment
The ‘climate change’ debate: S. Fred Singer responds to the exchange, in the previous issue, between Nicholas Stern and Ian Byatt et al.
World Economics, September 2006
Book Review
Johannes F. Linn on Ngaire Woods, The Globalizers: The IMF, The World Bank, and Their Borrowers
World Economics, September 2006
What is the Economics of Climate Change?
Sir Nicholas Stern, World Economics, June 2006
A major review of the economics of climate change under the leadership of Professor Sir Nicholas Stern was announced at the end of July 2005, reporting to the United Kingdom’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and to the Prime Minister. The Stern Review on the Economics of Cl ... More
Russia at the Crossroads: Padma Desai on transition, reform, and the legacy of Yeltsin’s ‘kamikaze crew’
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
World Economics, June 2006
To set the interview in context, Brian Snowdon first traces out some important landmarks in twentieth-century Russian/Soviet Union history. In the conversation that follows, Professor Desai gives her views on a number of key issues relating to the decline of the Soviet ... More
Understanding China’s Economic Transformation: Are there lessons here for the developing world?
Daniel W. Bromley & Yang Yao, World Economics, June 2006
Economic change is a process of continual adjustment to new circumstances. Economies are always in the process of becoming. Good economic policy entails pragmatic adjustment so that economic dystrophy is avoided. The experience of economic (institutional) reform in Chin ... More
The Economic Growth of East Asia and Latin America in Comparative Perspective: Lessons for development policy
Anthony Elson, World Economics, June 2006
This paper attempts to identify key factors that can account for the divergent economic performance of East Asia and Latin America during the second half of the 20th century. Within the triad of so-called “deep determinants” of economic growth (geography, policy and ins ... More
Are Mr de Rato’s Spectacles Rose Tinted?: Globalization and the IMF’s medium-term strategy
Graham Bird, World Economics, June 2006
Since the annual meetings of the IMF in September 2005, its Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, has been publicizing a medium-term strategy for the institution based on the organizing principle of globalization. Mr de Rato presents the challenges facing the Fund as glob ... More
Gold and Silver as Monetary Metals: An overview
John Cooper, World Economics, June 2006
Commodity money systems, based upon gold or silver, provided relative economic stability for centuries. On the other hand, our modern paper money system, based upon unbacked government liabilities, is particularly vulnerable to abuse. The various financial crises during ... More
COMMENT: Climate Change: The Stern Review ‘OXONIA Papers’: A critique
Sir Ian Byatt, Ian Castles, David Henderson, Lord Lawson of Blaby, Ross McKitrick, Julian Morris, Sir Alan Peacock, Colin Robinson & Lord Skidelsky, World Economics, June 2006
Reply to Byatt et al. by Nicholas Stern
World Economics, June 2006
Making Capitalism Work for Everyone
Raghuram Rajan & Luigi Zingales, World Economics, March 2006
There is a widespread belief that free markets do not benefit the common person, let alone the poor: they are only an instrument for the rich to get richer. Not only is this belief false, but in fact the opposite is true. Free markets are the single most important tools ... More
Two British Initiatives for IMF Lending to its Members, 1960–1962
Jacques J. Polak, World Economics, March 2006
This paper describes the origin, evolution, and results of two initiatives taken by the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Both initiatives aimed at facilitating large-scale lending by the IMF (or in close parallel to the IMF), primarily in support of the two reserve cu ... More
Can Iraq Overcome the Oil Curse?
Robert E. Looney, World Economics, March 2006
A growing literature suggests that the oil sector and the allocation of its revenues is the critical variable in shaping both the economic structure and political systems of countries like Iraq. For the most part this literature focuses on the so-called “oil curs ... More
Trade Policy 2006: A tour d’horizon
Razeen Sally, World Economics, March 2006
The global momentum in favour of trade liberalisation has slowed down; and there is more liberalisation-scepticism post-Washington Consensus. Chances are that the Doha Round will either collapse or deliver a very modest result. Both outcomes will leave the WTO in very s ... More
The Enduring Elixir of Economic Growth: Xavier Sala-i-Martin on the wealth and poverty of nations
An interview with introduction by Brian Snowdon
World Economics, March 2006
“I think that the most important question that an economist can ask is, What is it that makes a country grow? More than anything else it is economic growth that affects human welfare…this is why it must remain a major research interest for economists.” In this in ... More
Global Income Inequality: A review
Branko Milanovic, World Economics, March 2006
This paper presents a non-technical summary of the current state of debate on the measurement and implications of global inequality (inequality between citizens of the world). It discusses the relationship between globalization and global inequality. It shows why global ... More
Are We Heading for a Dollar Crisis?
Graham Bird, World Economics, March 2006
The US balance of payments current account deficit is in excess of 5 per cent of GDP. Is this sustainable? A loss of confidence in the dollar could lead to foreign investors selling dollars and to a sharp dollar devaluation. In principle, there could be a dollar crisis. ... More
Do the Young British Artists Rule?: Evidence from the auction market
David Galenson, World Economics, March 2006
In recent years, some English critics have claimed that Damien Hirst and his fellow young British artists have made London the new center of the advanced art world. As Hirst reaches the age of 40, this paper uses auction results to measure the importance of the YBAs com ... More
Comment: Phillip Crowson on the ‘death of distance’ and natural resource-based economic development in history.
World Economics, March 2006
Book Review: David Bevan on Helping the Poor? The IMF and Low-Income Countries.
World Economics, March 2006