Economics is changing: A Nobel for 3 pragmatic poverty-fighters shows that

International News
This year’s economics Nobel prize went to three worthy economists — Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michael Kremer of Harvard University. The prize, which was awarded “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty,” shows several important ways that the economics discipline is changing.
A popular conception of economists is that they’re the high priests of the free market, downplaying the role of government and giving short shrift to the needs of society’s poorest. A great many economists defy this stereotype, spending their careers studying how to uplift the poorest citizens of the developing world through government action. Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer fall into this category.
For example, all three have studied the benefits of education. Citizens of developed countries generally take universal public education for granted, along with the economic wealth that an educated populace creates. Developing countries, such as Kenya and India, don’t have this luxury. In 2003, Kremer reviewed a series of randomized controlled trials in Kenya that found that spending more on education was effective, but that health treatments like deworming were also useful for keeping kids in school. Banerjee and Duflo, along with co-authors Shawn Cole and Leigh Linden, studied a program that hired tutors for underperforming students in India, as well as a computer-assisted learning program, and concluded that both were effective. Duflo has also found big wage gains from public education spending in India, confirming the central role of schools for economic growth.

 Over the years, Banerjee, Duflo and Kremer looked at programs that nudge developing-world farmers to use more fertilizer, provide microcredit to slum residents, create quotas for women in local government, provide deworming treatments for the poor, eradicate malaria, and many other targeted ...READ MORE

Donald Trump imposes sanctions on Turkey as Syrian crisis escalates

International News
Protesting Turkey's military offensive into northeast Syria, US President Donald Trump on Monday announced he will authorise sanctions against Turkish officials, raise steel tariffs and end negotiations on a $100 billion trade deal. Turkey launched a cross-border assault on Kurdish fighters on Wednesday after the US decided to withdraw troops from Syria, a move criticised by the Republicans, with some terming it a "betrayal" of the Kurds.
"This (executive) order will enable the US to impose powerful additional sanctions on those who may be involved in serious human rights abuses, obstructing a ceasefire, preventing displaced persons from returning home, forcibly repatriating refugees or threatening the peace, security or stability in Syria," Trump said in a statement.
Turkey's military offensive is endangering civilians and threatening peace, security and stability in the region, he said, adding that he has been perfectly clear with his Turkish counterpart that his action is precipitating a humanitarian crisis and setting conditions for possible war crimes.
"I'm fully prepared to swiftly destroy Turkey's economy if Turkish leaders continue down this dangerous and destructive path," the president said.
Trump said he will be issuing the executive order authorising imposition of sanctions against current and former officials of Turkey and those contributing to destabilising Syria.The order will authorise a broad range of measures, including financial sanctions, the blocking of property, and barring entry into the US, he said, adding that the US will immediately stop negotiations with Turkey on a $100 billion trade deal.

 Steel tariffs will be increased back up to 50 per cent, the level prior to the reduction in May, Trump said....READ MORE

Can paying poor nations to admit refugees solve the mass migration puzzle?

International News
Much of the commentary about Michael Kremer, named this week as one of three winners of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, has justifiably celebrated his pioneering work in studying poverty — even now, many of us believe, the planet’s greatest moral challenge. But an important 2011 Kremer paper, overlooked in the celebration, helps to shed light on another great challenge of our day: refugee policy.
His work helps explain the immigration pressures that have been roiling politics around the world. In the wake of the disaster in Syria and other crises, refugees have flooded Europe. Nationalist parties have responded by playing to the sentiment that migrants are stealing jobs. They promise tougher standards for immigrants, a stance with the potential to harm migrants fleeing persecution. The United Nations puts the number of people seeking refuge in the tens of millions.
In the U.S., worries about immigration helped swing the 2016 presidential election. The fear that economic migrants hurt wages among blue-collar workers may not be well-founded, but in recent years has been widely shared. Polling data suggest that sentiment may be changing, but to the extent that the fear of economic loss becomes the basis of immigration policy, refugees are likely to suffer from it.

 “The Economics of International Refugee Law,” which Kremer co-authored with Ryan Bubb and David I. Levine, presents a useful model to explain why refugee policy tends to become such a mess, even if everyone starts out with the best of intentions.Kremer and his co-authors begin with a reminder that a nation that chooses to accept migrants fleeing political prosecution provides a public good from which other countries will benefit. The larger the number of countries that provide asylum, the less the incentives for others to do the same...READ MORE

Morgan Stanley, ex-employees' fund bet on India's warehousing space

International News

Morgan Stanley and a store the board organization set up by its previous officials are getting forceful in the nation's warehousing space.
Morgan Stanley, which suspended putting resources into the land division two or three years back, has purchased dominant part stakes in a warehousing engineer and other such tasks this year.
As of late, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI), the land speculation the board arm of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, acquired a controlling stake in warehousing undertaking worked by the Pragati Group in the National Capital Region (NCR) district.
The 30-section of land undertaking is situated on NH 8 and marked as Pragati One.
Not long ago, MSREI purchased a larger part stake in KSH Infra, a Pune-based warehousing and modern coordinations park engineer. KSH Infra works two warehousing and mechanical coordinations stops in Pune. The distribution centers, with an absolute territory of one million square feet, are rented out to bluechip multinationals.
Morgan Stanley has likewise set up a stage with Bengaluru-based engineer Puravankara Projects for modern parks.
"They are likewise assessing different open doors in the space," said the sources, including that the store director could likewise tap the land speculation trust or REIT space later on.

 In spite of the fact that Morgan Stanley inked private land bargains before, it is presently concentrating just on lease yielding resources, sources said. A mail sent to Morgan Stanley didn't evoke any reaction....READ MORE

Erdogan says Turkish-led offensive will go 30-35 km into Syrian territory

International News
Turkey's attack into Syria will extend from Kobani in the west to Hasaka in the east, going some 30-35 km into Syrian domain, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday, and the town of Ras al Ain was at that point under Turkish control.
Tending to a news meeting in Istanbul, Erdogan said the Turkish-drove powers had additionally assaulted the Syrian bordertown of Tel Abyad, west of Ras al Ain, in its battle against the YPG Kurdish state army, which Ankara says is a psychological oppressor association.
"We concentrated first on the 120-km (75-mile) region between Ras al Ain and Tel Abyad. In this way we will isolate the 480-km psychological militant passageway down the center," Erdogan said.
"At that point we will assume responsibility for Hasaka on the one side and Ain al Arab (Kobani) on the other and complete the activity," he stated, alluding to towns either side of the present focal point of tasks. "We will go down to a profundity of around 30-35 km, in accordance with the protected zone map which we proclaimed beforehand."
Erdogan said two Turkish fighters and 16 Turkey-supported Syrian agitators had been slaughtered in the activity.
He included that Turkish-drove powers had slaughtered 440 contenders from the Kurdish-drove Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in which the YPG involves the primary battling component.

 The Turkey-drove powers have so far held onto control of 109 square km (42 square miles), domain including 17 towns around Tel Abyad and four towns around Ras Al Ain, Erdogan said.

A year into India's #MeToo movement, here's how the cases have played out

International News

In October 2018, just about a year to the day after the #MeToo development ejected in the US around film maker Harvey Weinstein, claims of inappropriate behavior and ambush overwhelmed India. Ladies started relating stories from years or even decades sooner, frequently at extraordinary hazard to their notorieties and wellbeing.
For five of India's most unmistakable informers, the cost has been steep. A youthful casualty of supposed assault by a legislator endeavored to consume herself outside the habitation of her state's central clergyman, after her dad kicked the bucket in police care. A prominent columnist has been sued for criticism by the man she denounced. Another writer says she experiences experienced issues looking for some kind of employment. What's more, a Bollywood on-screen character says she feels her claims prompted genuine change in India, however the aftermath since she previously made them over 10 years prior added to her choice to move to the US, depleted.
With respect to the denounced men, some have stayed in their employments. Others said their notorieties and professions were harmed by the claims. Most deny bad behavior and a couple have battled back in court.
In spite of the blended record of India's #MeToo development, a few ladies feel they are seeing the beginnings of long-late lawful and social movements. "#MeToo helped a few people acknowledge how broad attack and provocation are," said Karuna Nundy, a backer in India's Supreme Court who has chipped away at assault cases.
"I can't be anything besides confident," Nundy included. "It is these mediations that change the life of the individual, yet in addition change the framework for every other person."

 A year into India's #MeToo development, here are the tales behind five claims made a year ago, and how they have played out: ….READ MORE

Xi Jinping leaves for Chennai for second informal summit with PM Modi

International News
Chinese President Xi Jinping left for India on Friday morning for the second informal meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
He will arrive at Tamil Nadu capital Chennai late afternoon.
Later in the evening, Xi will meet Modi and hold talks on a host of issues in a relaxed atmosphere at the historic tourist town of Mamallapuram.
After an overnight meeting, the two leaders are scheduled to meet again on Saturday to continue the discussions.The Chinese President is due to leave for Nepal on Saturday afternoon.
This is the second informal summit between Xi and Modi. Their first informal meeting at the Chinese city of Wuhan last year resulted in normalisation of the relations between the two countries after the 2017 Doklam standoff.
State-run Xinhua news agency reported that Xi left for Chennai this morning.
His entourage includes Ding Xuexiang, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC), member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and director of the General Office of the CPC, Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and He Lifeng, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

 Ahead of the summit, the state media said the Modi-Xi meeting would focus more on how to move beyond the past and present differences to forge a cooperative partnership....Read More