Oil windfalls and living standards: New evidence from Brazil

Yu-Hsiang Lei, Guy Michaels, 1 December 2011Do natural resource windfalls, such as those arising from the discovery of giant oil fields, increase the risk of internal armed conflict? This column argues that giant oil field discoveries, which are largely down to chance, significantly increase the incidence of conflict.

Facing tanking oil revenues, the Alberta government’s fiscal plan appears to be spiralling out of control, just as crucial contracts with doctors and teachers are being negotiated. Jen Gerson offers five things to know about Premier Alison Redford’s emerging predicament:

From a 2010 St.

U.S. health care spending increased yet again in 2009, increasing 4%. Total health expenditures reached $2.5 trillion, which translates to $8,086 per person or 17.6% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This represents yet another record high percentage of GDP taken by health care – for decades, year after year, health care takes more and more of the economic resources of the country.

Brian Rezny submits: Last week, scheduled municipal bond sales totaled $15.4 billion -- the most in seven years, according to Bloomberg. And why? Because local and state governments are racing the clock to take advantage of the Build America Bonds program. The plan, which provides a 35% federal subsidy on interest costs, is set to expire at the end of the year (issuance through the end of October totaled over $150 billion -- around 25% of municipal bond sales).