How to get out of the crisis without reforms? The Belarusian authorities confront growing economic problems. OSW Commentary NUMBER 202/21.03.2016

2015 saw a drop in Belarus’s GDP for the first time in almost 20 years, which is primarily the result of a significant reduction in levels of production and export. As a consequence, there was also a serious depletion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves, as well as a progressive weakening of the Belarusian rouble. The macroeconomic figures from January and February 2016 show that these trends are not only continuing, but they are also becoming even more severe, which confirms that Belarus now finds itself in a prolonged economic crisis. On one hand, the reason for this state of affairs is the protracted economic recession in Russia, which is Belarus’s main economic partner, together with the drastic global decline in prices for fuel, which is a key Belarusian export. On the other hand, meanwhile, an equally important reason for the current crisis is the failure of the Belarusian economic model. President Aleksandr Lukashenko, out of fear that his authoritarian system of government will be dismantled and that public discontent will rise, has categorically rejected the proposals for even partial reforms put forward by some of his entourage, who are aware of the need for the immediate transformation of the country’s anachronistic and very costly economic model, based as it still is on quasi-Soviet management policies.

The European Union’s growing innovation divide. Bruegel Policy Contribution Issue 2016/08 April 2016

There is a significant divide between the European Union countries with the greatest capacity to innovate, and those with the least capacity to innovate. The difficult convergence process has been proceeding only very slowly and unevenly, and more recently seems to have come to a halt. A particular weak spot for the EU is corporate investment in research; in this area, the intra-EU divide is growing. As the business sector is responsible for the persistent R&D intensity gap between the EU and the United States and Asia, the persistent failure of lagging EU countries to catch up in this area provides much of the explanation for the EU’s weak performance compared to other economies. The evidence shows that the deployment of public budgets and the mix of policies employed by EU member states have tended to aggravate the intra-EU divide. The EU needs to better understand its growing internal innovation divide if it is to achieve its ambition of becoming a world innovation leader.

United States : a growing problem for law enforcement /

Title on t.p. verso: Illegal immigration to the United States, a growing problem for law enforcement.

International Coffee Agreement 1968, as extended : report to accompany Ex. O, 93-1 /

At head of title: 93d Congress, 1st session, Senate, Executive report ; no. 93-16.

Production, consumption and price trends of coffee /

Cover title.

A Growing crisis : disadvantaged women and their children.

Item 288-A-5

Coffee in Latin America; productivity problems and future prospects.

"United Nations publication. Sales no.: 58.II.G.4."

The coffee industry in Brazil,

At head of title: U.S. Department of Commerce. R.P. Lamont, secretary. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. William L. Cooper, director.

International coffee agreement, 1962.

"International coffee agreement, 1962": p. 6-38.

On the importance of an early correct education of children : embracing the mutual obligations and duties of parent and child ; and also the qualifications and discipline of teachers, with their emolument ; and a plan suggested whereby all our common schools can advantageously be made free ; the whole interspersed with several amusing, chaste anecdotes growing out of the domestic and scolastic circle ; to which is subjoined by way of appendix, the Declaration of Independence ... ; the Constitution of the United States ; with that of the state of New York as lately adopted /

Bound in green cloth; stamped in gold and blind.

Farms are growing larger : some relationships to individual farm planning, community development, national farm policies /

Cover title.

Sugar, gold, and coffee : essays on the history of Brazil based on Francis Hull's books.

"Published as a testimonial to a great bookman [Francis Hull]"

Report of an investigation of coffee,

"The studies here reported were made for the Committee on research of the Joint coffee trade publicity committee".--Prefatory note.

Sir Robert Peel's currency plan, a lecture delivered at the British Coffee-house, in Cockspurstreet, on Thursday the 13th of Junem 1844, on the currency plan of Sir Robert Peel; showing its tendency and probable effects,

Mode of access: Internet.