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IMF Working Papers-Populism and Civil Society
November 16, 2018--Summary:
Populists claim to be the only legitimate representative of the people. Does it mean that there is no space for civil society? The issue is important because since Tocqueville (1835), associations and civil society have been recognized as a key factor in a healthy liberal democracy.
We ask two questions: 1) do individuals who are members of civil associations vote less for populist parties? 2)does membership in associations decrease when populist parties are in power? We answer thesequestions looking at the experiences of Europe, which has a rich civil society tradition, as well as of Latin America, which already has a long history of populists in power. The main findings are that individuals belonging to associations are less likely by 2.4 to 4.2 percent to vote for populist parties, which is large considering that the average vote share for populist parties is from 10 to 15 percent. The effect is strong particularly after the global financial crisis, with the important caveat that membership in trade unions has unclear effects.
view the IMF Working Papers-Populism and Civil Society
Big investors demand greater non-financial reporting disclosure
November 15, 2018--BlackRock and Vanguard sign up to common set of metrics for societal and workforce issues.
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Sounding the Alarm on Leveraged Lending
November 15, 2018--We warned in the most recent Global Financial Stability Report that speculative excesses in some financial markets may be approaching a threatening level. For evidence, look no further than the $1.3 trillion global market for so-called leverage loans, which has some analysts and academics sounding the alarm on a dangerous deterioration in lending standards. They have a point.
This growing segment of the financial world involves loans, usually arranged by a syndicate of banks, to companies that are heavily indebted or have weak credit ratings. These loans are called "leveraged" because the ratio of the borrower's debt to assets or earnings significantly exceeds industry norms.
MSCI to Rename Real Estate Indexes and Benchmarks to Mirror Investors' Integration of Real Estate into Real Assets Portfolio Allocations
November 14, 2018--MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of research-based indexes
and analytics, announces that all IPD indexes and benchmarks will be renamed the MSCI Private Real
Assets Indexes, effective December 8, 2018 to mirror the changes in investors' portfolios.
Jay McNamara, Head of Real Estate at MSCI, said: "Renaming the IPD indexes allows us to provide
clients with a single, clear and consistent collection of private real assets indexes,...
World Economic Forum-Regional Risks for Doing Business
In The Global Risks Report 2018 we noted that this is now a multipolar and multiconceptual world-not only has global power shifted, but differences in norms and values among the world's powers have become more important. Predictions-particularly in the West-that global systems would converge have not stood the test of time and we are moving into uncharted international waters. view the World Economic Forum Insight Report
Regional Risks for Doing Business 2018 IMF Working Papers-Is Inflation Domestic or Global? Evidence from Emerging Markets view the IMF Working Papers-Is Inflation Domestic or Global? Evidence from Emerging Markets Emerging, Developing Economies to Face Challenges if Global Inflation Rises view the World Bank Inflation in Emerging and Developing Economies: Evolution, Drivers, and Policies IMF-Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia November 2018 view the IMF-Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia November 2018 Smart beta growth engine sputters as investors question strategy
Net financial inflows-including debt and equity-jumped to $1.11 trillion, the highest level in four years, the report indicates.
November 12, 2018--The World Economic Forum has been publishing The Global Risks Report since 2006, highlighting each year the vulnerability of our increasingly networked and interconnected world to volatility and disruption. The relevance of the risk perspective has only increased with time. Globally, we have been living through a period of unprecedented improvements in living standards, but this period is also unsettled and unsettling.
We can see signs of how vulnerable many of the complex systems that make up our world are: from the environmental to the financial and the societal to the geopolitical, the signs of strain are evident.
November 8, 2018--Summary:
Following a period of disinflation during the 1990s and early 2000s, inflation in emerging markets has remained remarkably low and stable. Was this related to a global disinflation environment triggered by China's integration into world trade and the broader globalization in these economies, or to better domestic policies?
In this paper, we review the inflation performance in a sample of 19 large emerging markets in the past couple of decades and quantify the impact of domestic and global factors in determining inflation. We document that the level, volatility, and persistence of inflation declined significantly, albeit not uniformly. Our results suggest that longer-term inflation expectations, linked to domestic factors, were the main determinant of inflation. External factors played a considerably smaller role. The results are a useful piece of evidence as emerging markets craft their monetary policies to navigate the future shift in global financial conditions.
November 7, 2018--Further upward acceleration of global inflation from record low levels may impair efforts in emerging and developing economies to sustain the low inflation environment achieved over the past several decades, the World Bank said in a groundbreaking examination of inflation in the emerging and developing world.
The adverse effects of high inflation can fall disproportionately on the poor, who hold most of their assets in cash and rely heavily on wage income, welfare benefits, and pensions, the World Bank said in Inflation in Emerging and Developing Economies: Evolution, Drivers, and Policies. High inflation has historically also been associated with slower economic growth, making efforts to maintain low and stable inflation crucial for reducing poverty and inequality, the World Bank said.
November 6, 2018--CCA Highlights
Growth in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) region exceeded expectations in 2017, but momentum is set to fade, according to the IMF's latest Regional Economic Outlook (REO).
he report highlights the importance of raising medium-term growth in the CCA region, outlining how growth-friendly fiscal policies, increased private activity, and improved resilience to global shocks are essential to delivering this goal.
November 4, 2018--Active-passive hybrid funds on course for lowest level of inflows in five years.
Smart beta funds take an ordinary index and tweak it based on so-called factors , such as comparing prices of the underlying stocks with earnings. There are growing concerns, however, about the quality of some smart beta strategies.