David Henderson on the New Attack on Capitalism

Remember the Club of Rome and zero growth ideology? Now it turns even worse according to Henderson :

« Somewhere along the way, during the last 50 years, the critique of capitalism changed from condemning its failure to spread the wealth to condemning the very opposite. Suddenly the great sin of capitalism was that it was producing too much, making us all too materialistic, fueling economic growth at the expense of other values, spreading middle-class decadence, and generally causing society to be too caught up in productivity and too focused on the standard of living. »

A bad case of “Damn if they do, damn if they don’t”.

And if you want to learn about the reason bedbugs are returning, read The Attack on Civilization.

Rich Countries’ Protectionism Hits the Poorest Nations

“US consumers have long paid about twice the world price for sugar because of import quotas protecting about 9,000 domestic sugar producers. The European Union is similarly guilty. … Egregious subsidies are handed out to US cotton producers, which flood the world market, depressing export prices. These hit the lowest-cost cotton producers in the global economy, which also happen to be some of the poorest nations on earth: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Chad.”

Read the complete article by William Easterly in the Financial Times.

His punch line: “According to an Oxfam study, eliminating US cotton subsidies would “improve the welfare of over one million West African households – 1O million people – by increasing their incomes from cotton by 8 to 20 per cent”

Conclusion: Trade-fueled growth could help developing nations much.

Gorillas and the Origin of Malaria

The western lowland gorilla of the Congo is found to be the most likely source of Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly parasite in humans. It apparently crossed the “species barrier” only once in evolution, as a result of a mosquito bite, and a long time ago.

Researchers believe identifying this link will lead to greater knowledge of how to combat the spread of the parasite, which currently infects 500 million people a year, killing about 2 million.

It is a major hope for Africa. Read the article in The Independent.

The Rise of “Franglais”

“Kelhorreur!” Phonetic spelling is proliferating in advertisement and media, probably due to the expanded use of SMS (short message service) on cell phones. But, to add insult to injury, this rudimentary new language is more and more based on phoneticised English words. What is the “Académie française” doing asks The Economist?

A reminder: the number of languages in the world is increasing, not decreasing, with globalization.

10 Myths About Gold

Read this Wall Street Journal 4^th most popular article before investing.

Caution: not for the goldbugs!

Payroll Tax Cuts Gain Support

Read the Huffington Post article here and my detailed analysis (in French) of how to reduce the payroll tax without curtailing social transfers for health insurance here .

Nouriel Roubini’s Reality Check

All the factors that will lead to a slowdown of growth in most advanced economies in the second half of 2010 and 2011 are at work in Germany and the rest of the eurozone writes Roubini in “The Eurozone’s Autumn Hangover” .

The punch line:

“… my best-case scenario is that the eurozone somehow muddles through in the next few years; at worst (and with a probability of more than one-third), the eurozone will break up, owing to a combination of sovereign debt restructurings and exits by some weaker economies.”