The Unassuming Economist

From Torsten Sløk:

“The Consumer Price Index is 22% higher than in January 2020, see chart below.

This means that the prices of all goods and services that consumers spend money on are up, on average, 22%.

For example, since January 2020, the price of cereal is 30% higher, household electricity is 32% higher, and car insurance is 52% higher.

The bottom line is that the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, namely year-over-year inflation, may be back near 2%, but the living costs for households are still dramatically higher than four years ago.

From UNDP:

“The African Union Commission and the United Nations Development Programme, represented by the Regional Bureau for Africa, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide a framework for cooperation and facilitate development activities. The MoU will foster the principle of ‘One Framework, Two Agendas’ within the existing coordination and planning mechanisms across the continent – including the Africa Regional Collaborative Platform, planning mechanisms of AU Member States for national and local authorities, and UN sustainable development cooperation frameworks in the Member States.  

H.E. Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) noted the MOU is a critical milestone enabling the AU, UNDP, and other UN entities to drive Africa towards collective progress. “We, therefore, look forward to UNDP pushing the sustainable development envelope within the framework of this MOU and enhancing synergies to ensure the integration of the two Agendas into subnational, national, regional and continental plans,” she added.

The three-year Memorandum details UNDP and AUC’s commitment to cooperating in areas of common interest by advancing bold Moonshots for inclusive growth, integration, and empowerment. With only six years left to meet the SDG targets, Africa is aligning its agenda with accelerated pathways. The renewed partnership between AUC and UNDP is a significant step towards aligning resources, expertise, and strategies to accelerate Africa’s development agenda. It will proceed within the AU-UN Framework to implement Agenda 2063 priorities and the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development at the national and regional levels.

Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Regional Director for Africa said AUC and UNDP have transformed the Regional Collaborative Platform from simple information exchange sessions into a more structured, deliberate, and results-oriented partnership. 

“Over the past four years, UNDP has co-created initiatives and programmes with the African Union that exceed $100 million across our collaborative areas. We are proud to partner with Africa’s premier continental body to collectively realize the Africa we want and the continent that the world needs. Through efforts like the African Young Women Leaders Programme, the Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions (AFSIT), and our support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), we are proud to advance inclusive growth, regional integration, and empowerment.” She added.

Under the Memorandum, AUC and UNDP commit to harmonised mechanisms for domesticating, awareness creation, monitoring, reporting and delivering the Second Ten Year Implementation Plan (STYIP) of Agenda 2063 alongside the SDGs in support of all Stakeholders, including but not limited to Member States, development partners, private sector, Regional Economic Communities, citizens of African Union Member States, and civil society. AUC and UNDP also pledge to consult and keep each other informed of matters of common interest and review the progress of partnership implementation through various initiatives.”

From the North Africa Post:

“Morocco has offered to support the Republic of Guinea in sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development within the frame of solidarity- based South-South cooperation spearheaded by King Mohammed VI.

The offer was made by Head of Govt. Aziz Akhannouch during talks he held Thursday in Rabat with Guinea’s Prime Minister Mamadou Oury Bah in presence of foreign minister Nasser Bourita.

The Moroccan offer also includes support to the West African country, particularly in agriculture, fisheries, healthcare, and industry.

Mr. Akhannouch hailed the bonds of brotherhood, friendship, and solidarity existing between the two African countries. He also recalled the visits paid by King Mohammed VI to Guinea in 2014 and 2017 to bolster cooperation ties with Conakry.

Heads of government of the two countries also discussed ways of strengthening economic cooperation, trade, and investment in priority strategic sectors.

In 2020, Guinea opened a consulate in Moroccan Saharan city of Dakhla, a diplomatic move reflecting recognition of the Moroccanness of the Sahara by this African country.”

From a speech by Sarah Pritchard:

“Financial inclusion, enabled by innovation, unlocks economic opportunity.

I saw this in action myself when I visited a debt charity in Glasgow recently.

Staff told me how clients used to walk in carrying literal shopping bags of paperwork – bank statements, bills, scraps of paper with notes jotted on them.

You can imagine the time it took trying to piece it all together, not to mention how overwhelming it must have been for the clients themselves.

Well now, thanks to the power of open banking, that is a thing of the past. 

With just a few clicks, the charity can access a clear picture of a client’s finances.

Using faster and better-quality information to help them go from drowning in despair to a plan to decrease their debt. 

From struggling, to stability, to shaping their local economy. My visit showed me how innovation can kickstart a virtuous cycle that benefits everyone. 

Because unless people are financially resilient, with access to the products and services they need, they can’t contribute fully to our economy and its growth.

Strategy

So, I really welcome the Government’s proposals to develop a National Financial Inclusion Strategy. 

Particularly because we know that financial inclusion spans broad social issues from education to poverty to digital connectivity.

Areas where the Government can rightly lead a coordinated, coherent, and collaborative approach to this national challenge. 

And it’s a challenge we shouldn’t underestimate. 

Around 14 million adults in the UK have less than £100 in savings. That’s roughly 25% of UK adults vulnerable to even a small financial shock.

As regulators, we don’t have the direct tools to increase incomes and put more money in people’s pockets.

But through things like the Consumer Duty and our Innovation Hub, we do have levers that, in partnership with others, can make a difference.

And consumer resilience will be a key focus in our next 5-year strategy too, which we outlined on Tuesday.  

By enhancing market integrity, protecting consumers, and promoting competition in financial markets, we can ensure wider access, better quality and less costly products and services. 

And through our new secondary growth objective, we see further potential to support the increased investment, innovation and job creation that can boost financial inclusion.”

Continue reading here.

From a paper by Óscar Cabrera García and Carla Marrero Yanes:

“Arthur Okun, in 1962, established a relationship between unemployment and GDP after having
studied the behaviour of these variables in the US economy. To analyze the fulfillment of this
relationship in Spain, we used the specification of the model in differences, estimating it not only in
a static but also dynamic way for the national whole, as well as by sex and age groups. Our study
period is between 2003-2023. The results obtained suggest that the “Okun’s Law” is indeed fulfilled,
not only for the national whole but also for age groups and sex, although there are certain
differences in some groups, as well as depending on the type of analysis carried out.”