October 2019

29Oct

US senator plans Bill to block Federal Pensions investing in China

Senator Marco Rubio plans legislation to block U.S. government pensions from investing in Chinese stocks after the board overseeing the funds put off a decision that would add exposure to China. The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board on Monday addressed concerns that switching the benchmark for its $50 billion TSP I Fund to mirror an index with Chinese assets would undermine U.S. economic and national security. A decision was delayed for at least two weeks, according to Kim Weaver,...

October 29, 2019
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29Oct

Interview with Alejandro Werner on the Latest Economic Developments in Latin America

To boost the economic recovery and create more jobs, the region will need to rely on domestic drivers of growth, like consumption and investment. In a wide-ranging interview with Alejandro Werner, the head of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, we discussed the report’s findings, the recent social unrest in the region, as well as the latest developments in Argentina and Ecuador. The Regional Economic Outlook last year looked at the evolution of inequality and poverty in the region....

October 29, 2019
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25Oct

Essentials of Pension Economics

By Sergio Nisticò This Palgrave Pivot provides a concise overview of pension systems which, whether paid by governments or by private companies, are the sole source of income for millions of people around the world. By 2050, two billion elderly people will have to be ensured some form of income while, at the same time, the prospect facing younger generations is of a gloomy future. This book breaks down the jargon, investigates different designs and analyses these designs'...

October 25, 2019
Aging, Books, Sustainability,
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25Oct

Secure Retirement: Connecting Financial Theory and Human Behavior

By Jacques Lussier Investors fear return uncertainty and drawdowns associated with owning relatively risky asset classes, such as equity. The fact that greater risk is associated with greater expected return does not preclude the possibility that realized returns may be far less than a low-risk asset could provide, even with horizons as long as 5 to 10 years. Fear prompts the average investor to sometimes act against his own best interest. Therefore, the average investor’s portfolio often underperforms a...

October 25, 2019
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16Oct

Increasing Decision Making Capacities of Local Governments: Mexico’s Quest for Economic Growth

By Heidi Jane Smith (Economics Professor and Public Policy Coordinator, Department of Economics, Universidad Iberoamericana) This paper examines the relationship between fiscal autonomy and a municipalities’ commitment to and the impact upon economic development activities. This article evaluates quantitatively, using a panel dataset from 1989-2014, the relationship of fiscal capacity to a city’s economic development. It tests the hypothesis that if a municipality is more fiscally autonomous in collecting their own revenue and also discretion in making their...

October 16, 2019
Articles, Artículos, Sostenibilidad del Sistema, Sostenibilidad del Sistema, System Sustainability, , , ,
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09Oct

US. White House Focuses on China Stock Limits in Retirement Fund

The Trump administration is moving ahead with discussions around possible restrictions on portfolio flows into China, with a particular focus on investments made by U.S. government retirement funds, people familiar with the internal deliberations said. Read also US. GE is freezing its pension plan for 20,000 US workers The efforts are advancing even after American officials pushed back strongly against a Bloomberg News report late last month that a range of such limits was under review. Trump officials last...

October 9, 2019
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04Oct

Why the Future of Brazil’s Economy Rides on Pensions

Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil, is closer than ever to overhauling its costly pension system. That’s been the focus of the first sustained legislative drive by President Jair Bolsonaro, his economic team and allies. Efforts to muster support for a major reform failed under previous administrations. Now, Brazil’s Senate is set to approve changes that could boost the nation’s public finances and open the door to a virtuous cycle of expansion. 1. Why is pension reform so important? Brazil’s pension...

October 4, 2019
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01Oct

Trying Wall Street’s Patience, Brazil Postpones Pension

Brazil is trying Wall Street’s patience. Last Wednesday, the Senate was scheduled to vote on a much touted, and much needed, pension reform bill. Then it was postponed to Thursday. It didn’t happen on Friday. It is now supposed to go up for a vote on Tuesday, Senate leaders said. The market for Brazil equities has been in a holding pattern all week waiting for this vote; a vote that is supposed to be a lopsided win for president Jair Bolsonaro...

October 1, 2019
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September 2019

20Sep

Response of the IMF and the World Bank: to the Great Recession and the Euro Sovereign Crisis in a Globalising World

By Tankiso. A Thibane The book focuses on two international institutions, namely; the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank that were established more than seventy years ago. It examines their role during two main post-war global financial crises in a globalising world. This is because, in the currently globalised world, there are risks of a crisis spreading to other countries, particularly if there is no rapid intervention from international institutions. A brief discussion on the history of...

September 20, 2019
Books, System Sustainability,
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17Sep

ECB Has $51 Billion Fund Questioning Future of Inflation Hedging

The European Central Bank’s latest round of easing sent a signal to institutional investors that their inflation hedges may be growing more pointless by the day. In the northernmost corner of the euro zone, a $51 billion pension fund says ECB President Mario Draghi isn’t giving his industry much hope that things will improve. “So far, the less you’ve hedged, the better off you’ve been,” Reima Rytsola, the chief investment officer of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co., said in...

September 17, 2019
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