"Being unemployed is frustrating, demeaning and, at this point, frightening." Anyone who has any doubt about the devastating effects unemployment can have will learn a lot from statements such as this one, captured in a recent survey undertaken by the John. J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University in the US.
William R. White, Chair of the OECD Economic and Development Review Committee
As regulators and policymakers continue to examine new rules for the financial services, should we be worried that another financial crisis could strike in the months or years ahead?
A well-functioning financial system is a necessary condition for a vibrant market-driven economy. But we now know that surface indicators of good financial health can be seriously misleading. If market participants are hit by the same shocks, are similarly vulnerable and react similarly as well, the implications for the financial system as a whole and the real economy it underpins can be devastating.
| GDP | +0.8% Q4 2009 |
| Leading indicators | +0.8 Jan 09, +11.3 year on year |
| Inflation | +2,1% Jan 09, year on year |
| Trade (G7) | -17.5% exports Q3 09, imports -14.6%, y/y |
| Unemployment | 8.7% Jan 2009, up 1.4 percentage pts y/y |
Data for OECD area . Latest update: 15 March 2010
For details on these and other numbers, visit www.oecd.org/statistics
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Michelle Bachelet, president of Chile, greets Angel Gurría, secretary-general of the OECD Alex Ibanez/OECD |
Chile is set to become the OECD’s 31st member country. It is a momentous occasion, as captured in the following extracts from speeches by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile and by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, following the signing of the agreement on the terms of accession by the Republic of Chile to the OECD Convention, delivered in Santiago, Chile, 11 January 2010.
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On 27 May 1882, The Times newspaper proclaimed, "Today we have to record such a triumph over physical difficulties, as would have been incredible, even unimaginable, a very few years ago". They weren't talking about Queen Victoria avoiding a recent assassination attempt by a poet she'd annoyed or Jesse James having less luck with a friend he'd trusted. They were talking about sheep meat.
"This makes you my competitor", said oil pioneer Daniel Plainview on learning that his son wanted to quit the wells in California to drill his own in Mexico, in the 2007 movie, There will be Blood. And to be sure, Mexico did become a competitor, producing oil in the early 1900s and becoming the second largest producer in the Americas after the US by the 1990s.
The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force 10 years ago this December, was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. To date, 30 OECD member countries and eight non-member countries-Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Israel, Slovenia and South Africa-have adopted the convention.
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The launch of the ATAF marks a milestone in the continent’s quest for greater self-reliance, economic growth and social development.
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Improving Lifestyles, Tackling Obesity: the Health and Economic Impact of Prevention Strategies, OECD Health Working Paper no. 48 |
The spread of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles have led to rising rates of overweight and obesity. This has meant a greater burden of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.
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Out of Work Unemployment rate of immigrants relative to native-born, 2006 International Migration Outlook: SOPEMI 2008 (click graph for full table) |
One of the most widely heard accusations against immigrants is that they take jobs from locals, usually-it's claimed-because they are willing to work for less. How true are such claims, and do immigrants really harm the job prospects of natives?
What do you think will be the biggest policy challenge in 2010?
