|
These economists, MIT PhDs all, ponder what remains in the macroeconomist’s toolkit to pull the U.S., and much of the developed world, out of recession. They discuss aspects of fiscal and monetary policy that may prove useful in spurring recovery, as well as the complicating matter of politics. IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard describes a “two-speed recovery” around the globe, where emerging market countries like China and India are growing at a brisk clip of around 10%, and developed nations like the U.S. are lagging behind, with growth rates 3% and below. Stronger Eurozone states are struggling to prop up debt-laden Ireland and Greece. Blanchard hopes to avoid a larger European calamity by opening up the books of European banks to allay investors’ fears and help recapitalize the banks at appropriate levels.  The U.S. and China represent another hot spot for the IMF, with the U.S. running a vast current account deficit (due to years of high U.S. consumption and low household savings), and China a large current account surplus. Both nations want to reverse the situation, but their timetables differ radically. China fears increasing domestic consumption too rapidly and overheating its economy, so is thinking in terms of years. The U.S. wants faster action. If net exports do not improve in the U.S., says Blanchard, then it will be “confronted with a difficult choice: either it does fiscal consolidation, risking slowing growth, or continues large deficits There are reasons to think one might want to worry.” Emerging markets “have learned lessons from previous crises,” says Pedro Aspe, and are generally rebounding from the downturn. In Latin America, they have followed the lead of Chile, adopting an independent central bank, trade liberalization, pension reforms, and flexible labor markets. When they need a stimulus, they lower interest rates and keep public debt low. Aspe also raises red flags around debt and financing in the Eurozone: “You take more f...
|
Video Length: 0
Date Found: February 08, 2011
Date Produced: February 08, 2011
|
|
MIT World |
July 07, 2011
In three presentations that look back to digital-age milestones, and glimpse ahead to what may come next, speakers share some previously undisclosed stories, great enthusiasms, and a few concerns. Nicholas Negroponte tells a few “dirty secrets” about the start of the MIT Media Lab, including ...
|
MIT World |
June 29, 2011
Winners of the A.M.Turing Award, the Nobel Prize of computing, describe their singular contributions to the field, and their works’ impact. They also find time to discuss the current and future state of computer science. Moderator Stephen Ward starts with 1990 prize winner Fernando Corbato, who ...
|
MIT World |
June 13, 2011
Drew Davidson likes to play with blocks in his sandbox, as he demonstrates in a show-and-tell to interactive media colleagues. In this case, the playground is an online game called Minecraft, a two-year-young internet sensation with millions of followers, developed single-handedly by a ...
|
MIT World |
June 06, 2011
Amy Bruckman finds the accomplishments of such online collaborations as Wikipedia, Apache and Firefox “nothing less than astounding,” and is both eagerly seeking and hoping to foster the next creative group Internet sensation. In her lab’s empirical studies, Bruckman has dissected different ...
|
MIT World |
June 06, 2011
The ultimate questions for this Sandbox 2011 panel, posed by moderator Alan Gershenfeld, are “Where is technology not working? When is technology not the answer?” That’s a bold agenda for a panel of children’s media creators and a roomful of other producers in the industry, from Sesame ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Featured Content
Featuring websites that enhance the internet user’s experience.
|