- Gallup delivers a very poor piece of polling for Debating Europe to 'prove' that austerity doesn't work. I'm not one to rubbish survey data as you know but I note a number of weakenesses. a) the survey never bothers to define austerity, and adds to the confusion by portraying it as an EU-wide policy b) 23% of those who believe that 'only some countries' benefit from austerity cite Greece as one of its beneficiaries, c) the Eurozone country with the highest level of support for austerity is austerity-hit Ireland, and d) the survey doesn't bother to ask what policies might have served Europe better.
- How conspiracy theorising correlates with rejection of science.
- China's 50 wealthiest politicians are far, far wealthier than their American counterparts.
- Greek procurement transparency portal Diavgeia weakened by poor legal phrasing- but the damage is repaired and seems to have been a case of cock-up rather than conspiracy. See comments below for clarifications.
- The latest edition of the Global Financial Centres Index is now out. Athens singled out as a case study of reputational fallout.
- The WEF Human Capital report for 2013 is now out. Watch out for the Greek section.
- The IMF's Global Financial Stability Report is out.
- People chuckling at Eurostat statistics on poverty need to note just how robust the methodology is.
- European Commission consults on the need for European regulation on crowdfunding.
- Skilled migration - a review of the economic literature
Thursday, 3 October 2013
WEEKEND READING 5-6 OCTOBER
