Kenneth Arrow: Path Breaker

Finance & Development, IMF profiles Kenneth Arrow, one of the most respected economists, a Nobel-prize winning theorist who has done pioneering work in various areas of economics science.

Link for the profile. 

Views of Five Nobel Prize Winners

Five Nobel winners, namely, George Akerlof, Paul Krugman, Robert Solow, Micheal Spence and Joseph Stiglitz talks what they see as the biggest problem facing the global economy of the future, as summarized by Finance & Development, IMF.

Link for the article.

Economics Generation Next!

Finance & Development, IMF selects 25 Economists under 45 years of age who are shaping the way it thinks about the global economy. Among 25, 13  are specialized in macroeconomics, 5 in microeconomics, 5 work on development economics, and the rest 2 on public policy.

Those interested may see the link: Generation Next !!! 

Bangladesh among Top 5 Fastest Growing Key Emerging Economies in 2014!

Well, it is quite a long title to define the character of these countries, but it's wonderful to know that Bangladesh is among top 5 fastest growing key emerging economies in 2014 in terms of GDP in PPP terms, ranked by Euromonitor International (Top 5 Fastest Growth Key Emerging Economies in 2014). Despite large political instability in the middle of the fiscal year, achieving over 6.0% GDP growth is per se a praiseworthy economic performance. However, it doesn't also reflect Bangladesh's right potential in terms of GDP growth due to large infrastructure shortage and serious lack of governance for delivering public resources. These are not just demands anymore, but necessities. 

New Development Approach of India!

Probably, one of solid recent ideas to reform the planning process of least developed countries (LDCs) like Bangladesh came out from India’s newly elected Prime Minister (India’s East Asian Dream). The idea is clear: reduce the dependence on bureaucratic-based planning process to more allocation to the priority sector based ideas.  Also, it was rightly recognized the fact that Five-Year Plan process is quite old-fashioned and based on the philosophy of command-based economy, and thus cannot reflect the current needs of market-based economies. The success is inevitable, if implementation follows the dream.

As a LDC, Bangladesh may like to think the similar realistic approach. It seems that the planning process of Bangladesh needs a real boost, based on priority rather than general intervention by the government, as described in the Five-Year Plan. The country needs more focused-priority needs such as infrastructure and power, as medium term measures, for ensuring the smooth business process of the private sector. For getting the long-term benefits of development, it must ensure the high quality of education and health services. Simple!   

Bangladesh Remittance Survey Results!

Mr. Zahid Hussain writes based on the survey results made by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on four broad categories; (i) who are migrants; (ii) whom and how do they remit; (iii) how significant are remittances; and (iv) learning experiences.

Link for the blog.

Keystone Quarterly Review (June 2014)

Keystone publishes its flagship publication (Keystone Quarterly Review, June 2014) with economic stories on social safety nets in Bangladesh, slowdown in remittance inflows, and some other issues.

Link for the review.