10 must-read economic stories of the week

Welcome to your weekly update on some the most interesting stories on economic growth and social inclusion. This week, we feature our brand new research on competitiveness.

1. Facts and figures. What are the world’s top 10 most competitive economies? Find out in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 which assesses the competitiveness of 140 world economies. (World Economic Forum) 

2. What does the report say about the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and sub-Saharan Africa?

3. This week Allianz published its Global Wealth Report 2015. According to the company, “Three first-time milestones in financial asset development were passed in 2014: The global net financial assets of private households surpassed the 100-trillion-euro mark, China’s private financial assets exceeded those of Japan, and the number of people falling into the wealth middle class in global terms breached the 1 billion mark.” (Allianz)

4. By one estimate some 8% of the world’s financial wealth is parked in tax havens. Why is this bad for inclusive growth? (Project Syndicate)

5. How can cities beat rising inequality while boosting growth and raising living standards? A U.S. city offers some lessons. (Newsweek)

6. Companies in the developing world more than quadrupled their lending from around $4 trillion in 2004 to over $18 trillion in 2014. As growth prospects for many of these firms are worsening in light of a weakening global economy, the IMF just issued a warning. (The Wall Street Journal)

7. Why is financial inclusion so high on the development agenda? (The Huffington Post)

8. India is pursuing policies that are aimed at using technology to boost financial inclusion. (Financial Times)
For further reading on where India has a particular need for catch-up to deepen inclusive growth, take a look here at an analysis in our recently published Inclusive Growth and Development Report 2015.

9. A recent Pew survey shows that key issues for inclusive growth – corruption and inequality – are among the top concerns for Chinese. (PewResearchCenter)

10. Is the circular economy a profound untapped source of economic growth? (World Economic Forum)

Author: Jennifer Blanke is Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum

Image: A man walks past the Bank of China Tower at Hong Kong’s financial Central district February 9, 2009. REUTERS/Bobby Yip