World agriculture faces an enormous challenge over the next 40 years: to produce almost 50% more food up to 2030 and double production by 2050. With pressure from increasing urbanisation, industrialisation and climate change also rising, proper water management will be vital.

Once hailed as the imminent successor to fossil fuels, biofuels are hitting some rough patches. Is it time to apply the brakes?

For millions of people worldwide, hunger and malnutrition are common everyday challenges. For some, even famine is a threat. But in many developed countries, food abundance brings other serious nutritional and health problems. Though these are being addressed, western habits are starting to spread.

Agriculture not only contributes to climate change and is affected by it, it also forms part of the solution. Coherent and effective policies are needed.

In the years ahead, the global food and agriculture system will have to provide sustainably for billions more people and meet greater demands on quality, affordability and availability. Farming will be competing with other sectors for land, water and investment, while climate change adds new pressures.

Ministers and stakeholders from OECD member countries and key emerging economies gather in Paris on 25-26 February to discuss how best to respond to the challenges. We asked ministers from five of them–Austria and New Zealand as co-chairs, Canada, Germany and Chile–and leading representatives from Concern Worldwide, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers, John Deere, and the World Trade Organization:

“What actions are you prioritising to prepare the food and agriculture system for the needs of a rapidly changing world?”

The recovery that began earlier this year in a number of non-OECD economies has now spread to the OECD area at large. But in most OECD economies, growth is likely to fluctuate around a modest underlying rate for some time to come. It is being held back by still substantial headwinds as households, financial institutions, non-financial enterprises and, eventually, governments have to repair their balance sheets. This also means that unemployment is set to move higher and already-low inflation will be under further downward pressure. It is only some time down the line that the recovery will become sufficiently strong to begin to reduce unemployment.

The spread of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles have led to rising rates of overweight and obesity. This has meant a greater burden of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.

One in nine women are diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life and one in thirty die from the disease. Though survival rates are improving, due to a combination of increased awareness, earlier diagnosis and better treatments with innovative drugs, there are considerable differences in measured outcomes of cancer control across OECD countries. For example, while close to 90% of women aged 50-69 are screened annually in the Netherlands and Finland, only around 20% of women in that age group are screened in the Slovak Republic and Japan. Some countries that had low screening rates in 2000, such as the Czech and Slovak Republics, showed sharp increases by 2006, whereas some countries with already high rates, such as the US, Finland and Norway, reported declines.

Environmental policies can change people’s daily habits, as a new OECD survey shows.

As the financial storm recedes the full cost of the damage is being assessed. According to Financial Market Trends, from the start of the crisis to October 2009 governments and central banks in the US and Europe had provided over $11 trillion in support to banks and other financial firms, made up of capital injections, asset purchases, debt guarantees and facilities, and so on. This total does not take account of other wider social and economic costs incurred by way of losses in business, jobs and other fallout from the crisis. Still, as a Dow Jones journalist pointed out in seeing the figures, it amounts to a contribution of over $1,600 for every person on the planet. The question is: are policymakers doing enough to tackle the root of the problem and prevent the worst crisis in 50 years from happening again?

As regulators and policymakers continue to examine new rules for the financial services, stock markets are booming and bank bonuses are being paid out anew. A happy new year, or should we be worried that, without corrective action, another financial crisis could strike in the months or years ahead?

Oil-producing MENA countries can expect steep drops in their current account balances in 2009 due to falling crude oil prices and lower global demand during the economic crisis. Non-oil producers' balances should remain steadier, albeit negative, according to recent statistics.

Despite the global economic slowdown, consumption of meat is projected to grow over the next decade, keeping pace with increases in population and purchasing power in most parts of the world. By 2018, human beings will be eating more than 320 million tonnes of meat a year, up some 20% compared with 2006-08. In developing countries, per capita meat consumption will jump more than 16%, outpacing population growth and rising from 24 kg per person per year today to a projected 27 kg in 2018.

An "education lighthouse for the way out of the crisis" was recently launched in the form of a new OECD web community dedicated to guiding education through the economic crisis. To date, the educationtoday collaborative website features nearly 200 content items from OECD experts and external analysts and is available to anyone who registers via myOECD at www.oecd.org.

Showing progress; Economy; Hard talk

Could today's jobs crisis end up scarring the hopes of an entire generation? Even in the best of times, many young people have a hard time getting a foothold in the labour market, with youth unemployment often two to three times higher than for adults. In recessions, finding work gets tougher still. Moreover, many of those young people who have work are on short-term contracts and commonly find themselves first in line when it comes to lay offs-some 35% of workers aged 15-24 in the OECD area held temporary contracts in 2008. In this recession, there is extra cause for concern.

 "Dude, the OECD tweets? That's freaking awesome". So said a response to the OECD's new Twitter account, perhaps surprised that the OECD, known for its long in-depth reports, also posts on Twitter. The 140 characters Twitter allows is a format that suits the OECD well, says Alison Benney of media relations. "Not only are our statistics and news releases easy to abbreviate and post with a link, but it doesn't take much to converse about them, or to tap our experts for more in-depth follow-up," she said. The OECD created its Twitter account in March 2009, and has over 800 followers. This adds to a social media toolbox that includes Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. OECD Observer articles have been bookmarked for a range of social media since 2007.

Disquiet, distrust and dissatisfaction mixed with anger about the global crisis, but also a broad desire for new and innovative policies, for change from the status quo and a strong call for determined leadership to improve standards and beat a path towards a stronger, cleaner and fairer economy: this was the overall tone of the sentiments expressed by participants at the 10th OECD Forum in Paris, 23-24 June, which is held annually in conjunction with the Ministerial Council Meeting.

This year's OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, the highpoint of the organisation's calendar, took place amid the most severe financial and economic crisis in decades. 

By sector-
International trade has declined steeply during the crisis, though how has the fall been reflected in different sectors and countries? Take the US, Germany and Japan, the three largest OECD traders-OECD countries account for roughly 60% of world trade. As shown in the top graph for total trade (which is the sum of imports and exports, rather than the difference, which is the trade balance as shown on page 5), machinery and transport equipment have broadly speaking been the main culprits, falling by over 11% in the US, 14% in Germany and 15% in Japan, comparing the second quarter 2009 with a year earlier. Lower energy prices have also contributed to fewer imports. Trade in fuel and lubricants fell by nearly 10% in the US and Japan, though exports by just over 3% in Germany. A closer look shows that fuel and lubricant imports in the US and Japan plummeted, by 13.6% and 18.1% respectively. Trade in manufactures and chemicals were not affected quite as badly, though it fell particularly steeply in Germany, by 6% and 3.6% respectively, year-on-year.

On 7 September 2009, a report from the United Nations conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) blamed the "dominance of the dollar" for playing an important role in the recent build-up of global imbalances, particularly in trade and the current account, which helped lead to today's global economic crisis.

As actress Bette Davis once said, "getting old is not for sissies". Just when you expect to be reaping the rewards of a life of hard work, there is a surprisingly good chance that you will, instead, be struggling just to get by. In the mid-2000s, an average of 13.3% of people over 65 were living in poverty in OECD countries. An astonishing 45% of Koreans of that age were income poor, as were more than one out of every five older persons in Australia, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Mexico and the US. In only eight countries was the income poverty rate 5% or less among their oldest citizens.

When the OECD was mandated to develop a Green Growth Strategy this June, ministers specifically referred to the "green jobs" that such a strategy would support. But what exactly are "green jobs"?

Jobs crisis or no, it's best to invest in education. As this year's edition of Education at a Glance shows, men and women who have university-level degrees earn far more over the course of a lifetime than those who don't. In fact, men with higher education in Italy and the US can earn over US$300,000 more than their counterparts who do not have a university degree. Rewards tend to be lower for women, with Korea and Spain the exceptions.

In most OECD countries, unemployment protection systems don't provide adequate social security during a severe economic crisis and periods of high and persisting unemployment. Not only that, benefits can even run out within much less than a year and often before unemployed workers can find new jobs. Also, income support in many countries barely ever covers more than half a worker's previous salary, and sometimes much less.

Thanks to prompt and significant government responses to the crisis, many economies are experiencing initial signs of recovery. However, there is still much uncertainty concerning what lies ahead and unemployment is still rising in many countries. The OECD unemployment rate reached a post-war high of 8.5% in July 2009, with an OECD estimated 15 million extra out of work since the start of the crisis. In contrast, unemployment across the OECD was at a 25-year low of 5.6% in 2007.

One of the most widely heard accusations against immigrants is that they take jobs from locals, usually-it's claimed-because they are willing to work for less. How true are such claims, and do immigrants really harm the job prospects of natives?

As G20 leaders and OECD employment ministers turn their focus to solving the unemployment crisis that has gripped the world economy, they should spare more than just a thought for the particular plight of developing countries. Global unemployment has increased sharply, by 39 million workers, to judge by ILO central projections for 2009. But particularly for developing countries, unemployment is just one dimension of the challenge. Developing countries are also characterised by large numbers of informal workers who have no social or legal protection, and extremely low pay. They, their families and the wider communities to which they belong are exposed to all sorts of health and safety risks too.

With the crisis and sharp rise in unemployment, you might think anyone with a job these days should consider themselves lucky. Well, that depends.

Unemployment is rising to unprecedented high levels. There are several good policies governments can deploy to tackle it, but there are risks to avoid too.

Respond to the needs of the newly unemployed while continuing to engage with people who are disadvantaged within the labour market: this is the major challenge facing employment ministers today.

Ministers responsible for employment from around the world gathered at the OECD on 28-29 September to discuss the jobs crisis. In our eighth OECD Observer ministers' roundtable, we ask six representatives, from Canada (co-Chair), Italy (co-Chair), Sweden (vice-Chair), France, New Zealand, and Chile, which is a candidate for OECD accession: What new policy actions are you taking to improve the jobs situation in your country?

The world economy has hit a wall over the past 12-18 months. This was the opening message from INSEAD's Soumitra Dutta in a panel debate at OECD Forum 2009 to discuss the OECD's latest economic forecasts launched moments earlier (OECD Economic Outlook No 85, June 2009).*

OECD activity now looks to be approaching its nadir, following the deepest decline in post-war history.

To be useful in helping countries to move out of the crisis, it is necessary for the OECD to look at its own history as an organisation and draw the right lessons for the future.

The main victims of severe economic downturns tend to be workers and their families, so governments are rightly stepping in to help job losers weather the storm. But while the severity of the unfolding jobs crisis may require extraordinary policy responses, how can governments avoid the wrong ones?

Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD

When leaders of government, international organisations and civil society from around the world gather for critical discussions at the OECD summit meetings in Paris this June, one question will dominate the agenda: Is enough being done to restore confidence and long-term growth, and break the grip of the worst global crisis of our times?

While climate change is forcing governments to think again about nuclear power, most countries have curtailed funding of nuclear research and development.

In times of crisis, people don't look just to their governments to help them out, they look to each other. Giving money and time to non-profit groups working in health, education, social services and the arts helps others while making those who contribute feel good about themselves.

Crisis bites deeper  ; Economy; Jobs opportunity ; Green teens ?; Tax information-exchange agreements; Freedom of Investment initiative; Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement ; Development aid; Soundbites; Plus ça change...

Pressure is mounting to arrest climate change, so it's hardly surprising that people around the world are being urged to use public transportation. After all, an overall strategy that includes getting people to give up their trucks and cars to use electric trolley buses, tramways and rail can help make a real dent in pollution, traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. But try telling that to Australians living in the outback, long miles from the nearest bus station. Even most Japanese, who have access to some of the world's best high-speed rail links and urban mass transit, own some type of private vehicle.

The financial and economic crisis has already put millions of people out of work in the OECD area alone, and the unemployment figures are going to get far worse. What can governments do to ease the suffering? 

A Check-list for Public Action has been developed by the OECD and its partners to assist governments considering engaging with the private sector in the water sector. It is organised around the OECD Principles for Private Sector Participation in Infrastructures–some 24 principles grouped under five points that highlight sector-specific features, government considerations and available tools and practices:

The crisis sweeping the world’s economy is reflected in the output results for the third quarter of 2008, when GDP of the OECD area fell by 0.1% compared with the previous quarter. This was the first decline since 2001.

The developing world needs millions of trained health workers immediately just to provide the most basic healthcare, yet doctors are leaving poor countries to go to richer ones.

The pharmaceutical industry’s important role in the OECD economy is reflected in expenditure, with a total of US$569 billion on pharmaceuticals (excluding pharmaceuticals for in-patients) in 2005.

Consumer price inflation has been rising in many countries for the first time in several years. Indeed, the consumer price index for energy tracked alongside prices for non-energy and non-food for most of the last two decades, but jumped to a far steeper trend from 2003, the latest OECD in Figures 2008 reports.

The agenda for the ministerial conference on The Future of the Internet Economy is built around three themes.

The Internet has permeated people’s lives and has become a cornerstone of our physical, economic and social infrastructures. What does this mean for policy?

A few years ago, certain users of Microsoft Windows found that their personal files had been translated into gibberish. In the panic to locate the programme that would decode the file, this message appeared:

Would you shop in a store if you knew the credit card machine at the till was likely to send your bank details to an organised gang somewhere abroad? Such incidents happen every day in the physical world. In fact, credit card fraud from all kinds of real world transactions is a major global crime, and whole government websites are dedicated to fighting it.

Many broadband users may find the wind has gone out of their sails, especially if they live in rural areas. What are the solutions?

Only a fifth of the world’s population currently has access to the Internet. That figure should be increased.

Stephan-Noël looks anxiously about the hut at the computer terminals. Through the walls of thatch drifts the faint, pervasive scent of vanilla. A girl saunters in, her face painted with the saffron used by Malagasy women both as make-up and protection against the sun. Stephan-Noël exchanges a few words with her, but his mind is on the eventuality of a connection break.

The number of broadband subscribers in the OECD rose to 235 million by December 2007, up 18% from 200 million subscribers in December 2006.This growth increased broadband penetration rates to 20 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, up from 16.9 in December 2006.

A decade ago when telecoms were expanding, cities around the world were faced with shortages of phone numbers. New access codes were introduced and extra digits added to meet expanding demand.

One country with an exemplary record in broadband is Korea, host of the 2008 OECD ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy. On broadband reach it is the seventh in the OECD in December 2007, for fibre-optics it lies second only to Japan and is well ahead of the rest of the field, and for download speeds, it is in a comfortable third, after France and Japan. Korea is also a leader in mobile technology.

The excitement over new media and their vaunted utility is easy to understand. What is more difficult to grasp is why conventional wisdom holds that the rise of digital media must mean the “decline” of newspapers, which have now been around for more than 400 years. Because the conventional wisdom is wrong.

Imagine an information highway that allows all citizens in the world to have unlimited access to unlimited content, from information to entertainment, from news to networking, in all technically possible formats.

Since May 2008 passengers travelling on the Thalys high-speed train between Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Cologne can now access broadband thanks to technology combining the Internet and satellite communications. Launched on 14 May as part of the European Space Agency’s “Broadband to Trains” initiative, this latest commercial application was developed by UK company.

Are you getting all you can from your computer? Harry Hill, a British stand-up comic, once joked that to get more use from his PC, he turned it on at night and used the screen as a reading lamp.

The growth of the information superhighway and the widespread use of advanced transport technology have led some to postulate that we are now witnessing what could be called the “end of geography,” and the “death of distance”.

The Internet has come a long way since it entered the public domain some 15 years ago. One man who has made it his business to follow Internet’s development is Henry Copeland, founder and director of Blogads, one of the world’s largest blog-specific advertising companies, and Pressflex, a web-hosting company dedicated to the needs of small journals and magazines such as this one, and larger commercial titles, such as FT Business. As Mr Copeland points out, all his business grew organically, without the help of business angels, but with offices now in North America and Europe, and clients or users in every continent. We interviewed him in his home base in the US, by email of course.

Social network websites such as Myspace and Facebook that have come on the scene in the last few years may be hugely popular, but they are not without their dissenters. Here is a humourous view from French writer and businessman, Jacques Rosselin.*

In most European countries, the volume of Internet and other e-commerce sales transactions has risen since 2004, with Denmark, the UK, Ireland and France reporting the highest shares. The increase in the share of e-commerce sales between 2003 and 2006 has been sharpest in Denmark, with 10 percentage points, Norway (8), Portugal (7) and Spain (5). Ireland saw a slight drop in its volume, albeit from a high base.

Every country strives for energy efficiency, but assessing it is not an easy task. Since 1971, the OECD’s energy supply per unit of GDP has fallen sharply due to changes in manufacturing output, consumer behaviour, shifts to electricity, technological progress, efficiency drives and so on.

Diabetes has become one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Over 150 million adults are affected worldwide, with the number expected to double in the next 25 years.

In 2002, the cost of diabetes in the United States was an estimated $92 billion in medical expenditures and $40 billion in lost productivity, according to the American Diabetes Federation.

Imagine a road surface that turns pink when cold. A new road varnish developed by a French firm, Eurovia, promises to do just that. Road surfaces treated with the varnish change colour, so drivers would be warned when roads turn icy.

Two major international sporting events take place this summer, with the Olympic Games in Beijing and the European football championships in Austria and Switzerland. The question on many policymakers’ minds will be less about medals on the track or pitch, but whether holding such major events can make or break the cities that host them?

2008 will be a decisive year in the battle against climate change. Hopefully, it will see us forge an international consensus so an agreement can be reached in Copenhagen in 2009 that will allow us to build on the Kyoto Protocol.

Anthony Gooch took up his post as director of public affairs and communications at the OECD on 1 April 2008. Before joining the OECD, Mr Gooch led the European Commission’s media and public diplomacy operations in the UK projecting the EU’s policies on global issues including climate change, trade and development.

Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel has been appointed chief economist of the OECD. A national of Germany and Chile, he joins the OECD after 12 years as chief of economic research at the Central Bank of Chile. From 1988 to 1996 he was successively economist, senior economist and principal economist at the World Bank.

Harsh financial reality often rides roughshod over good intentions when it comes to corporate and national balance sheets. Climate change is no exception, for though it may rouse worldwide concern, it also makes people uneasy because of how much it might cost and who should pay.

According to President John F. Kennedy, the person who can solve the water problems of the world should receive two Nobel prizes, one for peace and the other for science. More than four decades after his death, the world is realising the complexity and urgency of the water-related problems facing humanity, and the relevance of his remark.

Long ago I gave up trying to break through the so-called “glass ceiling” that has kept women like me out of higher management. Instead I decided to create new enterprises in which management could be reinvented by women. On 8 March 2005, I launched a business incubator devoted exclusively to projects by female entrepreneurs.

Just how significant is international migration in the light of other globalisation developments? One obvious starting point for answering the question is to ask how many of the current world population of 6.7 billion people are international migrants, defined as persons living outside their country of birth.

Economic forecasting is a worthy business. It helps governments, central bankers and companies take key day-to-day decisions about policies, investments, levels of spending, interest rates and so on. There is a rich and diverse supply to choose from, both in the public and private sectors. Whole businesses thrive on it and some major television networks have even turned watching the economy into a form of mass entertainment.

With the world economy today experiencing turbulence on a number of diverse fronts, OECD countries are preoccupied with meeting these challenges.

Any serious attempt to deal with climate change must involve transport. Transport accounts for 13% of all world greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, though this figure takes into account CO₂ sources other than fuel combustion, such as forestry, land-use and biomass burning. A look at CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion only shows the transport sector accounts for about 23% worldwide and about 30% in the OECD area.

Striking a balance between going to work and raising children is not just a concern for families. Getting the balance wrong reduces birth rates, labour supply and gender equity, and can even harm child development. It puts the shape of society in the future in question.

Europeans, particularly women, generally work fewer hours than their US counterparts. How does this difference help explain the transatlantic gap in incomes?

How can governments promote higher living standards? A pertinent question for many countries in light of today’s rather unsettled economic picture. A basic step is to ensure good policies that support both productivity and labour market participation. Is this being done?

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.

How do your taxes and social benefits differ from your peers in other countries and what is the effect on your income? How much income do unemployed people get in different countries? The new OECD online taxbenefit calculator may have the answer. Our experts have taken all those complex legal rules about who is entitled to what benefit and who should pay how much tax in different countries and put them into a simple tax-benefit calculator so that you can decide yourself which comparisons you would like to make.

With ageing and pressure on public finances, monitoring the pensions market has become an important task for policymakers. The market is vast: in 2006 the total OECD funded pensions market was valued at some $24.6 trillion, with a ratio of OECD pension fund assets to OECD GDP of nearly 73% in 2006, and above 100% in a few countries.

Ageing, migration, climate change, healthcare, poverty: these all form part of the lengthening list of pressing public policy challenges for the 21st century. But what about infrastructure?

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.

A statue of Korea's legendary General Lee Soon Shin stands guard outside the Ministry of Information and Communications in central Seoul. A poster announcing a major international joint Korean/OECD ministerial conference on the Future of the Internet Economy to be held on 17-18 June hangs at the front of the building.

Finland took the number one spot in the OECD’s PISA 2006 survey, a comprehensive and much-quoted international yardstick of secondary school student performance. Finland was followed by Hong Kong- China, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Estonia, Japan and New Zealand. Australia, the Netherlands, Korea, Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and Ireland also scored above the OECD average. Mexico finished last among OECD countries.

Did you know that over three quarters of a million people die prematurely around the world every year because of outdoor air pollution? Many of these deaths and their related costs may be avoided with appropriate environmental policies.

The OECD economic forecast for 2008-09 has been revised down. For the authors of the latest OECD Economic Outlook, policy settings should be adjusted accordingly. Several shocks have hit OECD economies recently: financial turmoil, cooling housing markets, and higher prices of energy and other commodities.

Welcome to this special online focus on climate change, in view of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, 3-14 in December. "Ambitious policies to tackle climate change should lead to a structural shift in the economy – away from carbon-intensive activities. So the question that remains is: how can this transition be managed in an economically efficient and socially responsible manner? We should not exaggerate the cost of change. Action is affordable."

The “pay-as-you-go” government pension system common to many countries, as you point out, will not be financially sustainable, the result of the rapid ageing of societies in developed countries (No 262, July 2007). As your graph shows, the only way to fund the pensions deficit will be through one or all of the following measures: a large tax increase, a substantial decrease in benefits or a significant raise in the retirement age.

Making pension systems financially sustainable in the face of population ageing has obliged governments to carry out reforms. This has meant finding savings, but also lower retirement incomes. According to the latest edition of Pensions at a Glance, most of the OECD countries surveyed saw a decline in benefits as a result of pension reforms, affecting retirement incomes of average earners, but also the poorest pensioners (see graph).

The history of human progress is also a history of innovation, and OECD countries have been rediscovering what this means for the global economy. Consider the US. For two decades the world’s largest and most advanced economy has been driving forward the frontiers of technical progress. Yet whether in information technology, pharmaceuticals or biotechnology, the US knows it must innovate to stay in front.

When Russia launched the first-ever satellite into space 50 years ago on 4 October 1957, it was an event that won worldwide admiration. There was some trepidation too. With the Second World War barely over a decade earlier and the Cold War in deep freeze, West Europeans were understandably a little nervous at the thought of Soviet “Sputnik” satellites floating over their territories.

Third-level education brings many benefits, and not just for the most educated. Higher education has expanded greatly in OECD countries in the past few decades, and the result as expected has been a rise in the number of graduates. But has the increasing supply of well-educated labour been matched by the creation of an equivalent number of highpaying jobs? Or will more and more people with university degrees simply have to work for the minimum wage?

As the 8th annual OECD Forum in May showed, everyone agrees that innovation is important, but not everyone agrees on the reasons why.

Fake goods are not cheap. In fact, they exact a heavy cost on industry, governments and the general public. There is a strong case for public action across OECD countries against counterfeiting. The question is how to make progress? Want to buy an expensive Swiss watch? Not everyone can afford a real one–a Patek Philippe timepiece can be worth many thousands of dollars, and some very exclusive makes, such as a Vacheron Constantin, can cost over a million!

For a complete list, see www.oecd.org/speeches

 Economic prospects in the US, Europe and Japan have become less buoyant and more uncertain, OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis said today, Wednesday 5 September. Economic prospects were losing buoyancy, while the risks are becoming more ominous, he said. 

Your energy focus covers the renewable question well (No. 258-259, December 2006). But what if the renewable promise became a broken one? It might, if mindsets don’t change. Thanks to technological advances and climate change fears, energy has pushed to the front stage again. Governments have been slower to move. Also, as Vaclav Smil’s article shows, the current energy system is based on high-energy density sources, like oil and coal, supplying nationwide energy grids (“21st century energy: Some sobering thoughts”).