In The News

Divergence Grows Between China and the West – Part I

Xu Sitao December 18, 2008
The international community hopes that China steps up as a global leader on a wide array of crises. But the West is then taken aback when China goes about pursuing policy with seeming unconcern about the world. This YaleGlobal series analyzes the growing divergence between China and the West over two issues – the global economic crisis and festering discontent in Tibet. Due to trade imbalances,...

Asia Faces a Tough 2009 as Output Decreases

Michael Pettis December 15, 2008
Nations that engage in trading are not immune from the global economic crisis, as it spreads first throughout the trade-deficit, consumption nations and then on to the trade-surplus, producer nations, explains finance professor Michael Pettis for the Financial Times. Pettis offers three ways for the global economy to adjust: The rich countries can continue borrowing and consuming, or the trade-...

In China, Anger Rises as Economy Falls

Barbara Demick December 15, 2008
A global economic downturn prompted consumers in the West to slow spending, disrupting hiring and payroll in China and sparking sporadic protests, reports Barbara Demick for the Los Angles Times. China’s growth and employment rates still surpass those in the US, yet any economic slowdown “could present the leadership with its biggest political challenge since the student protests at Tiananmen...

Switzerland Pays Price for Isolationism

Joshua Gallu December 5, 2008
Switzerland has long been known as “a custodian of the world’s wealth,” but the recent credit crunch has hit all banks hard and Swiss policies of isolation have not made the nation immune against effects of the economic downturn. The Swiss franc is losing value to the dollar, and the Swiss economy is expected to contract. Swiss bank UBS faced the biggest losses in Europe and had to be aided with...

A Need to Master the Tyranny of the Urgent

Strobe Talbott November 7, 2008
The number of issues awaiting President-elect Barack Obama and his administration lengthens as storm clouds of recession form worldwide. Obama and his team have stressed that quick fixes won't magically erase the many financial problems. Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of state under President Clinton, would agree with the Obama camp's cautionary tone, while also stressing that...

The Global Financial Crisis: Lessons for the United States and China

Albert Keidel November 3, 2008
Some analysts in emerging economies make the mistake of assuming that the current global financial crisis reveals weaknesses in the political and economic systems of scientifically and economically advanced nations, notes Albert Keidel, senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Such systems are works in progress, and crises that emerge from mistakes, bubbles, the lack...

Financial Crisis Belies Myth of US Independence

Edward Goldberg October 30, 2008
Countries make the mistake of assuming that they can pick their way through globalization – that they can block products from other countries yet sell in those markets, or set rules for others to follow while intending to ignore those same rules at home. No community or country, as economic units, can escape financial decisions made thousands of miles away, argues Edward Goldberg, international...