The Economist (April 4)
“Poor land use in the world’s greatest cities carries a huge cost.” There isn’t much real shortage of land in even the most heavily populated areas. Instead poor regulations stifle efficient land use. “In the West End of London,” these regulations “inflate the price of office space by about 800%; in Milan and Paris the rules push up prices by around 300%.” But the effect on economic growth is even more profound. “Lifting all the barriers to urban growth in America could raise the country’s GDP by between 6.5% and 13.5%, or by about $1 trillion-2 trillion.”
Tags: Barriers, Cities, Economic growth, GDP, Land use, London, Milan, Paris, Regulations, Shortage, U.S., Urban growth
Investment Week (May 19)
At just 3.6%, Japan’s unemployment rate is extremely low and this should promote inflation. “Labour shortages have already driven wages higher for part-time workers. Adding to this, the demand to provide new infrastructure for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and the need to replace equipment should also serve to further stimulate the economy.” The OECD has forecast that “only Japan, New Zealand, and Israel are expected to grow faster than their previously forecasted GDPs in 2014.”
Tags: 2020 Olympics, Economy, Equipment, GDP, Inflation, Infrastructure, Israel, Japan, Labor, New Zealand, OECD, Shortage, Tokyo, Unemployment rate, Wages, Workers
The Wall Street Journal (September 3)
There’s only one way the world can feed 9 billion people and provide them with fuel and water. According to Nestle’s Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, politicians around the world must decide “no food for fuel.” Increasingly food has been diverted for biofuel production. About one half of corn production in the U.S. and rapeseed production in Europe already goes to biofuels, which are also water intensive (producing a liter of biodiesel can require over 9,000 liters of water). While the result of rising food prices from this diversion is merely “annoying” in rich countries, it means people “go hungry” or thirsty in the Third World.
Financial Times (September 5)
The world needs to awake to the threat posed by global food crisis. After all, we’ve had two in the past 2 years. Riots sparked by food shortages in 2007-08 brought down governments in Haiti and Madagascar. Last week, a 30% spike in the price of bread, caused unrest in Mozambique. “Steps should be taken to mitigate the severity of crises when they strike.” Larger reserves are one of the first steps that we should take.
