1) A Wall Street Journal article entitled, “We’re Number 32!” demonstrates the fact that any time one is conducting an analysis of different economies, subjective factors are bound to come into play. This particular author focuses his intensity on the importance of tax incentives, and in doing comparative analysis of America and other economies, he notes that the American arrangement is “32nd” according to some metric. Why should one focus on tax policy, however? What is it that makes this a key economic indicator? And when focusing on tax policy, why is it important to focus on the impact of taxes on businesses rather than on the consumer population? This provides an excellent example of some of the subjective judgment calls that must inevitably be made when trying to make comparisons. One must make very human determinations on the factors or elements that are important, since different cultures might have different ideas on what it means to have a “good” economy.
2) An article from The Economist entitled “The Dark Side of Booming Employment” evidences the difficulty in trying to use a single metric to offer a full evaluation of two different economies. This article discusses the way in which America, even in 2014, has massive differences in how its economic strength seems to be represented. On one hand, it has strong job growth in some sectors, but on the other hand, there is slumping GDP growth. What this article demonstrates is that even though many would like to use GDP as the factor that best demonstrates the strength of an economy, it is not the end-all, as it might be betrayed by other underlying economic factors. There are, according to this article, more things to take into account than a single economic indicator is capable of producing in that single metric.
3) In a Wall Street Journal article entitled After the Coup in Cairo, the paper makes it very clear that they believe that Pinochet’s achievements, even if unlikely, were highly achievable. This article is essentially trying to come up with a solution for Egypt as their government fell apart. Egypt, it seems, was in a similar situation as Chile during the years leading up to the 1970s. According to the authors of this article, Pinochet took over in Chile and immediately went to work hiring economic reformers. His job was tough, as the people there were not familiar with the contours of free markets or democracy. By hiring savvy reformers and pushing hard for his agenda, Pinochet was able to essentially lead a movement. He drove the economy toward free markets, bringing a sort of democratic marriage between new rights and economic freedom to the country. The WSJ suggests that this approach may be appropriate for Egypt.
4) In the World Bank’s “World Development Report 2012,” the organization discusses one of the many pros of globalization. As the article makes clear, globalization provides more information to people around the world, allowing them to understand some of the economic opportunities that might be available to them. Likewise, as the article notes, globalization has a positive impact on gender equality and economic equality in general. It is much more difficult to justify economic arrangements where people are oppressed when a country is inter-dependent upon other countries. According to the World Bank, as globalization takes hold, equality will begin to be the norm. One downside, as the article notes, is that implementation can be difficult for those countries that are not prepared. Some countries are better prepared, with infrastructure and the like, which can create major difficulties for those countries that are operating within a communications or technology deficit. This may even erode some of the equality possibilities.
- Razavi, S. (2012). World Development Report 2012: gender equality and development—a commentary. Development and Change, 43(1), 423-437. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
- The Economist. (2014). “The dark side of booming employment.” Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/
- Wall Street Journal. (2013). “After the Coup in Cairo.” Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/
- Wall Street Journal. (2014). “We’re Number 32!” Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com
