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Curated by Project Syndicate

Imperfect Indicators?

22 commentaries

As policymakers, academics, and investors reckon with the post-crisis global economy, the prevailing emphasis on – indeed, the very relevance of – several economic and policy indicators has been called into question. If some or all are now obsolete, what should replace them?

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  1. Inflation Is Still the Lesser Evil
    ve1782c.jpg Chris Van Es

    Inflation Is Still the Lesser Evil

    Jun 6, 2013 Kenneth Rogoff

  2. Europe’s Youth Unemployment Non-Problem
    pa4189c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Europe’s Youth Unemployment Non-Problem

    Jun 6, 2013 Daniel Gros

  3. What to Do with Doing Business?
    pa2323c.jpg Paul Lachine

    What to Do with Doing Business?

    May 27, 2013 Ricardo Hausmann

  4. Misreading the Global Economy
    pa3667c.jpg Paul Lachine

    Misreading the Global Economy

    May 23, 2013 Ashoka Mody

  5. The Importance of Doing Business
    dr3642c.jpg Dean Rohrer

    The Importance of Doing Business

    May 16, 2013 Ana Palacio

  6. The Problem with Poor Countries’ GDP
    pa1125c.jpg Paul Lachine

    The Problem with Poor Countries’ GDP

    May 6, 2013 Bill Gates argues that poor countries need more accurate gdp data.

Our Pick

Featured

  1. rajan82_BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIPOOLAFP via Getty Images_jeromepowell Brendan Smialowski/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    The Fed’s Role in the Bank Failures

    Raghuram G. Rajan & Viral V. Acharya

    There are four reasons to worry that the latest banking crisis could be systemic. For many years, periodic bouts of quantitative easing have expanded bank balance sheets and stuffed them with more uninsured deposits, making the banks increasingly vulnerable to changes in monetary policy and financial conditions.

     show how the US central bank's liquidity policies created the conditions for runs on uninsured deposits.
  2. velasco135_Nancy LaneMediaNews GroupBoston Herald via Getty Images_bank run Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images
    0

    Policymakers Keep Solving the Wrong Banking Problem

    Andrés Velasco

    When a bank fails, the first response by policymakers and the public is to blame risk-loving speculators, greedy investors, or regulators asleep at the wheel. But quenching our thirst for moral adjudication is a poor basis for policy, because the truth is both simpler and more troubling.

     argues that recent market turmoil has revealed that the sector’s main vulnerability is unavoidable.
  3. ito25_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_yellen Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
    0

    An Insolvency Iceberg?

    Takatoshi Ito considers the risk that other banks will experience liquidity problems as interest rates continue to rise.
  4. skidelsky185_Wiktor SzymanowiczAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_jeremyhunt Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
    0

    Can Governments Still Steer the Economy?

    Robert Skidelsky explains why international finance and geopolitics make it harder to influence major performance indicators.
  5. sinn109_ DANIEL ROLANDAFP via Getty Images_financial crisis DANIEL ROLAND/AFP via Getty Images
    3

    Accounting for Casino Capitalism

    Hans-Werner Sinn draws parallels between recent bank collapses and the late-nineteenth-century “founders’ crash.”
  6. zadek25_ FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_creditsuisseUBS Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    Who Should Be Bailed Out Next?

    Simon Zadek urges rich-country governments to aid debt-distressed poor countries as urgently as they have their failing banks.
  7. callegari1_Getty Images_crowd population Getty Images
    0

    The Population Boon

    Beniamino Callegari & Per Espen Stoknes correct popular myths about the threat of demographic growth to sustainable development.
  8. songwe8_NIPAH DENNISAFP via Getty Images_ghana NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    Where Is the Global South’s Rescue Brigade?

    Vera Songwe decries the unequal responses to liquidity crises in Silicon Valley compared to the developing world.
  9. slaughter96_melitasGetty Images_cooperative melitas/Getty Images
    3

    Beyond Industrial Policy

    Anne-Marie Slaughter & Elizabeth Garlow make the case for an economic strategy that prioritizes shared prosperity over competition.

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