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Welcome to The Global Dispatches,
This month IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard explains that before the 2008 crisis, the mainstream world view among US macroeconomists was that economic fluctuations were regular and essentially self-correcting. The crisis has made it clear that this view was wrong and that there is a need for a deep reassessment. Riccardo Paparusso suggests that the Russian philosopher Alexandre Kojève, the most famous interpreter of the German philosopher, Hegel be able to clarify the origin of the present supremacy of economic processes over all other fields of human activity. Maxim Edwards reviews the new English translation of the Russian cult novel Sankya by Zakhar Prilepin. François Godement, Professor of political science at Sciences Po in Paris, and Director for strategy of the Asia Centre, in Paris on the connection between China's uneasy quiet at its centre and the trouble at the periphery. And much more.
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 | As debate in China's centre is stifled, Hongkongers fear for their future – with good cause. Is there a connection between the uneasy quiet at the centre and the trouble at the periphery? Most likely, there is. |
 | IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard explains that before the 2008 crisis, the mainstream world view among US macroeconomists was that economic fluctuations were regular and essentially self-correcting. He argues that macroeconomic policy should keep the economy away from ‘dark corners’. |
 | Might the Russian philosopher Alexandre Kojève, the most famous interpreter of the German philosopher, Hegel be able to clarify the origin of the present supremacy of economic processes over all other fields of human activity. |
 | It seems a hopeless task, as we see President François Hollande slide lower and lower in this slippery slope of unpopularity, now around 13% in opinion polls. But he is not alone. The entire élite class shares in this negative image amongst the population. |
 | A cult novel by one of Russia’s most provocative and original writers has just come out in English translation. Both Medvedev and Putin have read the novel – a fact, which Prilepin attributes simply to the need to ‘know one’s enemy’ |
 | The ECB announced that it would begin buying securities backed by bank lending to households and firms. The markets and the media generally greeted this announcement with enthusiasm, but Charles Wyplosz, Professor of International Economics, identifies reasons for caution. |
 | Subsidies for food and energy are economically inefficient, but can often be politically popular. Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government discusses the efforts by new leaders in Egypt, Indonesia, and India to cut unaffordable subsidies. |
 | China has become Latin America’s third biggest source of foreign investment as a mining boom unleashes a new wave of infrastructure funding explains David Hill in China Dialogue. |
 | Polish Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek is calling for an EU-wide public investment programme of 5.5% of GDP to overcome Europe’s ‘secular stagnation’. He calculates that €700bn of capital expenditure could close the output gap while increasing long-term productivity growth. |
 | After a long process, various options are still open for Palestine with respect to joining the ICC explains Victor Kattan, a policy advisor to Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network, writing for the European Council on Foreign Relations. |
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