Malthus is dead, but prosperity for all guarantees neither peace nor happiness. This is the key message emanating from Daniel Cohen’s acclaimed new book, La prospérité du vice: Une introduction (inquiète) à l’économie. This professor of the École Normale Superieure and deputy director of the Paris School of Economics looks back over four centuries and draws on the thinking of the great economists, historians and sociologists in order to bring us to this insight: prosperity alone guarantees neither peace nor happiness. Despite Cohen’s prevailingly pessimistic tone, his pedagogical talent makes this book an exciting and educational read.

On 27 May 1882, The Times newspaper proclaimed, "Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few years ago". They weren't talking about Queen Victoria avoiding a recent assassination attempt by a poet she'd annoyed or Jesse James having less luck with a friend he'd trusted. They were talking about sheep meat.

International trade fell off the charts in the fourth quarter of 2008 and showed only a modest easing in the rate of decline in the early months of 2009. Well-regulated open trade is essential for economic recovery and development, yet in times of crisis, protectionism may appear an attractive solution. It should be resisted.

The good intentions of governments and donors to ensure long-term food security for all may be melting away in the face of the current global financial and economic crisis.

The financial crisis might not have been caused by taxation, but it nonetheless raises concerns about evasion, compliance and transparency in financial markets. The OECD Observer asked South Africa's minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan, who chairs the OECD's Forum on Tax Administration, to explain.

OECD faces a huge challenge of image. You insist that the organisation, known for its in-depth analyses and reliable statistics, aims to represent all relevant economies. Emerging countries, however, cultivate the impression that the OECD, despite its co-operation and development efforts well beyond its membership, is still the voice of "rich nations" only.

Development aid rose to a new record in 2008. While good news in a crisis, how can the trend be maintained?

Like Alice, the OECD appears to be bursting through to the other side of its looking glass. Change may be the order of the day, but as the organisation approaches 50, lessons from past work on innovation might speak to the current economic crisis.

The effect multinationals have on wages and working conditions can be positive, but there are conditions to bear in mind, not least for policymakers wishing to attract foreign direct investment.

While OECD countries compete to attract high-skilled immigrants, the 2008 International Migration Outlook finds that employers increasingly rely on immigrants for low-skilled work. Just a fifth on average of the low-educated workforce in 21 OECD countries in the report is foreign-born, whereas the EU25 average is 14.1%.

Can the OECD Model Tax Convention, which is 50 years old this year, continue to fulfill its role of helping to make international taxation fairer and more manageable? Probably yes, though there are challenges.

The world has seen recent decades of rapid growth. This has been most obvious in newly-industrialising countries, notably China and India, but has been shared by OECD countries. Yet the fruits of this economic growth have not been equally divided–either between countries or within countries. As it is put in the introduction to a new OECD report, Growing Unequal?, “there is widespread concern that economic growth is not being shared fairly” (page 15, see references). A rising tide does not necessarily raise all boats. Or, to use another liquid metaphor, we cannot rely on trickle-down.

Fisheries may be an ancient economic activity, but nowadays they are at the forefront of globalisation. First, there is the trade itself: a blue hake caught off the coast of New Zealand by a Japanese vessel may be processed in China before being flown to a market in London or Paris.

The gloomy image that has for so long hung over the world’s largest continent may at last be lifting.
Conflict and disease remain a bane, and there are challenges in areas like governance and transport, but as we reported in our last issue (No 255, May 2006), the OECD Development Centre’s latest African Economic Outlook is upbeat about future economic growth there.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts a special conference with heads of international organisations on “Fair Ground Rules for a Socially Equitable and Open Global Economy,” Berlin, 19 December 2007. To Ms Merkel’s right are Angel Gurría (OECD), Pascal Lamy (WTO) and Juan Somavia (ILO), and to her left are Germany’s labour minister, Olaf Scholz, Robert Zoellick (World Bank) and Dominique Strauss-Kahn (IMF).

Both the size and the relative incidence or frequency of the foreign-born population have increased in all OECD countries since 1995. So while there have been large increases in traditional migration countries such as the US and New Zealand, there have also been sharp rises in Denmark, Korea, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Spain, where inward migration has recently taken off.

If Shakespeare was right, and the world is a stage, then “Gathering Storm” could be the title of the play as we enter 2008. With a US economy flirting with recession, the euro area losing stamina under a strong euro, a barrel of oil close to $100, international food and commodity prices reaching record levels and climate change intensifying, it looks like we are heading into a turbulent zone.

Something new is happening in Africa. Once talk of investment in the continent’s countries was dismissed as idealism. Now global investors are turning their eyes–and their funds–to a new investment frontier. Is this short-term euphoria?

Centres of higher learning often exude a rarefied air. From the spires of Oxford to the lanes of Bologna, a remoteness from local communities and disdain for the commercial world are still a common characterisation, if not a tradition.

Latin America is looking towards China and Asia–and China and Asia are looking right back. This is a major shift. For the first time in its history, Latin America can benefit from not one but three major engines of world growth.

Globalisation may have accelerated, but how big is international trade in a country’s income? For some major countries, the answer is not much bigger than before.

City managers are important economic players, handling as they do billion-dollar budgets and thousands of employees. In its second territorial review in a series on competitive cities, the OECD explains that in the last few decades, city managers have recognised that inner city problems could not be resolved by throwing more money at them.

“Innovation: Advancing the OECD Agenda for Growth and Equity”: that is the theme of this year’s annual Ministerial Council on 15-16 May, and it reflects what many governments believe are clear priorities. (Chair's conclusions now available!)

If ever you are unsure about the advantages of open trade, why not take a lead from students in economics and consider the story of Robinson Crusoe. Generations of students have discovered how Crusoe, shipwrecked on a desert island and cut off from the outside world, improved his welfare as he became economically re-integrated into the wider world.

Globalisation produces winners and losers, including in employment. But while the job threat is real, it is manageable as long as the right policies are in place.

The OECD's core mission is to help make the world economy work better, Secretary-General Angel Gurría said in a keynote address to the meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Strasbourg, 4 October 2006. While the organisation's work is well known, stronger partnerships with parliamentarians are needed to strengthen its impact and influence, Mr Gurría said.

“You cannot find a bigger, more complex and all-encompassing subject than that of ‘Balancing globalisation’ ”, said moderator David Eades of BBC World in his opening remarks to the 2006 OECD Forum. There are no simple answers to the challenges it poses either. In a light-hearted observation, Mr Eades suggests a clue might be found in Douglas Adams’ novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where the indecipherable answer to “Life, the Universe and Everything” was found to be the number 42.

It is a great honour to have been given the mandate to lead the OECD following Donald Johnston’s great legacy. We are facing a number of pressing challenges, of which I will mention just a few. Starting with the global economy, I would note that although the economic outlook for this and next year is rather positive, there is no room for complacency.

A dangerous new trend is emerging in many industrialised countries. Widespread pockets of anti-globalisation sentiment, furthered by alleged national security concerns and a perceived need to protect “strategic” sectors have led to a resurgence of protectionism. Even in countries that have long promoted and benefited from global markets, politically-motivated barriers are being resurrected. These winds have temporarily chilled economic progress.

The OECD Ministerial Council Meeting and the Forum are major opportunities for member countries and other emerging economies to exchange views on global economic issues, share best practices and discuss policy priorities. Our central theme this year is “Delivering prosperity” and our focus is on the wide-ranging reforms required to make our world a safe and thriving place for its citizens. Chair's summary, now available.

How do multinational corporations put into practice the rather higher level concepts of sustainable development and still respect the bottom line? Environment and the OECD Guidelines for MNEs relates how a pharmaceutical company, Baxter International, saved energy but also saved $50 million in operations costs by switching to the most energy-efficient lightbulb.

The global meat sector has suffered from bad press in recent years, with sales affected by trade bans and consumer caution in light of scares from the likes of mad-cow disease (BSE) and avian flu.