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Action for youth
The current crisis has continued to affect people’s lives across the world, and nowhere is this more evident than in the deteriorating labour market in many countries. Young people have been hit particularly hard and risk being permanently scarred from joblessness and even exclusion.
Will China’s economy avoid the doldrums?
Will China’s growth slowdown last and what does it mean for the rest of us? The gradual US recovery is still not strong enough to pull up the rest of the world economy. Abenomics has not yet worked its magic in Japan, if it ever will. And Europe is clearly out for the count. So can China be the new engine of the world economy?
GDP growth in China has fallen from the 10%-plus rates of the past two decades. It decelerated from 10.4% in 2010 to 9.3% in 2011 and 7.8% in 2012, and edged lower to 7.7% in the first quarter of 2013. Both leading and lagging indicators in China suggest that growth is continuing to slow. By Ken Davies, President, Growing Capacity, Inc., formerly of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs
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Not so patient
Patients in most OECD countries face long hospital waiting times, whether for primary care, out-patient specialist care or even emergency care.
The Friday fish
For immigrant students, early arrival is best
Immigrant students do best at school the younger they arrive in a country, surveys show. According to this Education Today blog post, immigrants who arrived in their new country before age 12 hold up pretty well at school, but those 12 and older lag behind and have problems catching up. This “late-arrival penalty” can mean higher costs in remedial assistance later on. A good reason for migration policymakers to think hard before delaying family reunification!
Tackling inequality and poverty in the US
Income inequality and relative poverty in the US are among the highest in the OECD and have worsened in recent decades. What’s the cause and what can be done? This working paper, which is part of the Public Policies for Inclusive Growth series, expores some answers.
Back to school after a disaster
Natural disasters can wipe everything away, including the likes of education systems which took years to develop. Can they be rebuilt? Yes, says the OECD's Andreas Schleicher who, in this piece for the BBC, describes efforts in Japan two years after the tsunami and nuclear accident in Fukushima.
Here’s a call for papers for a major conference in February 2014: under the banner of “green skills and innovation for inclusive employment growth” the organizers want to hear from people who can constructively answer these questions: Can low carbon activities be key to competitive and inclusive growth? What are the new approaches for strategic policy coordination for a low carbon economy? To find out more, go here.
If you are concerned about conflict minerals and dubious supply chains, this web page on due diligence will point you to useful resources. It contains detailed recommendations for implementing responsible supply chains of minerals to help companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through business decisions. For any company potentially sourcing minerals or metals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas.
Competing for knowledge-based capital
We live in a knowledge society, and knowledge-based capital has emerged as the driver of innovation and investment in today’s economies. It encompasses the likes of computerised information, scientific processes, business methods, and firmspecific know-how. But policymakers must also get some basics right, such as competition policy and competition law enforcement, and understanding mergers between knowledge-based firms and what that does to innovation. Dense stuff, but worth wading through.
©OECD Observer, 14 June 2013
Headline economic data
| GDP | +0.4% Q1 2013 (0.0% Q4 2012) |
| Leading indicators | +0.5% Apr 2013, year on year |
| Inflation | +1.3% Apr 2013 (+1.6% Mar) annual |
| Unemployment | 8.0% Apr 2013 (8% Mar 2013) |
Data for OECD area. Latest update: 14 June 2013
Databank - Latest quarterly data by country
For details on these and other numbers, click titles or visit www.oecd.org/statistics
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©Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP |
Give youth a chance
Young people are being excluded from economic life by a combination of joblessness and barriers to the creation of start-ups. Unleashing the energy, entrepreneurial spirit and technological genius of the young is not just a moral imperative, but an economic necessity.
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©Vanderlei Almeida/AFP |
Growth is not enough
Brazil’s labour leaders have long argued against pursuing economic growth for its own sake. What matters most, they believe, is not the size of the economic pie but how it’s carved up. In recent years, calls for social justice have increasingly informed policy in Brazil, bringing about a veritable “revolution” in the economy.
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©Reuters/Lucas Jackson |
Fixing finance
There are good reasons why the public has lost confidence in banking and finance. Two issues in particular must be addressed before it can be restored– moral hazard and conflict of interest. Reforms should ensure that banks and bankers–not taxpayers–pay the price of failure and are held fully accountable for their actions.
Main economic indicators by country
GDP, output, inflation, current account, unemployment, interest rates for 40 countries plus euro area, as published in OECD Observer. Just print it out and pin it up.
Where are we in the current economic crisis?
