Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Do Southern African Development Community countries trade enough with each other and with the rest of the world? Although its share of world trade has fallen, appropriate benchmarking shows that, controlling for gross domestic product and other characteristics, Southern African Development Community countries have experienced an increase in openness that is comparable to other developing countries. Once market size and geography are taken into account, trade between Southern African Development Community countries is actually high. Southern African Development Community countries also trade more products with each other than they do with the rest of the world. In this sense, and contrary to stylized fears, the Southern African Development Community region is quite integrated. Although the Southern African Development Community has reduced its tariffs, the structure remains complex and could be lowered on intermediates. Other impediments make it costly and difficult to move goods, but are at levels that are comparable with countries at similar levels of development. Although this may be surprising, there is still scope for improvement and the disadvantageous geography of the Southern African Development Community makes it important for other trade impediments to be reduced.

Economic Theory & Research --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Free Trade --- GDP Growth --- International Economics & Trade --- International Trade --- Intraregional Trade --- Trade Law --- Trade Policy --- Southern African Development Community Countries

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Infrastructure contributed half a percentage point to the Republic of Congo's annual per capita GDP growth from 2001 to 2006. If the country's infrastructure were improved to the level seen in Mauritius, the regional leader, it could contribute more than 3 percentage points to annual per capita growth. The Republic of Congo's existing infrastructure is concentrated in the developed south, reflecting the country's urbanization patterns. Links spread from there to the less-developed north, where there are vast areas of underexploited dense forest. The Republic of Congo's power sector offers the greatest potential for infrastructure-based economic growth, but major inefficiencies need to be addressed. Transit improvements would also make significant contributions to growth by improving connections to the north and to neighboring countries. Additional opportunities include rehabilitating the fixed-line telephone operator to spread Internet access. The country's water and sanitation infrastructure is in relatively good shape. Spending on infrastructure was USD 460 million per year in the Republic of Congo during the mid-2000s. Based on these spending levels, if all inefficiencies were eliminated, the country would face an infrastructure funding gap of USD 270 million a year and would not meet infrastructure targets for 31 years. Spending rose to USD 550 million per year in 2008-09. If the Republic of Congo could maintain these higher spending levels, the funding gap would essentially disappear. The nation could further reduce the funding gap by adopting lower-cost technologies to meet infrastructure targets.

Banks & Banking Reform --- Economic growth --- Energy Production and Transportation --- Funding gap --- GDP growth --- Infrastructure --- Infrastructure Economics --- Infrastructure Economics and Finance --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Public Sector Economics --- Transport Economics Policy & Planning --- Urbanization patterns

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This paper provides the first systematic empirical assessment of the pace at which housing investment has responded to rising demand from urbanization. The assessment used National Accounts Statistics to build a data set of residential housing investment for more than 90 countries. The data set explicitly accounts for investment by households, the government, and the private sector. The analysis finds that housing investment follows an S-shaped trajectory taking off around per capita GDP of about USD 3,000 (USD 2005) and tapering down at per capita GDP around USD 36,000 (USD 2005). The analysis also finds that between 2001 and 2011, housing investment in low-income economies averaged 4.56 percent of gross domestic product and 9.12 percent in upper-middle-income economies. An important finding is that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have housing elasticities similar to comparable low-income and lower-middle-income economies. In financing housing investment, the paper finds that developing countries tend to rely much more on domestic savings and government debt, whereas high-income Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries lever capital markets by tapping foreign savings. Not only does excessive reliance on domestic savings and government debt increase the sensitivity of housing investment to the cyclicality of growth of gross domestic product, it also can potentially crowd out investments in health and education.

Debt Markets --- Domestic Savings --- Economic Theory & Research --- Emerging Markets --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Gdp Growth --- Government Debt --- Housing Investment --- Investment and Investment Climate --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Non Bank Financial Institutions --- Private Sector Development --- Urbanization

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Throughout history, rich and poor countries alike have been lending, borrowing, crashing - and recovering - their way through an extraordinary range of financial crises. Each time, the experts have chimed, “this time is different” - claiming that the old rules of valuation no longer apply and that the new situation bears little similarity to past disasters. With this breakthrough study, leading economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff definitively prove them wrong. Covering sixty-six countries across five continents, This Time Is Different presents a comprehensive look at the varieties of financial crises, and guides us through eight astonishing centuries of government defaults, banking panics, and inflationary spikes - from medieval currency debasements to today’s subprime catastrophe. Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, leading economists whose work has been influential in the policy debate concerning the current financial crisis, provocatively argue that financial combustions are universal rites of passage for emerging and established market nations. The authors draw important lessons from history to show us how much - or how little - we have learned. Using clear, sharp analysis and comprehensive data, Reinhart and Rogoff document that financial fallouts occur in clusters and strike with surprisingly consistent frequency, duration, and ferocity. They examine the patterns of currency crashes, high and hyperinflation, and government defaults on international and domestic debts - as well as the cycles in housing and equity prices, capital flows, unemployment, and government revenues around these crises. While countries do weather their financial storms, Reinhart and Rogoff prove that short memories make it all too easy for crises to recur. An important book that will affect policy discussions for a long time to come, This Time Is Different exposes centuries of financial missteps.

Financial crises --- Fiscal policy --- Business cycles --- 338.12 --- 338 <09> --- -Fiscal policy --- -Business cycles --- -Economic cycles --- Economic fluctuations --- Cycles --- Tax policy --- Taxation --- Economic policy --- Finance, Public --- Crashes, Financial --- Crises, Financial --- Financial crashes --- Financial panics --- Panics (Finance) --- Stock exchange crashes --- Stock market panics --- Crises --- Conjunctuurbewegingen. Economische fluctuatie. Investeringscycli. Conjunctuuranalyse. Conjunctuuronderzoek. Conjunctuurprognoses --- Economische geschiedenis --- Government policy --- -Conjunctuurbewegingen. Economische fluctuatie. Investeringscycli. Conjunctuuranalyse. Conjunctuuronderzoek. Conjunctuurprognoses --- 338 <09> Economische geschiedenis --- 338.12 Conjunctuurbewegingen. Economische fluctuatie. Investeringscycli. Conjunctuuranalyse. Conjunctuuronderzoek. Conjunctuurprognoses --- -338 <09> Economische geschiedenis --- Economic cycles --- #SBIB:33H15 --- 333.613 --- 333.645 --- monetaire crisis --- 336.7 <09> --- bankwezen --- sectoriële analyse --- -338.542 --- Economie: geld en krediet --- Activiteiten van de nationale en internationale markten. Beursnoteringen van aandelen en obligaties. --- Speculatie op de beurs. --- crise monetaire --- Geschiedenis van het bankwezen --- Financiële crisis --- 336.7 <09> Geschiedenis van het bankwezen --- #SBIB:33H072 --- AA / International- internationaal --- US / United States of America - USA - Verenigde Staten - Etats Unis --- 331.162.1 --- 333.481 --- 333.17 --- histoire economique --- marches financiers --- crise financiere --- economische geschiedenis --- Wereldmarkten --- Geschiedenis van de financiële markten. --- Monetaire crisissen, hervormingen, saneringen en stabilisering. --- Crises, saneringen en hervormingen van het bankwezen. --- financiele markten --- financiele crisis --- -Tax policy --- 338.542 --- Geschiedenis van de financiële markten --- Crises, saneringen en hervormingen van het bankwezen --- Monetaire crisissen, hervormingen, saneringen en stabilisering --- Activiteiten van de nationale en internationale markten. Beursnoteringen van aandelen en obligaties --- Speculatie op de beurs --- Money. Monetary policy --- Financial crises - Case studies --- Fiscal policy - Case studies --- Business cycles - Case studies --- Ben Bernanke. --- Big Five Crises. --- Big Six Crises. --- Charles Kindleberger. --- GDF. --- GDP growth. --- GFD. --- IMF. --- Inside Job. --- International Monetary Fund. --- League of Nations. --- Manias, Panics and Crashes. --- Margin Call. --- Second Great Contraction. --- The Big Short. --- Too Big to Fail. --- World Bank. --- bailouts. --- baking crises. --- banking panic. --- banking reforms. --- capital mobility. --- central banks. --- contagion. --- credit cycles. --- currency crashes. --- currency debasements. --- debt crises. --- debt cycles. --- debt defaults. --- debt intolerance. --- debt. --- defaults. --- deflation. --- domestic creditors. --- domestic debt. --- domestic default. --- economic downturn. --- equity. --- exchange rate crises. --- external default. --- financial combustion. --- financial crisis. --- great contraction of the 1930s. --- high inflation. --- inflation crises. --- inflation tax. --- medieval currency crisis. --- medieval currency debasements. --- multilateral lending. --- public debt. --- sovereign default. --- sovereign external debt crises. --- sovereign lending. --- sovereign risk. --- stock markets. --- subprime crisis. --- subprime mortgage. --- Crises financières --- Politique fiscale --- Cycles économiques --- études de cas --- Crises financières --- Cycles économiques --- études de cas