GDP by State!

GraphJam is an amusing site over at Cheez Burger (aka lolcats). While usually breaking down things like How Lady Gaga likes her steaks, every now and then there is an economic gem such as if the states were renamed by GDP:

Click to zoom

Source

Jing-Bang

I made an effort this week to work the phrase "jing-bang" into one of my master's exam essay. This is a Scottish term: the hail jing-bang means the whole lot or everything. I was able to use in the opening sentence for my International Commerce exam:

In the hail jing-bang of global economics, regional trade agreements (RTAs) have become the most common form of agreement.

Nigeria... reason to hope?

The Economist: Briefing: Nigeria
You know how when you read about things in Africa.... no wait.

You know how once you learned there was a continent called Africa and all you've heard since then about it is about HIV/AIDS or Bono? Well here is some good news:

Even with a ethnic/resource power struggle in the Niger Delta, Nigeria (one of the oil-rich countries on the continent) seems to have a working democracy. Their leader may be sick, in fact several prominent leaders are calling for his removal or resignation due to how little time he spends governing, but infrastructure is on the rise as violence is declining.

For another bright spot, look to Botswana. It has the best economic growth of any country as well as government stability absent in many of its neighbors.

Brazil is in Poor Company

What is one of the top ten economies (by GDP) doing at the bottom of a list with the Central African Republic, South Africa and Swaziland? Turns out that Brazil, though considered by many to be an extremely important rising economy has an income distribution similar to countries better known for counting on foreign aid as more than 80% of their government expenditures or or are completely surrounded by another country. The global statistic website Nation Master verbs that the richest 10% of people in Brazil hold 48% of the country's income. For comparison, the global average is 31.4% with Sweden towards the best at 20.1%.

Brazil also struggles with corruption, according to Transparency International they are "roughly comparable to Burkina Faso, Saudi Arabia and Panama." With elections looming in 2010, it's important to consider the potential for change in governance and economic policy. Will global attention during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic games give Brazil the incentive it needs to promote its tiny middle class or government transparency?

See also: Brazil in 2006

Read more >> Options >>

Discover the world

Been a while since you checked in with Togo? How about Chile? No worries, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) has your back. Their web program "Países" lays out current(ish) information on population, social indicators, economy, networks and environment all on a handy map. Can it get better? Oh yes, because this application is in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Woot.

Source: http://www.ibge.gov.br/paisesat/

Comparative advantage

Hypothetical:
1. Tiger Woods has a lawn that needs mowing.
2. Tiger Woods has a teenage neighbor who charges $10/hour to mow lawns.
3. Tiger Woods can mow his law three times as fast as his neighbor.
4. Tiger Woods makes $80 mil a year, or about $913.25/hour in endorsements.
so
5. Although Tiger Woods can mow his own lawn three times as fast as his neighbor, his time would be better spent filming another ad or working on his swing.

Tiger Woods has the absolute advantage in this situation. He is better at mowing, golfing and making money in endorsements. However, if he pays someone else to mow his lawn, he can not only increase his own productivity by filming an ad, but also the productivity of his neighborhood.

And that is why we get our flowers from South America, kids.