New SDRs may bypass Africa's growth engines

Significance However, due to the Fund's outdated quota calculations, underperforming states would benefit the most, while Africa's most dynamic economies would see limited gains. Impacts The IMF plans a quota review (previously blocked by the Trump administration) before 2022 but not before SDRs are issued. The G20 may explore new mechanisms to support emerging markets that have received only limited international support during the pandemic. Angola will ask to delay its graduation to middle-income status in order to retain access to concessional lending and debt-service relief.

Panama

While Panama has been one of the most dynamic economies in Latin America over the last two decades, its strength is being tested by the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Panama is a service-based economy that is highly integrated in the world economy and vulnerable to the COVID-19 shock. The 2020 Article IV Consultation was concluded by the Executive Board on a lapse of time basis on March 24.

The wisdom of the crowd in dynamic economies

The wisdom of the crowd applied to financial markets asserts that prices represent a consensus belief that is more accurate than individual beliefs. However, a market selection argument implies that prices eventually reflect only the beliefs of the most accurate agent. In this paper, we show how to reconcile these alternative points of view. In markets in which agents naively learn from equilibrium prices, a dynamic wisdom of the crowd holds. Market participation increases agents' accuracy, and equilibrium prices are more accurate than the most accurate agent.

Middle-Class Consumers in Emerging Markets: Conceptualization, Propositions, and Implications for International Marketers

As emerging markets gain significance in the global economy, understanding the middle-class customers within these dynamic economies becomes even more critical for international marketers. This article contributes to the limited but growing literature on this topic. International marketing scholars and practitioners should be better informed about this megatrend. What does the “middle class” really mean? What are the theoretical underpinnings for the middle-class phenomenon? What are the implications for international marketing? To address these pressing questions, the authors explore the middle-class phenomenon in emerging markets. Through an examination of conceptual underpinnings and empirical observations, they present a conceptualization and several theoretical propositions. Finally, they provide managerial and scholarly implications of the middle-class phenomenon and offer suggestions for further research.

Introduction

Initially aimed at funding the reforms undertaken by the Rao government in the early 1990s, the Llook East Policy rapidly evolved into a comprehensive set of instruments to deal with a fast growing China. From an initial focus on developing trade and attracting foreign direct investment from the most dynamic economies in Asia, it soon became India’s instrument to assert itself in Asia through the institutionalisation of its relations with ASEAN members and ASEAN led institutions. The success of economic performances made it indispensable for India to develop its defence relationship with its new partners as a way the to control its sea lane of communications. They also led to an expansion of the Look East reach to East Asia.