Russian corporate recovery varies by company profile

Significance Recovery in the corporate sector is unevenly divided between large and smaller companies. More robust global demand and rising commodity prices boosted the profitability of large exporters, whereas the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was delayed by pandemic restrictions and falling real disposable incomes. Impacts High metals prices will constrain investment in infrastructure. Rising interest rates will limit capital market borrowing by medium-sized companies. Government price controls threaten to undermine private investment in agriculture, metallurgy and chemical production. A deterioration in banks' corporate portfolio will be adequately offset by high earnings and previous provisioning.

Russian policy toolkit mixes rate rises and price caps

Significance This is high enough to worry the Central Bank of Russia (CBR): inflation has hovered around 4%, the bank's target level, for the last four years. The CBR has responded with monetary tightening, and the government with price controls on food and some exported commodities. Impacts Rising domestic interest rates and higher global oil prices will support the ruble. Elevated inflationary expectations will discourage long-term investment and personal savings. Higher interest rates will improve banks' net interest income and support banking profitability in 2021.

Interaction Between Food Prices and Political Instability

This report reviews the literature on links between international food prices and political instability (including protests, riots and social unrest). The literature on food prices and protests, riots, unrest, or violent incidents consists mainly of peer-reviewed scholarly articles that utilise econometric modeling. Some early studies examined the links between international food prices and political instability and found conflicting results. Some assessments concluded that there were links between international food prices or food insecurity and the number of violent incidents, while others found that such a link was tenuous. This literature review covers some of the main arguments and findings in the recent literature on food prices and political instability or conflict. The majority of the econometric studies in this review find that there is a link between food price increases and a greater probability of protests, riots or social unrest. However, there are still a few studies that have contradictory results. So, the debate on the effect of food prices on political stability continues. Food subsidies, cash transfers, price controls, and the elimination of trade barriers are some of the policy interventions that may address rising food prices and mitigate the rise of violent collective action. However, the literature questions the effectiveness of such policies in cases where violence or protest action stems from deeper, underlying economic or political grievances.

The Right Price

New medications can provide substantial benefits, but high prescription drug prices have led to calls to contain costs. Even after accounting for discounts and rebates, average prices of leading brand-name drugs in the United States are two to four times higher than in other wealthy countries, raising questions about what these higher prices are buying us. With the advent of ever more targeted and powerful treatments, including cell- and gene-based therapies with multimillion dollar price tags, the need for sensible drug pricing policies will intensify. Price controls, common in other countries, seem appealing, but these measures can discourage innovation. Moreover, on what basis should policymakers develop such controls? This book argues that pricing prescription drugs to reflect the value they bring to patients, families, and society achieves the right balance. The book reviews the distinguishing features of the prescription drug market and explains why simple solutions like price controls and importing drugs from countries with lower drug prices are problematic without explicit assessments of value. It then describes how economists measure value, how value assessment for drugs is now being used in the United States, and what must happen going forward to overcome challenges.

Giffen goods, backward bending supply curves, price controls and praxeology; or, who’s afraid of the big bad boogie man of giffen goods and backward bending supply curves? Not us

What is the status of claims about the effects of minimum wage laws? Empirical or praxeological? We claim the latter. How can the effect of such legislation be best analyzed under the assumption of mis-behaving supply (backward bending) and demand (positively sloped, based on positing Giffen goods) curves? In the usual manner: resource misallocation still occurs. But this is only arguendo. More radically, such curves are themselves problematic. Even more radically, this, too, applies to «well behaved» supply and demand curves as well. Key words: Backward Bending Supply Curves, Price Controls, Praxeology, Giffen Goods, Logical Positivism. JEL Classification: D0. Resumen: ¿Cuál es el status del análisis sobre los efectos de las leyes de salario mínimo? ¿Empírico o praxeológico? Nosotros defendemos lo se gundo. ¿Pueden analizarse mejor los efectos de dichas leyes suponiendo curvas de oferta y demanda anómalas (como las de los bienes Giffen)? Como en el nálisis tradicional se produce una mala asignación de recursos. En todo caso, tanto tales curvas, como las tradicionales son muy problemáticas. Palabras clave: Control de precios, praxeología, bienes de Giffen, positivismo lógico. Clasificación JEL: D0.

Análisis de la regulación sectorial de telecomunicaciones desde la perspectiva de la Escuela Económica Austriaca

Telecommunication services have been provided under a legal monopoly for the most part of its history. In 1998, market liberalisation was completed both in European Union and in Spain. This was accomplished under a legal framework which imposes asymmetric obligations to the incumbent operator, due to its past as monopolist. From that moment, regulatory pressure on market players has increased as the legal framework has evolved. These phenomena can be explained by the theory of price control, due to Ludwig Von Mises; the same theory may preview the future of the sector, if this tendency of regulation is continued. Key words: Regulation, asymmetric obligations, markets, monopoly, price controls. JEL Codes: B53, K23, L43, L51, L96. Resumen: Los servicios de telecomunicaciones se han prestado bajo un monopolio legal durante prácticamente toda su historia. En 1998, se com-pletó la liberalización del mercado tanto en la Unión Europea como en España. Esto se hizo bajo una normativa que impone obligaciones asimétricas al operador histórico del mercado, debido a su pasado monopolista. Desde entonces, la presión regulatoria sobre los agentes presentes en el sector ha crecido conforme ha evolucionado el marco normativo. Estos fenómenos se explican a partir de la teoría de control de precios, de Ludwig Von Mises, por lo que la misma también permite predecir el futuro que espera al sector de seguirse esta línea de regulación. Palabras clave: Regulación, obligaciones asimétricas, mercados, monopolio, control de precios. Códigos JEL: B53, K23, L43, L51, L96.

Cuba will struggle to keep inflation at bay

Significance So far, state-sector price controls and price caps on food and private markets have prevented runaway inflation. However, producers are withholding goods or selling on the black market, exacerbating shortages. Dollars trade on the street for twice the official exchange rate. Impacts Food shortages and rising prices will fuel discontent; criticism of the government will grow on social media. The dollarised retail sector and the ubiquitous black market will constrain coherent economic policy planning. Havana hopes COVID-19 vaccine development will help revive international tourism and become a new foreign currency earner.

Should the State Control Tariffs?

Tariffs or price control has been a controversial subject in recent years. The debate between legal experts and economists is still a hot topic in any discussion. Tariff control regulated in the work creation omnibus law seems to be a topic that must be discussed again regarding this regulation’s urgency. Are specific prices so impressive that the government can intervene in regulating them? This article examines the urgency of rules regarding price controls to create a healthy competitive environment. After conducting a critical literature review, it was analyzed with critical analysis and looking at the objective of competition law was to maximize welfare by protecting competition. The results in this article indicated that the government could only intervene in regulating price-fixing only if companies’ pricing could harm the country’s economy and consumer welfare. The government, therefore, had an interest in regulating the price ceiling. Meanwhile, the price floor, which was believed to be pro-consumer and could promote consumer welfare had no interest and should not have been limited by the government.