World economy
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出版物刊名: 国际经济评论
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主题词: World;经济学刊物;中国大陆;SSCI;引文索引系统;世界经济与政治;中国社会科学院;Science
摘要:近几年来,由中国社会科学院世界经济与政治研究所主办的英文刊China and World Economy(《中国与世界经济》)在成为国际性优秀学术期刊方面取得了显著成绩。
2005年6月,Chinaand World Economy被美国经济协会主办的《经济学文献期刊》收入其JEL引文索引系统;自2006年起。
China and World Economy开始与国际著名学术出版集团Blackwell合作,由Blackwell负责刊物的海外和网络发行。
日前,China and World Economy在国际化方面又有了重大突破:入选Social Science Citation Index(SSCI)系统。
该系统是目前全世界学术界公认的最权威的社会科学引文索引系统。
Governments that want their people to prosper in the burgeoning world economy 51. Which of the following is true about Olson?关于Olson,以下哪项是正确的He taught economics at the University of Maryland.他在马里兰大学教授经济学。
52. Which of the following represents Olson's point of view?以下哪项代表奥尔森的观点?Protecting individual property rights encourages wealth building.保护个人财产权可以促进财富的积累。
53. What does Olson think about mass production?奥尔森如何看待批量生产?It's property intensive.这是财产密集型54. What is the basis for the banking system?银行体系的基础是什么?A contract system that can be enforced.可以强制执行的合同系统。
55. According to Olson, what is the reason for the poor economies of Third World countries?奥尔森认为,第三世界国家经济欠佳的原因是什么?Lack of secure individual property rights.缺乏安全的个人财产权。
56. What is the other economists' opinion about the poor economies of the Third World?其他经济学家对第三世界的贫困经济有何看法?A free market is not let to determine the prices and quantities of goods.自由市场不允许确定商品的价格和数量。
世界经济千年史英文版Title: A Thousand-Year History of the World EconomyIntroduction:The history of the world economy spans thousands of years, reflecting the evolution and growth of global trade, commerce, and economic systems. From ancient civilizations to modern societies, various factors have shaped the economies of different regions and influenced global economic development. This article aims to provide an overview of the world economy's journey over the past millennium, highlighting key events, trends, and transformations that have occurred.1. Ancient and Medieval Periods:During the ancient and medieval periods, economic systems were diverse and often localized. Ancient civilizations such as Rome, Greece, and China developed complex trading networks, stimulating economic growth. The Silk Road emerged as a vital route connecting East and West, facilitating the exchange of goods, ideas, and technologies.2. The Renaissance and Exploration:The Renaissance period marked a significant shift in Europe's economic landscape. New inventions, scientific discoveries, and the resurgence of classical ideas fueled economic growth and innovation. The Age of Exploration saw European powers embarking on voyages to discover new trade routes, leading to the establishment of global trade networks and the exploitation of resources in colonized territories.3. Industrial Revolution and Capitalism:The 18th and 19th centuries witnessed the Industrial Revolution, a pivotal period in the world economy's history. The shift from agrarian to industrial societies brought about unprecedented economic growth and transformed production processes. Capitalism emerged as a dominant economic system, characterized by free markets, private ownership, and profit-driven competition.4. Globalization and the World Wars:The 20th century witnessed rapid advancements in technology, transportation, and communication, leading to the acceleration of globalization. World War I and II significantly impacted the global economy, reshaping international relations and leading to the establishment of new economic institutions such as the United Nations and the World Bank.5. Post-War Economic Boom and Development:Following World War II, the world experienced an economic boom, particularly in the United States and Western Europe. The establishment of international economic organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) fostered global cooperation and liberalized trade, resulting in increased economic interdependence.6. Rise of Emerging Economies:In recent decades, the world economy has witnessed the rise of emerging economies, particularly in Asia. Countries such as China and India have experienced rapid economic growth, driving global trade and reshaping thebalance of economic power. Technological advancements, such as the internet and digital platforms, have further facilitated global economic integration and transformed business models.7. Environmental and Sustainability Challenges:As the world economy continues to evolve, addressing environmental and sustainability challenges has become crucial. Climate change, resource depletion, and social inequality pose significant threats to global economic stability. Transitioning towards a more sustainable economic model has become a priority for governments, businesses, and individuals worldwide.Conclusion:The history of the world economy reflects a complex and interconnected web of developments, events, and transformations. From ancient trade routes to modern digital economies, the world has experienced remarkable shifts in economic systems, technology, and globalization. Understanding this thousand-year journey allows us to appreciate the interplay of factors that have shaped the world economy and provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.。
世界经济的新趋势英语作文Title: Emerging Trends in the Global EconomyIn the intricate tapestry of globalization, the world economy is undergoing profound transformations, driven by technological advancements, geopolitical shifts, and environmental concerns. These emerging trends are reshaping industries, economies, and the very fabric of international relations. This essay delves into several key trends that are defining the new landscape of the global economy.1. Digitization and the Rise of the Digital EconomyAt the forefront of these changes stands the relentless march of digitization. The digital economy, fueled by advancements in artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), is transforming traditional industries and creating new ones. E-commerce, fintech, and remote work have become ubiquitous, while digital platforms facilitate seamless global trade and connectivity. This trend not only enhances productivity and efficiency but also presents opportunities for economic growth and innovation, particularly in developing countries.2. Sustainability and the Green TransitionAs the world grapples with the realities of climate change, sustainability has emerged as a central pillar of the global economy. Governments, businesses, and consumers alike are recognizing the need for a green transition, marked by the adoption of renewable energy sources, circular economy practices, and environmentally responsible production methods. This shift is driving investments in clean technologies, creating new industries, and reshaping global supply chains. The green economy represents a significant growth opportunity for countries willing to embrace the transition.3. Trade Realignment and Regional IntegrationAmidst growing trade tensions and geopolitical uncertainties, the global trading system is undergoing a period of realignment. Multilateral trade agreements are facing challenges, while regional trade blocs and bilateral trade deals gain prominence. This trend reflects a shift towards more flexible and agile trade arrangements that can better address the specific needs and concerns of participating nations. At the same time, the rise of digital trade and e-commerce is facilitating cross-border transactions, making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in global markets.4. The Rise of Emerging Markets and the Multipolar WorldThe global economic landscape is becoming increasingly multipolar, with emerging markets and developing economies playing an increasingly prominent role. China, India, and other emerging economies are not only contributing significantly to global growth but are also shaping international norms and institutions. This shift is reflected in the growing influence of these countries in global trade, finance, and technology. As they continue to rise, the balance of power in the world economy is evolving, leading to new opportunities and challenges for all nations.5. The Impact of the Pandemic and Future ResilienceThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the global economy, revealing vulnerabilities in supply chains, healthcare systems, and economic resilience. In its aftermath, nations are reevaluating their strategies for economic growth and resilience. This includes investments in healthcare infrastructure, digitalization of public services, and the diversification of supply chains to reduce reliance on a few key markets. The pandemic has also accelerated the adoption of remote work and e-commerce, further accelerating the digital transformation of economies.ConclusionIn conclusion, the world economy is being reshaped by a confluence of trends that are transforming industries, economies, and international relations. Digitization, sustainability, trade realignment, the rise of emerging markets, and the impact of the pandemic are all contributing to this transformation. As nations navigate these changes, it is crucial to embrace innovation, foster international cooperation, and prioritize resilience in order to harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks presented by these emerging trends.。
CHINA IN THE WORLD ECONOMYChina is a rapidly emerging economic superpower. Yet China is still far from a high-income country. What does this novel combination mean for China itself and for its place in the world?In setting out to address that question, we must start with the obvious point.A country with such a huge and growing impact on the world cannot ignore its effect on others. The defining characteristic of such a superpower is that it cannot expect to remain a free rider. What it does and does not do has consequences for the entire global system. As William Shakespeare might have said, China has achieved greatness and now has responsibility thrust upon it.Defining China’s interestsChina needs to develop a policy not just for its interaction with the global economic system, but also for the development of that system. In doing so, it will have to start from a definition of its national interests, values and objectives.I would argue that China’s overwhelming national interest lies in maintaining a stable, peaceful and co-operative global political and economic environment. It is only in such an environment that China can be confident of maintaining rapid economic development.How should China, as one of the world’s leading powers, seek to achieve that objective? Broadly, I would argue that this interest would be best secured via development of a rules-governed, institutionally-based global system. With this general objective in mind, I want to discuss four principal areas of policy: finance; money; trade and direct investment; and natural resources. This is not an exhaustive list, by any means. But these are some of the principal issues now facing China.Global financeIn the long run, China is likely to emerge as the most important player in the global financial system. Its objectives must be, first, to create a domestic financial system that is capable of supporting its own economic development; second, to help promote a global financial system that supports a rapidly growing and reasonably stable world economy; and, third, to protect the former – the domestic financial system – from the excesses of the latter – the global financial system. This is, in fact, a huge challenge, because of the complex interaction between global and domestic finance.I would argue that in achieving this complex reconciliation China’s policies should be guided by the following four broad principles.First, the Chinese authorities should assume that in the long run, possibly as long as a generation, China’s financial system will not only be fully integrated into global finance, but is likely to emerge as one of its hubs.Second, the transition to full integration will be not just lengthy, but complex and fraught. For this reason, it will take some time and needs to be carefully orchestrated. An important step along the way will be to free the outflow of private capital from China, particularly foreign direct investment and portfolios capital. Full integration of banking systems is particularly dangerous and needs to be handled with much care.Finally, it is strongly in China’s interests to support efforts to make the global financial system less unstable. China has been a full participant in the Group of 20’s discussion of financial sector reform, which have gone largely in the direction supported by China’s authorities: tighter regulation and higher capital requirements. China feels, with some reason, that its relatively cautious approach to the regulation of the banking system has been vindicated by recent events. As a result, a degree of convergence of regulatory philosophy has occurred between China and the western powers, though full convergence has certainly not yet been achieved - and may never be.Global moneyClosely related to reform of global finance is reform of the global monetary system. Here, as I have noted, China is already an enormously important player. Again, China’s challenge is to reconcile its interests in domestic stability with those of a parallel global stability. Again, I would suggest a number of broad principles.In the first place, China needs to recognise that its own policies towards the global monetary system have proved to be domestically destabilising. This is particularly true of exchange-rate intervention and reserve accumulation.In the second place, China needs time to extricate itself from its distorted initial position. That is going to be quite difficult. The central elements will need to be a combination of accelerated appreciation of the nominal exchange rate, with faster liberalisation of the capital outflow, a shift of disposable incomes towards households and better safety nets for the latter, to lower the enormous level of precautionary savings.In the third place, China needs to develop a strategy for reform of the global monetary system that fits with its interests in managing the interface between its domestic development and global stability. In doing so, it needs to recognise the reality that the accumulation of large claims on supposedly safe foreign liabilities must be matched by a corresponding supply. Unfortunately, the global system seems able to generate such a supply only via the ultimately self-defeating means of huge fiscal and external deficits in the US.In the fourth place, China may wish to develop its own views of how the global monetary system should operate in the long run. It appears, however, that those views are likely to be in conflict with the dominant (though not universal) western consensus that the least bad system is one of freely floating exchange rates among large economies that possess domestic monetary autonomy, with monetary policymanaged by independent inflation-targeting central banks. China and its partners may need to recognise a fundamental and enduring tension between their views.Finally, given this impasse, it is in China’s interests to find a pragmatic accommodation via the discussions now occurring within the G20. Such an accommodation would focus on indicators of disequilibrium, the methods and timetable of adjustment, generous and effective liquidity provision for countries in difficulties and governance reforms in the International Monetary Fund, to make it a more legitimate and effective interlocutor for China and other emerging countries.Global Trade and InvestmentTrade has been China’s great success. It is on its way to becoming the world’s most important trading entity. This makes China the natural successor of the US and, before that, the UK, as guardian of the open rules-based trading system. It is important, for this reason, that China abides by all the rules and principles of the system and play an important part in developing it further. This raises severalimportant issues.First, China can try to play a role in bringing the interminable Doha round to some sort of conclusion, however limited.Second, China has a rising interest in protecting its own intellectual property and, for this reason, a matching interest in ensuring its own adherence to these rules.Third, China will also have a growing interest in protecting its direct investment abroad. For this reason, it should promote stronger rules on protection of foreign investment. This is one of the most important direction for the World Trade Organisation.Finally, as a global trader, China has a strong interest in ensuring that any regional trade arrangements it joins are compatible with the global rules.Access to Natural ResourcesThe last and, quite probably most important issue is access to natural resources. China is, for the first time in history, dependent on access to imports of industrial raw materials and food. Indeed, it is already the world’s largest importer of most raw materials. Moreover, this dependence seems certain to increase. In the process, China has played the dominant role in raising the prices of these materials, shifting global relative prices against itself and other countries dependent on commodity imports, while benefiting commodity exporters.For China, as a resource-user and nascent superpower, policy in this area is of potentially the highest importance. It has a strong interest in generating global agreement on how best to access and manage the world’s resources. China’s immediate interest, however, is narrower: it is to gain access to the world’s resources on the most favourable terms. It has decided, quite reasonably, to use its cheap capitaland labour to secure this end. That is, in itself, not only in China’s own interests, but in those of other consumers. Since resources have global prices created in global markets, any increase in supply is to the benefit of all.Need any difficulties then arise? I can see three dangers.First, the potential shift in relative prices might prove to be very difficult to handle. The most important commodity is oil, the world’s principal transport fuel. A technological revolution will be required. Nothing being discussed now is likely to prove sufficient.Second, it would be helpful if a consensus could be reached about the terms of investment and trade in natural resources, comparable to the rules on other aspects of trade in the World Trade Organisation. The aim should be to ensure that commodity exporting countries – particularly poor ones, with limited governance capacity – benefit from foreign investment and exports of their natural resources. It will be immensely important for China to play a big role in reaching any such global agreements.Finally, the core of any such agreement should be free trade. The great powers should agree to let prices be set in world markets, with, of course, the possibility of longer term contracts, where desirable.ConclusionBeing huge is not altogether an advantage. China cannot develop unnoticed and without effect on the world around it. As it grows, its impact expands commensurately. The next two decades will, in this respect, be far more challenging than the last three. Already a great economic power, China is likely to be the world’s largest economy, even at market prices, in not much more than a decade. Its influence on the world economy will be pervasive. Somehow, it must reconcile the imperatives of rapid development with the need to take full account of its massive and growing impact on the world as a whole. Here I have discussed four crucial aspects – finance, the monetary system, trade and natural resources. In each China will have to develop its own agenda, one that secures its principal objectives of rapid development at home and stability abroad. It will not be easy to achieve this combination. But China has not alternative.。
The Influence of China’s Emerging on the W orld Economy中国已经成为世界第二大出口国和第三大进口国。
最近,中国又成为全世界的工业原料(矿产和金属)进口大国和第三大石油进口国。
然而,在农产品贸易领域,中国能发挥的作用远没有人们想像的那么重要,迄今为止,中国人粮食消费的增长主要靠国内生产来满足。
当然,从长远来看,这种相对的自给自足还远远得不到保障,但是就目前而言,国际市场农产品价格大幅上涨并不是中国进口造成的。
China has become the world's second largest exporter and the third biggest importer. Recently, China has become the world's industrial raw materials (mineral and metal) importing countries and the third largest oil importer. However, in agricultural trade fields, China can play the role of far less important than most people think, so far, Chinese grain consumption growth mainly through domestic production to meet. Of course, in the long run, this relatively self-sufficient still far not guaranteed, but so far, the international market prices’ ris ing considerably is not caused by the Chinese imports.美国经济出现减速迹象,使人认为以中国为首的新兴经济体可能会接过富裕国家的接力棒,成为世界经济增长的发动机。
EPS数据平台产品介绍北京福卡斯特信息技术有限公司2011-03-18目录一、公司简介 (3)二.产品介绍 (4)三、EPS系列数据库 (5)1.世界贸易数据库(World Trade Data) (5)2.世界能源数据库(World Energy Data) (6)3.世界宏观经济数据库(World Macro Economy Data) (6)4.世界经济发展数据库(World Economy Development Data) (6)5.欧亚经济发展数据库(Euro-Asia Economy Development Data) (6)6.中国宏观经济数据库(China Macro Economy Data) (7)7.中国工业企业数据库(China Industry Business Performance Data) (7)8.中国工业产品产量数据库(China Industry Product Output Data) (7)9.中国贸易数据库(China Trade Data) (7)10.中国金融数据库(China Finance Data) (8)11.中国科技数据库(China Science and Technology Data) (8)12. 中国卫生数据库(China Health Data ) (8)13. 重庆社会发展数据库(Chongqing Social Development Data ) (9)14. 中国农业数据库(China Agriculture Data) (9)15. 中国教育数据库(China Education Data) (9)16. 世界教育数据库(World Education Data) (9)17. 中国区域经济数据库(China Regional Economy Data) (10)18. 中国旅游数据库(China Tourism Data) New (10)19.中国财政数据库(China Fiscal and Economic Data) New (10)20、中国城市数据库(China City Databasebase) (10)21、北京社会发展数据库(Beijing Social Development Database) (10)四、功能介绍 (11)1.系统操作功能 (11)1.1数据查询功能 (11)1.2跨库检索功能 (11)1.3数据保存功能 (12)1.4数据导出功能 (12)1.5指标解释功能 (12)2.数据模式功能 (12)2.1图表功能 (12)2.2数字地图功能 (12)3.数据分析预测功能 (13)3.1表格转置功能 (13)3.2合并计算功能 (13)3.3数据筛选功能 (13)3.4数据高亮显示 (13)3.5数据80/20分析 (13)3.6表格样式功能 (14)3.7条件样式功能 (14)3.8数据搜索功能 (14)3.9时间序列分析功能 (14)一、公司简介北京福卡斯特信息技术有限公司(BFIT)是国内专业的数据、信息与软件服务提供商,是一家拥有先进软件开发技术和自主知识产权的高科技企业,在数据的挖掘、应用及服务等相关技术领域,始终保持国际领先地位。
帮助世界经济发展英文作文英文:As a global citizen, I believe that helping the world economy develop is crucial for the prosperity and well-being of people around the world. There are several ways in which we can contribute to the development of the world economy.First and foremost, investing in education is essential for the long-term growth of the global economy. By providing access to quality education for all individuals, we can ensure that the future workforce is skilled and knowledgeable, thereby driving innovation and productivity. For example, in many developing countries, access to education is limited, especially for girls. By investing in education for girls, we can empower them to contribute to the economy and break the cycle of poverty.Secondly, promoting sustainable development andresponsible consumption is key to ensuring the longevity of the world economy. This includes investing in renewable energy, reducing waste, and promoting ethical business practices. For instance, companies can adopt sustainable production methods and consumers can make environmentally friendly choices in their daily lives, such as using reusable products and supporting eco-friendly businesses.Furthermore, fostering international trade and collaboration is essential for the growth of the world economy. By removing trade barriers and promoting fair trade, countries can benefit from the exchange of goods and services, leading to economic growth and improved living standards. For instance, the recent signing of trade agreements between countries has opened up newopportunities for businesses and consumers, leading to increased economic activity and job creation.In addition, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is crucial for the development of the world economy. SMEs play a significant role in job creation and innovation, and by providing them with access tofinance, technology, and markets, we can help them thrive and contribute to economic growth. For example, many developing countries have implemented programs to support SMEs, resulting in the creation of new businesses and employment opportunities.In conclusion, there are various ways in which we can contribute to the development of the world economy, from investing in education to promoting sustainable development and fostering international trade. By working together and taking proactive measures, we can help create a more prosperous and inclusive global economy for future generations.中文:作为一个全球公民,我相信帮助世界经济发展对于全球人民的繁荣和福祉至关重要。
世界经济概论英文版答案Chapter I3. What are the stages of the formation and development of the world economy?The formation of the world economy has generally gone through three historical stages:(1) Budding period. The discovery of geography began in the middle and late 18th century and lasted for nearly 300 years.(2) Initial formation period. This period began with the British industrial revolution around the 1860s and completed the establishment of industrial society in European and American countries around the 1870s, including the whole period of capitalism, which lasted about 100 years. The formation of the world economy in this period was based on the large machinery industry, mainly marked by the establishment of the international division of labor system and the development of the world market.(3) Final formation period. From the 1870s to the beginning of the20th century, with the deepening of international division of labor and the expansion of the scope of the world market, especially the great progress of production and capital internationalization characterized by capital export, and the completion of the division of world territory, the real world economy finally took shape.Chapter II1. How to understand the process and connotation of economic globalization?Process: economic globalization is a process and a state of the development of the world economy to a higher level. Economic globalization is driven by the contemporary scientific and technological revolution, the market economy and the great development of multinational corporations. The great development of international trade, international finance, international investment, international transportationand communication, as well as the migration of international population, has led to the large-scale flow of production factors all over the world, and expanded the internal division of labor of enterprise production into a global division of labor, It is a state and process of unprecedented acceleration and deepening of interdependence and integration of countries by optimizing the combination and allocation of production factors on a global scale.Connotation: (1) economic globalization is the unity of economic category and historical category(2) Economic globalization is a concept related to time and space(3) The essence of economic globalization is the globalization of capital and its carrier expansion(4) Economic globalization is dominated by developed countries, and there are many asymmetries in its structure.2. Reasons and manifestations of the accelerated process of post-war economic globalization.Reasons: (1) the great development of scientific and technological revolution(2) The market economy system expands to the whole world(3) The development of trade, investment and financial liberalization in western countries(4) The great development of multinational corporations.Performance: (1) trade liberalization and global networking: with trade liberalization and information networking, the scope and scale of world trade have expanded sharply(2) Globalization of financial, monetary and investment markets: globalization of financial markets, currency circulation and investment activities(3) Globalization of human resource flow: the number and scope of worldwide immigrants have expanded, the transnational training and flowof talents have increased significantly, and the trend of "hidden transnational flow" of talents has increased.(4) The formation of global industrial chain and the globalization of international production system: the development of global industrialization and the formation of industrial chain followed by echelons around the world; Formation of global production system(5) The international economic coordination mechanism has gradually taken shape.3. How to understand the opportunities and challenges brought by economic globalization to developing countries?Opportunities: developing countries and regions adapt to the general trend of economic globalization, actively take advantage of the opportunities of deepening international division of labor and worldwide industrial structure adjustment, adopt opening-up strategies and policies in line with their national conditions, introduce foreign capital, technology and management experience, and improve their industrial structure and product quality, We should improve the competitiveness of our national enterprises as soon as possible, vigorously develop foreign trade, fully and reasonably allocate domestic resources and realize the rapid development of our economy. Economic globalization can also promote political reform in developing countries and accelerate the process of democratization.Challenges: (1) developing countries are at a disadvantage in the current process of economic globalization. With the rapid development of Global trade and global production system, the national economy of developing countries is facing great pressure and impact, and its dependence on developed countries is also increasing.(2) Economic globalization has led to and exacerbated the further imbalance of world economic development, and developing countries lag behind developed countries, especially those at the bottom.(3) the unbalanced development of China's developing countries is also increasing, which poses a potential threat to investment, stimulatesthe development of the bubble economy, and lays hidden danger for the financial crisis.(4) The biggest problem or threat brought by economic globalization to developing countries is that their national sovereignty has been impacted and weakened, and their national economic security has been challenged.(5) It has brought enormous pressure on the reform of developing countries. Economic globalization has strengthened the economic transmission and synchronization. How to accept the positive transmission and curb the negative transmission has become a major problem urgently needed to be solved by developing countries.5. What impact has economic globalization had on national sovereignty and the world pattern?Economic globalization has impacted national sovereignty, and mutual coordination has become the main theme of the times. Originally a unique right of a country, it has increasingly become a common power of the international community. National economic activities are increasingly operating in accordance with international treaties, agreements, norms and practices; The improvement of the status of multinational corporations in the economic life of various countries weakens the intervention of the state in industrial policy.Economic globalization is one of the decisive factors in the development, evolution and final formation of the world pattern after the cold war. As economic globalization has greatly strengthened the role of the law of unbalanced development, the status of some countries in the world pattern has declined, while the influence and role of others in the world pattern have increased. In this way, the world pattern, as the global core structure, will undergo a major adjustment in the balance of power. Economic globalization has promoted world multipolarization, which has enhanced human harmony.In economic globalization, with the accelerated transfer and movement of production factors in the world, the problem of global public hazards has become increasingly prominent. Their harm involves not only developing countries, but also developed countries, and even the whole world. Therefore, the process of economic globalization will inevitably bring many international political and economic frictions.Chapter III1. What are the basic characteristics of the post-war scientific and technological revolution? What impact does it have on the development of national economy and world economy?Basic features of the post-war scientific and technological revolution:1) Comprehensive and worldwide. 2) The scientific revolution and the technological revolution have developed simultaneously and formed the integration of science, technology and production.3) The machine system, labor style and lifestyle have been innovated. 4) the development of science and technology and its application in production have been strongly supported by the government.Impact: the post-war scientific and technological revolution has brought about great development of social productive forces and great changes in the structure of productive forces:(1) The great development of productive forces. It has greatly improved labor productivity, expanded capital accumulation and expanded the commodity market.(2) The transformation of the substantive elements of productivity: the workers are becoming more and more intelligent, the labor tools are becoming more and more automatic, and the labor objects are becoming more and more artificial.(3) Strengthening of non substantive elements of productivity: Science and technology has become the first productivity, and education has become an important reinforcing element in modern productivity.(4) Changes in industrial structure. The basic feature of its change is the shift of the focus of industrial structure. The proportion of material production sectors such as industry and agriculture in the national economy decreased, while the proportion of non-material production sectors such as service industry increased.The third scientific and technological revolution raised the level of world productivity and accelerated the recovery and development of the world economy after the war; Promoted the development of international trade; It has promoted the development of multinational corporations and international economic integration, widened the gap between the rich and the poor all over the world, and promoted the changes of social production relations all over the world(5) The third scientific and technological revolution not only brought about the modernization of things, caused changes in the way of labor and life, and gradually modernized people's ideas, ways of thinking, ways of behavior and ways of life.。
Towards a Post-Crisis World EconomySpeech by John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director,International Monetary FundAt the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins UniversityNovember 17, 2008/external/np/speeches/2008/111708.htmIntroductionI am grateful to SAIS for the opportunity to address this distinguished audience on such a challenging, critical and timely topic. Over the past few weeks, a consensus has emerged regarding the seriousness of the near-term threats to the global economy, with the advanced economies already close in or near recession. At the same time, there is no sign yet of a fundamental reversal of the financial market dislocation and deleveraging that represents both a sign of and a contributor to the still unfolding global economic strains. To the contrary, the virulent combination of financial stress and shrinking advanced economy demand is impacting emerging economies, with potentially significant negative effect.The G-20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy that took place here in Washington last weekend was both an unprecedented response to the daunting near-term challenges, and an explicit symbol of the evolving world economic order. The Summit confirmed that the most senior political authorities recognize the urgent need to address credibly the underlying causes of the current crisis, even while acting aggressively to reverse its near-term impact. It is notable that the underlying premise of the Summit—as captured explicitly in the Communiqué—was that success in these efforts will only be possible through international cooperation, and that the scope of that cooperation will have to be broader—both in terms of the policies and the countries involved—than has been the case in the past.In several important ways, therefore, the coming months will represent both a test and a turning point for the global economy, for international financial markets and for global governance. While the efforts agreed last weekend may fall short of something that could be given as grandiose a label as a new international financial architecture, nonetheless their scope and importance shouldn't be underestimated. The Working Groups that are being formed as a result of the Summit, with a specific deadline for reaching conclusions, together with the Summit participants' explicit commitment to reconvene by next year's second quarter, are intended to impart momentum to the reform efforts.The Summit also reflected an underlying consensus about the intended nature of the future global system. In particular, the Summit Communiquéstates that proposed reforms "will be only be successful if grounded in a commitment to free market principles, including the rule of law, respect for private property, open trade and investment, competitive markets and efficient, effectively regulated financial systems". Moreover, the level of consensus and political commitment regarding the need to act exhibited at the Summit justify hope and even optimism that the opportunity that is being created by the current crisis for implementing significant structural improvements in the global economy, and in international financial markets, will notbe missed.Finally, the G-20 Leaders pledged to initiate a new push to reach agreement on the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations before the end of this year, ignoring the widespread skepticism that a deal would or could be reached in the foreseeable future.The Deepening ChallengesThat Government Leaders and Finance Ministers from economies representing about 85 percent of global GDP could agree to assemble in Washington on only a few weeks' advance notice has no precedent. In fact, White House sources indicated that they could find no previous case of so many leaders meeting there for a working session. The motivation of the attendees was clear, however: economic prospects have deteriorated notably during the past two months, and the global financial crisis has taken a sharp turn for the worse. In the advanced economies, consumer and business confidence have dropped to levels not seen in decades, and activity is slowing sharply or even contracting in many economies. Most worrisome has been the sudden—and severe—toll that the crisis has begun to take on emerging economies, where in many cases deleveraging and asset sales have led to capital flow reversals, a sharp widening of spreads on sovereign and corporate debt, and abrupt currency depreciations.As a result, we now project that the world economy will grow by only 2¼ percent in 2009. This reflects a reduction of three-quarters of a percentage point from the October World Economic Outlook forecast that was finalized only weeks ago. In the new forecast, the advanced economies are expected to contract by ¼ percent on an annual basis in 2009. This would mark the first annual contraction in the postwar period for these countries as a group.Growth prospects for emerging economies also have been undermined by the latest developments. Still, the new IMF forecast anticipates that activity in emerging economies will expand by 5 percent in 2009, although with considerable regional variation. Thus, it is expected that emerging economies will account for 100 percent of global growth next year. It is also true, however, that even this newly reduced forecast can't be taken for granted, as the downside risks to growth, even for the emerging economies, remain significant. Thus, actions to be taken by emerging economy authorities to bolster confidence in the appropriateness of their policies, as well as efforts by the international community to provide necessary financial support in this moment of crisis, will be critical in order to attain the hoped-for revival of global growth by 2010.In the remainder of my presentation, I will review the undertakings of last weekend's Summit from the point of view of my IMF colleagues and myself regarding the near-term actions that we view as crucial to restoring growth and financial sector soundness, as well as those measures that we consider to be essential for improving the medium-term performance of the global financial system and for reducing the risk of future crises. Before concluding, I will summarize the role of the IMF envisioned by the Summit Communiqué, and briefly discuss what the IMF is doing to help our members through the crisis.Sustaining Global DemandGiven the speed with which growth prospects have deteriorated, it is not surprising that there was broad agreement at last weekend's Summit that new monetary and fiscal policy initiatives will be needed to support global demand. For sure, recent policy actions in advanced countries to use the public balance sheet to recapitalize financial institutions, to provide comprehensive government guarantees, and to extend liquidity provision were important and necessary steps. Their swift and effective implementation will be crucial to restoring confidence. However, these measures will not be sufficient by themselves to halt the slide in global output.With inflation receding, many advanced and emerging economies can further ease monetary policy.•Many central banks already have taken decisive action in this regard, including aggressive Fed action to reduce policy rates, the recent sizeable cut in interest rates by the Bank of England, and a clear shift toward policy easing by the European Central Bank and other advanced economies, including Australia and Switzerland among others. In many key emerging economies, central banks also have cut interest rates and eased reserve requirements.•Generally speaking, however, monetary easing is likely to be less effective at stimulating demand while financial conditions remain disrupted. More specifically, survey-based data show that banks have tightened credit standards significantly since the onset of the crisis last year. The impact of such a tightening of lending standards on credit aggregates typically occurs only with a lag. Thus, the negative effects of the current tightening of credit standards likely will be felt for some time to come. Put another way, the deleveraging process is likely to shift from widening risk spreads to actual reduced volumes of credit. In emerging economies that have relied on capital inflows to finance an expansion of bank credit, the effectiveness of monetary policy may also be limited.It is appropriate, therefore, that fiscal expansion will play a central role in helping to sustain domestic demand. This view was endorsed explicitly by the Summit Communiqué.•Several countries, including the United States, China and various European economies, already have announced fiscal stimulus plans. In an environment of sagging confidence, the impact of various fiscal measures—both in terms of their timing and their effectiveness at boosting output—requires careful consideration. Any fiscal stimulus should be timely in its impact, as the need to cushion demand is immediate. As a result, innovative measures could be helpful. For example, measures to support low-income households would be particularly helpful in boosting demand, and would be targeted at those most in need. Also, one-off transfers to states in federal systems such as the United States could be helpful in preventing pro-cyclical fiscal tightening at the state level.•More broadly, our research suggests that global fiscal stimulus on the order of 2 percent of GDP is justified. Moreover, fiscal policy action would be more effective if it were implemented in key trading partner countries more or less simultaneously. That said, fiscal action may not be advisable in countries with greater vulnerabilities, or those where debt sustainability is a major concern.Thus, countries with the strongest fiscal policy frameworks, those best able to finance new fiscal efforts, and those with clearly sustainable debt positions should take the lead.Preventing a Liquidity Shock from Becoming a Solvency CrisisWhile macroeconomic policies are crucial to sustaining demand, emerging economies face an important challenge in ensuring that the unfolding liquidity squeeze does not transform itself into a solvency crisis. Deleveraging is beginning to have an increasingly striking impact on these economies following a period of exceptional growth. Countries with significant vulnerabilities are being hit hard, but even some countries with strong fundamentals are being affected. In particular, some countries with liquid domestic financial markets that previously received large capital inflows have experienced abrupt reversals of external financing flows. Past experience indicates that dealing with these challenges will require efforts by both advanced and emerging economies.For the affected emerging economies, the focus must be dealing with immediate liquidity and exchange rate pressures created by the capital flow reversals. So far, measures taken by policymakers in emerging economies to improve liquidity appear to be having only a limited impact in restoring confidence, even in countries with large reserve buffers.•In emerging economies with flexible exchange rate regimes, exchange rate adjustment can help to absorb the pressures arising from capital outflows. Of course, countries with pegged exchange rates face a different set of challenges, as they lack this degree of policy freedom.•At the same time, emerging economies with large reserve buffers may provide foreign currency liquidity as needed by their own economies.Regardless, emerging economies likely will remain under pressure for some time from global financial deleveraging, even under the most favorable plausible scenarios. As a result, liquidity provision will continue to be critical to emerging economies' ability to weather this storm.•The IMF Executive Board recently approved a Short-Term Liquidity Facility (SLF) designed to provide substantial liquidity support to emerging countries with good policies and good track records that are experiencing liquidity shortages because of deteriorating external market conditions. This innovative facility is designed to be accessible on very short notice, and carries no ex-post conditionality. If it proves useful, this facility will become a regular part of the Fund's policy toolkit. The Federal Reserve also established swap lines with the central banks of Brazil, Korea, Mexico, and Singapore, in an attempt to ease current dollar funding shortages. These lines will remain open until April 2009.•Regional initiatives also can be helpful. Efforts aimed at a regional pooling of international reserves, such as in Asia through bilateral swaps, provide a further backup for individual countries facing significant external funding pressures. These arrangements could be broadened, for example by linking them with use of the new SLF.Improving the Global Financial SystemLooking beyond the immediate challenges, the crisis has made clear that new thinking and action are needed in at least three areas related to the global financial architecture. First, the design of financial regulation needs to be improved. Second, a better way of assessing systemic risk must be found. Third, mechanisms for more effective, coordinated actions are needed to reduce the risk of crises and to address them when they occur.This crisis has shown the limits of the current regulatory and supervisory frameworks at both the domestic and international levels. Open financial markets can provide tremendous benefits by lowering the cost of capital, but more effective regulation is needed to realize this potential. As has been demonstrated all too graphically, financial innovation and integration have increased the speed and extent to which shocks are being transmitted across asset classes and economies. However, regulation and supervision remain geared at individual financial institutions and do not adequately consider the systemic and international implications of domestic institutions' actions. Moreover, macro-prudential tools do not sufficiently take into account business and financial cycles, which has led to an excessive buildup of leverage.The challenge, therefore, is to design new rules and institutions that reduce systemic risks, improve financial intermediation, and properly adjust the perimeter of regulation and supervision, without imposing unnecessary burdens.•More effective capital and liquidity requirements would make financial institutions—especially those that are highly interconnected—more resilient to risk. Counter-cyclical macro-prudential rules appear to be a promising way to reduce the buildup of systemic risks. Greater use of centralized clearing houses and organized exchanges would help to improve the robustness of the financial infrastructure to counterparty failures.•Supervisory and regulatory frameworks should be more globally coordinated to ensure that the perimeter of regulation and supervision is appropriate. The crisis has underscored the tension between globally active financial institutions and nationally bounded regulators and supervisors. The tension exists with regard to both crisis prevention and resolution and is most evident when dealing with the resolution of global banks headquartered in relatively small countries.•More information—and also better information—would help market participants and authorities improve their assessments of systemic risks. This requires reviewing transparency, disclosure and reporting rules. Information requirements also could cover a much larger set of institutions, including insurance companies and off-balance sheet entities.This crisis has made clear the enormous costs of not identifying risks early enough. A more effective approach to detecting risks will require close cooperation among key policy makers to bring together the scatter of international and national macro-financial information and expertise.•The starting point for any early warning system—as it is for better regulation andsupervision—must be better information on global financial and economic developments. Better risk assessment will also mean strengthening macro-financial analysis and enhancing work on early warning systems.•Early warning and surveillance work will also require finding the right incentive balance between countries voluntarily engaging in vulnerability assessments and making assessments mandatory. In doing so, decisions will need to be made about the usefulness of models relying on "name and shame", "comply or explain", and binding commitments to act.•The private sector clearly needs to improve its risk management systems, as the real world has proved to be even riskier than reflected in conventional models. But accomplishing this may require the creation of new business forms, and not just new systems. The reformed regulatory framework should create the correct incentives to encourage this to take place.The G-20's Action PlanIn fact, the Summit addressed all these issues in a concrete fashion. Looking beyond the short-term need to support global demand, the Summit participants adopted a sweeping Action Plan to Implement Principles for Reform. Working Groups will be formed to pursue policy reforms in five broad areas: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability; Enhancing Sound Regulation; Promoting Integrity in Financial Markets; Reinforcing International Cooperation; and Reforming International Financial Institutions.In each of these areas, the Summit participants agreed on a set of short-term issues, with specific reform proposals expected to be ready for consideration by the end of March 2009. They also agreed on a set of medium-term actions to be pursued by the Working Groups. The Plan comprises some 50 concrete steps to be taken by G-20 members and various international entities, of which over half are to be delivered by the end of next year's first quarter.The Summit's Action Plan responds directly to the key challenges. Specifically, the Summit Communique's Action Plan calls for new agreement on the valuation of complex securities, a review of the role of credit rating agencies, and an improvement of the infrastructure for the credit default swap market and other over-the-counter derivative markets. Additionally, the Action Plan calls for a review of standards for risk management practices and improved standards for managing liquidity risk.The Action Plan also calls for the IMF, working together with an expanded Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and with standard-setting bodies to develop recommendations for mitigating the current system's apparent pro-cyclicality, as well as to help improve the scope of existing regulations. Moreover, the IMF is tasked with helping to improve the cross-border consistency of regulations and to enhance international regulatory cooperation. To this end, supervisors are instructed to establish supervisory "colleges" for all major cross-border financial institutions. The Summit Communiqué also commits G-20 members to undertake a Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) report, conducted jointly with by the IMF and the World Bank.To date, all buttwo of the countries that attended the Summit have either already had FSAPs or have initiated them.Of course, the exact outcomes of the G-20 efforts cannot be taken for granted. Among other things, it goes without saying that the near-term deadline will fall due after a new US Administration takes office. But it is notable that the most significant specific challenges have been identified, and a clear politically-endorsed mandate has been established with a defined deadline for concrete proposals. Rather than dismissing this effort as just a collection of good intentions, international stake-holders in this area hopefully will keep up the pressure for decisive action along the lines specified in the Action Plan.The Role of the FundBefore concluding, I would like to address the role of the IMF in these very challenging times.•First, the Fund continues to conduct its regular multilateral and bilateral surveillance and to provide policy advice and technical assistance to members.•Second, the Fund has moved quickly to help emerging economies battered by the crisis and the sharp slowdown in advanced economies. As the crisis deepens and spreads, the Fund can disburse more than $200 billion in liquid resources to support member countries facing financing shortfalls. Indeed, several countries already have sought financial support from the Fund in recent weeks, including Hungary, Iceland, and Ukraine, and more arrangements are under negotiation.•Third, as it became clear that innovative policy tools were needed, the Fund responded by acting to deploy its resources in new ways. Recently, the Exogenous Shock Facility has been made easier for low income members to access, while the new SLF I mentioned earlier provides those members with strong macroeconomic positions and records of consistent policy implementation large upfront access to Fund resources to help address short-term, self-correcting external liquidity pressures that give rise to balance of payments needs.•Fourth, while the Fund can draw on additional resources through standing borrowing arrangements with members, there remains a serious question as to whether the cumulative pool of resources will be sufficient to meet the needs of members as the crisis continues to spread. A more systematic approach to international liquidity provision should be a high priority—be it through the co-financing of IMF-supported programs (as was done in the case of Hungary) or increasing the Fund's loanable resources. In the first instance, it would seem prudent to aim for a doubling of the resources available for Fund lending, even if the resources appear adequate in the current situation.With respect to improving the financial architecture, the Fund already is taking several steps. Consistent with the core mandate of the Fund to promote global financial stability, we already have begun strengthening our early warning capabilities. However, better understanding is needed regarding the linkages between financial sector developments and macroeconomic performance(for instance, on the relationship between monetary policy and risk taking). In response, we are taking the lead in research in this area. New and better operational tools also need to be developed for macro-financial surveillance. We at the IMF therefore are eager to strengthen our collaboration with others involved in this area.Of course, the role of the Fund was an important topic for last weekend's Summit. During the Summit sessions, in bilateral discussions, and in the Summit Declaration, G-20 leaders made it clear that they look to the Fund to play a critical role in the period ahead in crisis management, in drawing lessons from the crisis, in strengthening surveillance, and in rebuilding the international architecture. Specifically, they:•Strongly supported the Fund's role in crisis management and response, including its new Short-Term Liquidity Facility, while also calling for continued review and adaptation of its lending instruments.•Agreed to insure that the Fund's resources are sufficient to play its role. In that regard, the Japanese authorities announced their commitment to provide an additional $100 billion to augment the Fund's loanable resources, and called on others to help to double the Fund existing liquid reserves.•Asked the Fund to conduct vigorous and even-handed surveillance of all its members, with greater attention to their financial sectors and stronger macro-financial policy advice; as part of this, they committed all G-20 members to undertake an FSAP.•Asked the Fund, in collaboration with an expanded FSF, to better integrate regulatory and supervisory responses into our macro-prudential analysis and to develop our early warning capability.•Asked the Fund to take a lead role in drawing lessons from the current crisis; and more generally to strengthen collaboration with the FSF, along the lines of last week's agreement between the Heads of the two institutions.•Called for the Fund to be involved in the development of recommendations to mitigate pro-cyclicality of the financial system.•Called on the Fund to provide capacity-building for the formulation and implementation of new regulations, consistent with international standards.The leaders also emphasized that they want to see reform of the Bretton Woods institutions themselves. In particular, they emphasized the need to insure that emerging and developing economies have greater voice and representation in the institutions, and in the international system as a whole.ConclusionThe broad picture that I have sought to develop here today is one where it has been recognized at the highest level of political authority that action across a range of areas is needed urgently to help the global economy and the financial system regain their footing. There is no need to make exaggerated claims about requiring a new system. Already, an impressive consensus has emerged about the reforms required to correct the flaws of the existing system, and they are substantial. Macroeconomic policy action—especially fiscal policy—is becoming increasingly relevant and necessary for a broad swath of countries. Financial sector policy reforms also must continue to be implemented and fine tuned as needed. And collectively, we must work together to strengthen the global financial architecture in a way that reduces future risks by re-examining regulatory weaknesses, forging ahead with new tools for detecting and warning about vulnerabilities, and recognizing the importance of financial integration and cross-border financing in designing regulations and new mechanisms for crisis prevention and resolution.The G-20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy represented an unprecedented political messaging of the increasingly powerful agreement in favor of broad action in order to confront the daunting and in many ways unprecedented challenges of the current crisis. By any standards, the Summit laid out an ambitious agenda. My Fund colleagues and I stand ready to assist the G-20 leaders as they develop a detailed implementation plan to turn today's concerns and challenges into specific actions. First and foremost, the IMF stands ready to use its financial resources and expertise to help pave the way toward a more resilient post-crisis global economy.。
The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers and acquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America to Europe and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in these countries are looking at this process and worrying: “Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollable anti-competitive force?” There's no question that the big are getting bigger and more powerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% of international trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growing rapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment of production in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. In Argentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationals went from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largest firms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smaller economic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of the world economy. I believe that the most important forces behind the massive MA wave are the same that underlie the globalization process: falling transportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers and enlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers' demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. As productivity grows, the world's wealth increases. Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration wave are scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms today could re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly a century ago in the US, when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergers of telecom companies, such as World Com, hardly seem to bring higher prices for consumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary, the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration is increasing—witness Daimler and Chrysler, Renault and Nissan—but it does not appear that consumers are being hurt. Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. A few weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the banking industry. Who is going to supervise,regulate and operate as lender of last resort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationals shift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict about infringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself the role of “defending competition” on issues that affect many other nations, as in the US vs. Microsoft case? 63. What is the typical trend of businesses today? (A)To take in more foreign funds. (B)To invest more abroad. (C)To combine and become bigger. (D)To trade with more countries. 64. According to the author, one of the driving forces behind M&A wave is ________. (A)the greater customer demands (B)a surplus supply for the market (C)a growing productivity (D)the increase of the world's wealth 65. From paragraph 4 we can infer that ________. (A)the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers (B)WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs (C)the costs of the globalization process are enormous (D)the Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition 66. Toward the new business wave, the writer's attitude can be said to be ________. (A)optimistic (B)objective (C)pessimistic (D)biased 答案及试题解析 CADB 63.(C)意为:合并并变得庞⼤。
Economics 2: The WorldEconomyReworkContentIntroduction----------------------------------------------------------------3 Section 1: International TradeThree gains from trading internationally---------------------------------------3 Free Trade--------------------------------------------------------------------------3 Absolute and Comparative Advantage-----------------------------------------3 Protectionism----------------------------------------------------------------------4 Barriers to trade-------------------------------------------------------------------4 WTO and EU----------------------------------------------------------------------5 Section 2: International FinanceBalance of Payments and General trends in UK Trade----------------------6 Relationship between the exchange rate and the balance of payments—14 Single Currency------------------------------------------------------------------15 Effects on individuals and business of the Euro-----------------------------15 Section 3: Less Developed Countries (LDCs)Characteristics of a LDC--------------------------------------------------------16 Current issues that face LDCs--------------------------------------------------16 The impacts of multinationals on LDCs and NICs--------------------------16 Conclusion-----------------------------------------------------------------16 References------------------------------------------------------------------17Introduction:As a member of the government of nation on the periphery of Europe, it is my obligation to illustrate the benefits of joining the EU to the Premier. In this report, I will analyze 15elements in next three parts to make a clear explanation of benefits of joining the EU.Section 1: International TradeThree gains from trading internationally:To begin with, the international trade could increase world out-put. The tendency of globalization brings the firms more opportunities to gain the labor, resources, contracts and new technology. The supply and demand will be improved with the improvement of company’s productivity.Once the supply has been improved, the goods and services were produced at lower cost and there are more and more competitions, the price of the product might fall which means consumers could get more choices and cheaper goods.In addition, the most important gaining of international trade is it can generate economic growth. Free trade could increase sales, profit margins, and market shares and the both demand and supply level has updated. Meanwhile, the producer needs more resources, labor and capital to produce more to satisfy the global market. It direct result in improving the material market, finance market, and may decline the unemployment rate.Free tradeFree trade is a concept that there is no barrier to goods and services exchanged between countries. Since different countries have different terrain, weather, resources and technology, the international trade would bring the goods which are more valuable than the local people produce it by themselves.A good example for free trade is in Nov.18, 2004, Chinese President and Chilean President declared the start of the FTA negotiations. According to the agreement, the two countries would start tariff reduction of goods trade from July 1, 2006. Tariff of products accounting for 97% of the total of the two countries would be zero in ten years. China and Chile would carry out free trade in education, science & technology, environment protection, labor, social security, IPR, investment and promotion, mineral and industry. This agreement has promoted the free trade between China and Chile successfully.Absolute and comparative advantageAbsolute advantage refers to the ability of a particular person or a country to produce a particular good with fewer resources than another person or country. Absolute advantage is said to occur when one country can produce a good or service topre-determined quality more cheaply than anther country. It stands contrasted with the concept of comparative advantage which refers to the ability to produce a particular good at a lower opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is defined as the cost of choosing a good or service measured in terms of the next best alternative given up. A country has a comparative advantage in producing a good if the opportunity cost of producing that good in term of other goods is lower in that country than it is in other countries. Example: Korea and Japan have following production possibilities for two commodities, mobile phones and computers; assume that all the resources owned bythe advantage it has is much greater for mobiles. Using the same resources as Korea it can make twice as many mobile phones.For Japan the ‘cost’ of 1 Mobile phone is 10 bales of Computers, i.e. 20000/2000For Korea it is 15, i.e. 15000/1000But if we look at the case of computers we will find that here for Japan the cost of a bale of computers is one-tenth of a Mobile phone while for Korea it is one fifteenth. In terms of the output of Mobile phone foregone (opportunity cost), computer is cheaper in Korea than Japan. Korea has a Comparative advantage in computer while Japan has comparative advantage in mobile phone.ProtectionismProtectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations, through methods such as high tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports and anti-dumping laws in an attempt to protect domestic industries in a particular nation from foreign take-over or competition.Here are two examples of protectionism:1: Britain imports bananas from its ex-colonies in South America while USA owns huge banana plantations in South America. In 1999 Britain refused to import bananas from South America, so the US government slapped tariffs on some British-made goods. The most serious one was a punitive tariff of 100% on Scottish wool products in order to limit the import from Britain.2: Another example of protectionism is in January, 2009, American government settled a policy that only the American steel can be used in America. The American government tended to use this policy to reduce the loss in financial crisis and it helps the steel workers to keep their jobs. In this example, protectionism protects the domestic lower-skilled labor and domestic industries.Barriers to tradeTo protect a country’s own industries, the country which in adverse side need to find some ways to be barriers to limit the import products, usually, the two methodsare—tariff and non tariffs.Tariff is taxes or customs duties placed on foreign products to artificially raise their prices and this hopefully, suppresses domestic demand for them. This tax may be ad value, that is, a percentage of the price of the goods or specific, that is, a tax per unit of weight or physical quantity.For example, in January 12, 2009 the Russian government raised the expropriation tariff (up to 30 percent) for the cars import in the next nine months. The import car’s price will be increased to be WP (price for the whole world) adds the tariff, since the price is increasing, the sales of the import cars must fall down. The customers might choose the Russian car instead of import cars since it is cheaper.Non-tariff barriers traditionally have been actions such Quotas, embargoes, exchange control and import deposits. Probably the best known of these is the quota. This is a physical limitation on the quantity of import. Quota is a physical limitation on the quantity of imports which had been acknowledged by local laws. Usually the importers need to apply to pay for a license to sell goods.For instance, Russia uses another method to limit foreign car import since 2008—to limit the quantity of import; only a few companies which have the import license could import cars and have a selling upper limit. Russia uses these methods to restrict the import quantity, and during the government limited foreign goods import, it can promote the domestic industries.WTO and EUIn 1948, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established by the developed countries. In 1 Jan 1995, the GATT was supplanted by a new institution, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and aims to improve trade and investment flows around the world. It is an international body seeking to promote free trade by opening markets through the elimination of import tariffs. The organization administers trade agreements, monitors international trade policy and acts as a forum for trade negotiations. The four main goals of WTO are: freeing global trade through universally lowered tariffs, imposing the same rules on all members in order to homogenize the trade process, spurring competition through lowered subsidies, and ensuring the same trade concessions for all member nations. The WTO also provides technical assistance and training for developing countries. WTO aims for equal representation among members by granting each member country "most-favored nation" status; when a member country bestows a trade privilege on another nation, the privilege must be extended to all other member countries. Another tenet is "national treatment," which behooves countries to treat foreign imports equally with those produced domestically.The best example for joining the WTO is the join of China in 2007, after that, China achieves lots of benefits from the decrease of tariff, limitations and the simplification of trading procedures.EU stands for European Union and is an economic union, which aims to abolish tariffs and quotas among members, common tariff and quota system, restrictions onfactor movements and harmonization and unification of economic policies and institutions. It draws out regulations, monitors member states, solves disputes and problems among member states and negotiates with other countries or international organizations on the behalf of EU members. The European Union aims to promote and smooth free trade among internal European Union and initiatives for simplifying national and community rules include simpler legislation for the internal market (SLIM) and European Business Test Panel. For example, in Oct 16, 2009, EU and Korean government signed a free trade agreement of 100 billion US dollars after two years’ negotiation and EU will cancel the tariffs on imports of textile and cars from Korea in the next three years. This will promote the free trade of EU and have positive impact on the economy.Section 2: International FinanceBalance of Payments and General trends in UK TradeBalance of payment is the name given to the record of transactions between the residents of the country and the rest of the world over a period of time. It is a key economic statistics and UK’s Balance of Payments is comprises by the current account, the capital account, the financial account which deals with flow of direct portfolio and investments and reserve assets and the International Investment Position which shows the Stock of External Financial Assets and Liabilities. The chart below shows the composition if Balance of Payments in 2008:a) The current account can be divided into four categories: trade in goods, trade in service, income and current transfers. Positive net income from abroad corresponds to a current account surplus; negative net income from abroad corresponds to a current account deficit.Here are the trade figures of recent years:Here are the Current Account Balance Chart and the Chart of trade in Goods and services of UK in last 20 years.The current balance has usually been in deficit over the last 30 years.The UK has recorded a current account deficit in every year since 1984. Prior to 1984, the current account recorded a surplus in 1980 to 1983. From 1984 to 1989, the current account deficit increased steadily to reach a high of 25.5 billion pounds in 1989, equivalent to -4.9 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). From 1990 until 1997, the current account deficit declined to a low of 1.0 billion pounds in 1997. Between 1998 and 2006, the current account deficit widened sharply, peaking at 43.8 billion pounds in 2006. This was the highest recorded in cash terms but only equated to -3.3 per cent of GDP. In the past two years, there has been a reduction in the current account deficit –in 2008 it currently stands at 25.1 billion, equivalent to -1.7 per cent of GDP.It is obvious that UK had a large deficit in trade of goods in the last 30 years and the deficit becomes lager and increases greatly from 1998 to 2008 while the surplus of trade in service grows smoothly but not as markedly as the goods deficit. The trade in goods account recorded net surpluses in the years 1980 to 1982, largely as a result of growth in exports of North Sea oil. Since then however, the trade in goods account has remained in deficit. The deficit grew significantly in the late 1980s to reach a peak of 24.7 billion in 1989, before narrowing in the 1990s to levels of around 10 billion to 14 billion. In 1998 the deficit jumped by over 9 billion, and it has continued to rise since, reaching a cash record of 92.9 billion in 2008.There are two different of Income—Direct Investment Income and Portfolio Investment Income. The Direct Investment Income means the profits earned by UK companies from overseas branches and associated company. And the Portfolio Investment Income is the interest on bonds and dividends, held abroad by UK companies and residents.Here are charts of income over the 10 years:The income section has shown positive growth from 2006 to 2008 and is very much in surplus recently.As for the current transfer, it also has two different parts:The taxes, payments and receipts to the EU, Social Security Payments abroad, and military expenditure abroad is the Central Government Transfer. And for Other Sector Transfers, it includes receipts from the EU Social Fund, taxes on income and wealth paid by UK workers and businesses to foreign governments, insurance premiums and claims.There is the Chart of Current transfer in last 10 yearsThe transfers account has shown a deficit in every year since 1960. The deficit increased steadily to reach 4.8 billion in 1990. In 1991, the deficit reduced to 1.0 billion, reflecting 2.1 billion receipts from other countries towards the UK’s cost of the first Gulf conflict. The deficit has since increased, to reach a record 13.6 billion in 2008.b) Compared with Current Accounts, the composition of the Capital and Financial Account is more complicate.Capital Account has two categories:Capital transfer: It is investment grants by the government and debts which the government has agreed with the creditor do not need to be met.Acquisition and disposal of non produced/nonfinancial assets: Purchase or sales of property by foreign embassy or patents, copyrights, trademarks, franchises and leases.The capital account has shown strong steady surplus growth especially from the year of 2006 to 2008.The financial account has four categories and here are the charts of the four categories over the last ten years:According to these graphs, investment increased dramatically from the mid-1990s, reflecting the increased globalization of the world economy. Between 2000 and 2007, other investment dominated cross-border investment, primarily banking activity. In 2008 however, other investment, has recorded net disinvestment as the global financial crisis deepened leading to a reduction in loans internationally and a repatriation of deposits. In recent years, including the latest, the UK has needed to borrow from abroad to finance a continuing current account deficit, which has resulted in inward investment (UK liabilities) exceeding outward investment (UK assets).c) The international investment position is the balance sheet of the stock of external assets and liabilities. Between 1966 and 1994 the UK’s assets tended to exceed itsliabilities, by up to a record 86.4 billion pounds in 1986. But from 1995 to 2007, the UK recorded a net liability position in every year, reaching a record 352.6 billion pounds in 2006. In 2008, the UK returned to a net asset position of 92.9 billion pounds mainly due to exchange rate effects.The chart below indicates UK’s international investment position:Relationship between the exchange rate and the balance of paymentsThe exchange rate is the price of a currency in terms of other currencies. Its effect on balance of payments will depend upon its relationship with other currencies and how its value will change. As the currency weakens (devalues) the exports will become cheaper abroad but the country has to pay more for imports but the goods and services would become internationally cheaper and lead to more goods a services being purchased. If demand remains the same then the value of goods and services to the country will reduce and the current account balance may deteriorate. If the exchange rate rises then the country’s goods and services might suffer and demand from abroad could fall. If the demand remains the same however then the value of exports will rise and the current account balance should improve.For instance, when the UK market needs to import American goods (such as corns) the exchange market in UK would be the demand of U.S dollars is larger than the supply of UK pounds. If the American markets needs import more British goods, they need to exchange more pounds in the currency market, so the both of demand of US Dollar and supply of UK Pounds is increasing, meanwhile, the exchange rate of £/$is increasing. UK pound is more valuable means the goods of UK are usually more expensive and American people need to spend more US dollars compared to thesame amount of pounds. That is why the currency exchange rate is so important for the balance of payments. For example, if the exchange rate of £/$is increasing, the American business man might not choose UK goods, because of the high price. Single CurrencyEuropean single currency Euro came to exist since 1999. There are 12 member states of EU who use Euro while UK is still not one of the members since there are both advantages and disadvantages to join it.Advantages:At firstly, the single currency reduces the exchange rate uncertainty because people don't have to convert money from one currency to another when purchase goods. Meanwhile, using the single currency will increase foreign investment such as direct inward investment since the reduction of uncertainty. Then it may produce a great transparency. Whether people buy or sell goods, consumers can compare price in a single currency. It will help to decrease the scope for price discriminations and create pressure to lower the price. Moreover, it could maintain interest rate lower and the commitment to low inflation should allow economies to operate with lower cost. Disadvantages:A country may lose the independent monetary policy if it joins the single currency. The single currency forces a country to forgo an independent monetary policy. After the single currency has been used, the country's monetary policy will determined by the supranational central bank and not by the domestic central bank. This is why the theory of optimal currency areas emphasizes the importance of flexible prices, labor mobility and fiscal transfers. Flexible prices and labor mobility become more important when a currency union exists; governments have an incentive to make markets work more efficiently.Besides, there are also political costs to the country. If the government loses control over monetary policy to the supranational central bank, politicians are limited to using fiscal policy to influence economy.Effects on individuals and business of the EuroAs for the individuals,they can get lower prices and higher quality goods and services when they have more choices due to increased competition among companies through the Euro zones; they can measure the good price through Europe and choose the best one. In addition, single currency reduces the transaction costs of traveling in Europe. Individuals could travel more frequently than past since it is more convenient and cheaper. People do not need to concern the exchange rate and commission fee when visiting the other countries in Europe.As for the business, people could avoid the exchange rate risk and traders do not need to waste time and cost on purchasing foreign currencies. Moreover, the business market could be expanded there are more opportunities.Section 3: Less Developed Countries (LDCs) Characteristics of a LDCLess Developed Countries (LDCs) mainly exist in Asia and Africa. Most LDCs’subsistence is agriculture. The land of LDCs is very ineffectively used and is very low in productivity, there are normally no modern techniques or equipment available, and the land is always threatened by floods or droughts. The birth rates in LDCs are very high but there is very heavy infant mortality since the health care system is poor.A good example for LDC is Angola. A 2007 survey concluded that low and deficient niacin status was common in Angola. Many regions in this country have high incidence rates of tuberculosis and high HIV prevalence rates. Angola has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and one of the world's lowest life expectancies.Current issues that face LDCsThe World Bank offers aid programs to Angola to support the health care system of Angola to reduce the infections of HIV but the aid programs they get from the World Bank of IMF carry conditions which they feel are difficult to comply with, and are expensive.Besides, the indebtedness of Angola keeps increasing year on year. This makes Angola almost impossible to borrow more.They borrow a huge amount of money to develop their economy, purchase foreign goods and service. However, the high interest or other factors make debts become a great stress on LDCs. They are in the trip of debts, which prevent the development of their economy.The impacts of multinationals on LDCs and NICsNow days, there are more and more multi-national firms which have branches in various countries since it can reduce the labor, material, transport cost. Companies from newly industrialized countries tend to be MNCs. A good example for multinationals on NICs and LDCs is Great Wall Computer Corporation from China. This company invests 120 million dollars to build a new factory in Algeria to expand its market and increase 34 percent of its foreign sale income. The company offers more jobs to the people in Algeria thus increase the employment and income of Algerian. The company also brings new technology to this less developed country. However, the company transfers most of profits back to China and uses their financial strength to impose their will in host counties either.ConclusionAfter analyzing these 15 elements, you may have a clear acknowledge of the international trade, finance and LDCs and as for the economic environment of the whole area, it can be benefit to join the EU. It will enhance our country’s economic growth by attracting more free capital, using single currency and enlarge the market.References:Web research:/downloads/theme_economy/PB09.pdfRelated Web sites /wiki/Protectionism/eurocash.asp/Book resource:The Economics 2: The World Economy: Higher National Diploma. Scottish Qualifications AuthorityUnited Kingdom Balance of Payments the Pink Book 2009: Office for National Statistics。
1.What's the definition of the world economy?
The world economy is the economy of the world, considered as an international exchange of good and services.
2.What's the definition of core, semi-periphery, periphery, and external in the world economic system?
“核心”是指以经济和社会复杂性为表征的资本集中地区,这些核心地区在经济结构上相对自主。
“外围”是指在经济、社会和文化上依附于“核心”的地区,“半外围”是指那些不明显属于上述两类地区的区域。
”外部”是指在上述3个之外的区域。
3.What's the driving force of the international circulation of goods?
一个国家的商品流通业对国家的经济发展有着重要的影响,反之商品流通业的发展又伴随着国家经济的发展而不断趋于成熟。
在一个国家经济发展的不同阶段其商品流通业会表现出不同的特点,商品流通的技术水平也随着国家经济质量的提高在不断提高。
经济的单词经济的单词是economy,发音:英[ɪˈkɒnəmi]美[ɪˈkɑn əmɪ]常见搭配:1.market economy [经]市场经济2.national economy 国民经济3.socialist market economy 社会主义市场经济4.world economy [经]世界经济5.planned economy 计划经济6.knowledge economy 知识经济7.global economy 全球经济8.economy class (飞机上的)经济舱位9.social economy 社会经济10.r egional economy 区域经济;地区经济11.s tate-owned economy 国有经济12.s ocialist economy 社会主义经济13.c ollective economy 集体经济14.k nowledge-based economy 知识经济15.i ndustrial economy 工业经济;产业经济学16.d omestic economy n. 家庭经济;家政17.f uel economy 节约燃料;耗热率;燃料经济学18.d iversified economy 多种经营;多种经济,多样化经济19.p olitical economy 政治经济学20.c ommodity economy 商品经济例句:1、China's economy galloped ahead.中国的经济飞速向前发展。
2、The economy remains sluggish.经济保持缓慢发展。
3、The economy continues to grow.经济持续增长。
4、The economy is in the doldrums.经济毫无生气。
5、By 1988 the economy was booming.到1988年为止经济一直很繁荣。
World Economy Still Faces Great Challenges By Lily WangT he 19th International FinanceForum Annual Meeting washeld between December 2to 4 in Guangzhou, during which a leaders dialogue meeting and report seminars also took place.Leaders from world institutions shared their insights about global economic difficulties and complexities in a candid way. They all agreed that geopolitical conflicts, food and energy security, the fragile macro-economy, and ever-increasing inflation have exerted a deep impact on the global economy.A more sustainable and inter-dependent world economy is neededJin Liqun, President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said that despite the current difficult situation, we cannot ignore the task of pushing the world economy towards net zero. It is imperative to be better prepared in order to cope with the natural crisis caused by climate change, and the key is to use resources more efficiently. He continued: “It is not only important to break our patterns of thought, but also our patterns of action.”Li Bo, Vice President of IMF, said that the world is faced with three “top priorities” in coping with climate change:carbon pricing, climate financing, andfair and equitable transformation. He saidthat if the plans laid out in the ParisAgreement are to be implemented,the current average global carbon priceof U SD 6 per ton must be raised toUSD 75 per ton. There is an urgent needto introduce a combination of policies,including carbon taxes, carbon tradingemissions and regulatory measures; moreprivate capital needs to be mobilized tofill the funding gaps required for the netzero emission target; and the financial,employment and social policies introducedby various countries also need to takethe people and regions most affected byclimate change into consideration.Mari Elka Pangtestu, ManagingDirector of the World Bank, focused onthe developmental crisis of developingcountries. A number of indicators showthat the complex international situationhas made the problem of poverty moreserious, and 70 million people acrossthe world have become extremelyimpoverished. The national literacyrate and reading abilities of developingcountries have decreased from more than50% to less than 40%, which may lead toan even longer economic recession. MariElka Pangtestu believes that policymakersa n d i n t e r n a t i o n a lfinancial institutions inall countries should act asearly as possible to investin human capital, naturalcapital, real capital, etc.,provide multilateralfinancing and preferentialloans to countries in need,and promote recoverythrough internationalcooperation.Zhu Xian, IFF VicePresident and SecretaryGeneral, said that atpresent, all economicuncertainties or risks are shrouded in theshadow of the confrontation betweenglobalization and de-globalization.In the past, globalization has madethe global economy dynamic. Theinformation technology revolution hascaused the cost of telecommunicationsand shipping to decline, enablingresources to be allocated on a large scaleworldwide. This has further promotedglobalization, and globalization hasbenefited many countries. Countries likeChina have fully enjoyed the dividendsof globalization, and the Chineseeconomy has become a very importantpart of the global supply chain.Leaders of world institutionsbelieve that the world today needs amore sustainable and inter-dependenteconomy.Zhu Xian hopes that all parties canreach a new consensus, uphold the goodvalues of globalization, and allow all kindsof regional cooperation and globalizationto interact with each other. “If we cannotreach a consensus on globalization, thewhole global economy will not be able toachieve a better state of development inthe next 5-10 years,” he said.Li Bo reviewed the great benefitsbrought about by globalization overthe past three decades. It is his beliefthat 1.5 billion people across the worldhave been lifted out of poverty, and theglobal GDP has increased three times.In his view, we should collectivelyagree to a consensus and strengthencooperation in key areas. Internationalfinancial institutions (such as the IMFand the World Bank) need to continueto reform, in order to make sure thatemerging economies and developingcountries have a higher share which is inline with their economic size. This willstrongly support global efforts to addressclimate change.Jin Liqun suggested that weshould help countries with weakrisk-prevention abilities formulatereasonable macroeconomic policies. Themobilization of private sector resourcesrequires a clean and fair government,as well as a sound and reasonableregulatory mechanism. “We must alsoremind ourselves that we should notgive orders to low-income countriesin a condescending manner, but mustinstead respond to their real needs.” 16International financial system faces changesThe world’s economic growth is slowing down, and the risk of recession is increasing every day. The current international financial system is facing great changes at present. John Lipsky, Vice Chairman of the Bretton Woods System Committee (BWC) and former First Vice President of the IMF, explained that the proliferation of trade protectionism and financial sanctions may threaten the international system which is based on rules, as well as the fundamental ways to achieve success in the past. This will ultimately shake the foundation of global growth.John Lipsky said it has been 14 years since the first G20 Summit was held, but the supervision of the capital market has not kept pace with the times. A Banking Union has not been established in the EU, nor has a capital market alliance been established. As the number of non-bank financial institutions continue to grow, those financial institutions with systemic importance are still outside the scope of regulations. In terms of establishing a common framework for G20 debt treatment, the common framework inheriting the Paris Club has made limited progress, and some vulnerable economies have already defaulted. So far, the efforts to jointly reduce debt and solve debt issues have made little progress.Guillermo Ortiz, IFF Counselor, Former Governor of the Mexico Central Bank and former president of BIS, discovered a very dangerous situation set against the background of COVID-19 pandemic: institutions like the Federal Reserve have become the international lenders. He said that the central bank is the “last line of defense” and needs to play a role in treating emergencies. However, it has become lenders that may affect international politics.Furthermore, Guillermo Ortiz also mentioned the impact of the Russia-U kraine war on the global economy. Economic achievements have been destroyed by political turbulence. The food crisis and spreading pandemic have compounded the situation: “The world’s economic system is inter-connected. Ashock in a particular country will spreadacross the whole system.”The stir caused by cryptocurrencyin the international financial system,and the diff iculties it faces, havegarnered wide attention. RichardBerner, NYU Stern Finance Professorand Co-Director of the Stern Volatilityand Risk Institute, said that it isimportant to strengthen the supervisionof digital assets to protect consumersand investors and promote fair andeffective market stability.Zhang Liqing, IFF AcademicMember and Director of the Centerfor International Finance Studies ofthe Central University of Finance andEconomics, reminded people of the“undercurrent” of reserve currenciesin the new international situation. Hesaid that, as a major reserve currency,the position of the U.S. dollar hasbeen declining over the past decade.After the outbreak of the COVID-19p a n d e m i c, t h e U n i t e d S t a t e sadopted quantitative easing policies,resulting in high inf lation and thesharp appreciation of the U.S. dollarsince April this year. If such a trendcontinues, the U.S. double deficit willweaken the U.S. dollar, which will inturn eventually damage the credibilityof the dollar.Zhang Liqing emphasized thatthe euro and RMB should challengethe reserve currency status of the U.S.dollar. The proportion and share ofthe euro + RMB in the global reservecurrency will further increase. However,for the EU and China, it is ver yimportant to provide stronger currencysupport, including maintaining dynamiceconomic growth and increasing thecredibility of the economic and financialenvironment. “For China, it is necessaryto further deepen market-orientedeconomic reform, accelerate financialopening, and create a more friendlybusiness environment and investmentenvironment.”Global cooperation to tackleglobal challengesHow should we deal with themounting challenges? Joaquim Levy,President of Economic Strategy andMarket Relations of Safra Bank andformer finance minister of Brazil, saidthat global cooperation has becomemore important than ever before, andit is necessary to create policy dialogue,especially in the financial field. Suchdialogue can solve the problem offragmentation: “We must not damagethe infrastructure built over the past70 years, because it has saved morethan one billion people from povertyand has also greatly improved globalwell-being.”Joh n L ip sk y s a id t h at it i snecessary to introduce a more effectivemec ha n ism in econom ic pol ic ycoordination. It is imperative to expandglobal trade within the framework ofmultilateralism, so as to help the globalmarket improve its efficiency and escapethe risk of recession.Experts at the meeting agreedthat international financial institutionsshould play a greater role. Zhang Liqing,said that the IMF needs institutionalreform, and should promote thereallocation of quotas, even if this is apurely symbolic measure. “On the otherhand, we should also promote moresubstantial progress. The IMF needs tomobilize more resources to deal withthe possible financial crisis, especiallythe debt crisis of low-income countries,because such a risk will exist in the nextfew years.”In addition, many participantsemphasiz ed t he sig n if ica nce ofmultilateralism. The former governor ofMexico’s Central Bank and presidentof BIS Guillermo Ortiz put it frankly:“How can we promote multilateralism?The fundamental thing is to reducetensions between China and Westerncountries.”The International Financial Forum(IFF) is a non-profit, unofficial andindependent international organization.It was jointly launched in October 2003by leaders of G20 countries (such asChina, the United States and Europeancountries), emerging economies, aswell as the United Nations, the WorldBank, the International Monetary Fundand other international organizations.It is a high-level permanent dialoguemechanism and multilateral cooperationinstitution in the global financial field,17。
World economyThe rising power of the Chinese workerIn China’s factories, pay and protest are on the rise. That is good for China, and for the world economy Jul 29th 2010CHEAP labour has built China’s economic miracle. Its manufacturing workers toil for a small fraction of the cost of their American or German competitors. At the bottom of the heap, a “floating population” of about 130m migrants work in China’s boomtowns, taking home 1,348 yuan a month on average last year. That is a mere $197, little more than one-twentieth of the average monthly wage in America. But itis 17% more than the year before. As China’s economy has bounced back, wages have followed suit. On the coasts, where its exporting factories are clustered, bosses are short of workers, and workers short of patience. A spate of strikes has thrown a spanner into the workshop of the world.The hands of China’s workers have been strengthened by a new labour law, introduced in 2008, and by the more fundamental laws of demand and supply (see article). Workers are becoming harder to find and to keep. The country’s villages still contain perhaps 70m potential migrants. Other rural folk might be willing to work closer to home in the growing number of factories moving inland. But the supply of strong backs and nimble fingers is not infinite, even in China. The number of 15- to 29-year-olds will fall sharply from next year. And although their wages are increasing, their aspirations are rising even faster. They seem less willing to “eat bitterness”, as the Chinese put it, without complaint.In truth, Chinese workers were never as docile as the popular caricature suggested. But the recent strikes have been unusual in their frequency (Guangdong province on China’s south coast suffered at least 36 strikes in the space of 48days), their longevity and their targets: foreign multinationals.China’s ruling Communist Party has swiftly quashed previous bouts of labour unrest. This one drew a more relaxed reaction. Goons from the government-controlled trade union roughed up some Honda strikers, but they were quickly called off. The strikes were widely, if briefly, covered in the state-supervised press. And the ringleaders have not so far heard any midnight knocks at the door.This suggests three things. First, China is reluctant to get heavy-handed with workers in big-brand firms that attract global media attention. But, second, China is becoming more relaxed about spooking foreign investors. Indeed, if workers are upset, better that they blame foreign bosses than local ones. In the wake of the financial crisis, the party has concluded, correctly, that foreign investors need China more than it needs them. Third, and most important, the government may believe that the new bolshiness of its workers is in keeping with its professed aim of “rebalancing”the economy. And it would be right. China’s economy relies too much on investment and too little on consumer spending.That is mostly because workers get such a small slice of the national cake: 53% in 2007, down from 61% in 1990 (and compared with about two-thirds in America). Letting wages rise at the expense of profits would allow workers to enjoy more of the fruits of their labour.Higher Chinese wages would also be good for the West. This may seem odd, given how much the rich world has come to rely on cheap Chinese labour: by one estimate, trade with China has added $1,000 a year to the pockets of every American household, thanks to cheaper goods in the country’s stores, cheaper inputs for its businesses and stiffer competition in its markets. Just as expanding the global labour force by a quarter through the addition of cheap Chinese workers helped to keep prices down in the West, so higher Chinese wages might start to export inflation. Furthermore, from the point of view of the global economy, labour is a resource, like land or oil. It would not normally benefit from the dwindling of China’s reserves of labour any more than from the drying up of Saudi wells.Tomorrow’s global consumersBut in the wake of the financial crisis, things are different.Deflation is now a bigger threat than inflation. And with 47m workers unemployed in the OECD alone, labour is not holding back the global economy. What the world lacks is willing customers, not willing workers. Higher Chinese wages will have a similar effect to the stronger exchange rate that America has been calling for, shrinking China’s trade surplus and boosting its spending. This will help foreign companies and the workers they have idled. A 20% rise in Chinese consumption might well lead to an extra $25 billion of American exports. That could create over 200,000 American jobs.Eventually, this extra spending will help the world economy return to full employment. At that point, foreign companies and consumers may miss China’s cheap coastal workers, who kept profits high and prices low. But there will still be cheap labour to be found inland and in places like India. And Chinese wages were anyway only half the story. The other half was Chinese productivity(另外一面是中国劳工的生产力极大). Chinese labour costs tripled in the decade after 1995, but output per worker quintupled.To repeat that feat, as it runs dry of crude labour, China willhave to increase its supply of skilled workers. That will require a stable workforce, which stays with its employers long enough to be worth investing in. For that the government will need to relax further its system of internal passports, or hukou, which prevent migrant workers from settling formally in the city without losing their family plot back home. When labour was abundant, it suited the government to have a floating population that made few demands on urban authorities and drifted back to the family farm whenever hardship beckoned. But to maintain fast growth as the labour market tightens, China’s floating population will have to drop anchor.As the late Joan Robinson, a Cambridge economist, once wrote, “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all”. Her quip, written in 1962, was inspired by underemployment in South-East Asia. Since then, capital has busily “exploited”workers in that region and its giant northern neighbour, much to their benefit. Now it is time for capital to invest in them.。