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Book Review: The Neighborhood by Mario Vargas Llosa

Missed Opportunity These are not the best of times for Peruvian novelist and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. A liberal on continent mostly ruled by demagogues who pay lip service to whatever ideology is in vogue, the writer has sought

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EY: Argentina – Aspects of the Labour & Social Security Reform

A labour and social security reform bill has been recently sent to the Argentine Congress. In general, proposed amendments represent material changes to current regulations and introduce new concepts. Although the government has the support of the main labour unions,

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Otaviano Canuto & Matheus Cavallari, World Bank: Bloated Central Bank Balance Sheets

Central banks of large advanced and many emerging market economies have recently gone through a period of extraordinary expansion of their balance sheets and are all now possibly facing a transition to less abnormal times. However, the fact that one

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Ernst & Young: Argentina – New Government Measures to Improve and Strengthen Employment

Argentine payroll costs are the highest in Latin America, standing at a maximum of 40%. Social security and health care employer contributions amount to 23% or 27%, based on each employer, whereas contributions withheld from employees stand at 17%.  In

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Evan Harvey, Nasdaq: A Short-Term Look at Long-Term Growth – The Expert Outlook on 2017

Given the rapidly changing state of our global economic and political picture, it can be daunting to integrate sustainability strategies into business practices. This has ever been the case, but perhaps the tension between short-term deliverables and longer-term principles is

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IFC: Addressing Climate Change Can Unlock $23 Trillion-Dollar Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets

By Christian Grossmann and Thomas Kerr The historic Paris climate change agreement entered into force in record speed last November, committing countries to a decarbonized future.  This means that new markets for climate-smart investments are set to grow, as governments

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Otaviano Canuto, World Bank: What’s Ailing the Brazilian Economy?

Brazil’s GDP is poised to decline by close to 7% in 2015-2016. Per capita GDP in 2016 is likely to shrink by more than 10% as compared to three years ago. We argue here that a double malaise has been

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Venezuela: As the Economy Sinks, Bond Markets Take Heart

The country may be unable to buy food or medicine; Venezuela continues to meet with clockwork precision all its obligations to bondholders. Struggling with triple-digit inflation and deploying the army to supress food riots, the monumentally inept government of President

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UNCTAD: A Policy Compact to Get Investment Flowing Again

James Zhan suggests world leaders make a joint effort to formulate effective investment policies to help build investment firepower to face 21st Century development challenges. Forecasts of deeper global economic gloom are tumbling one over the other. The global economy

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Otaviano Canuto, IMF: China’s Spill-Overs on Latin America and the Caribbean

The Chinese economy is rebalancing while softening its growth pace. China’s spillovers on the global economy have operated through trade, commodity prices, and financial channels. The global reach of the effects from China’s transition have recently been illustrated in risk

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