8 must-read economic stories of the week

Welcome to your weekly update – a curated list of some of this week’s most interesting stories on economic growth and social inclusion.

1. Facts and figures. Four charts on the state of Brazil’s economy in this week’s Financial Times.
2. What are China’s growth prospects? (Project Syndicate)
3. Development in Mexico is uneven. Why? (The Economist)
4. Is global monetary tightening underway? And is it driven by emerging markets’ central banks? (Bruegel)
5. This Friday the Sustainable Development Goals will be agreed at the United Nations in New York. For the first time among these is a target on reducing national income inequality. What is it about? (The Guardian)
6. How is the world faring on reducing poverty? More than 1 billion people still live on less than 1 USD a day and this article argues that the momentum to reduce poverty will be difficult to maintain. (Financial Times)
7. For a collection of articles on the Sustainable Development Goals, take a look here. (World Economic Forum)
8. In case you missed it. Examining the introduction of watches in the 13^th century, a recent paper suggests that the impact of technological innovation on productivity can occur with a big time lag. Do we underestimate the role of technology in current discussions about low productivity growth? (The London School of Economics and Political Science)

For our German readers, a discussion of the paper appeared in the most recent Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (the article is accessible here).

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

Image: Rice is seen at a local supermarket in Shanghai REUTERS/Aly Song