In The News

Dollar Decision a Sign of Distress

Jane Bussey October 28, 2004
Days after his humiliating tumble off a stage, Fidel Castro announced a decision to dedollarize Cuba – yet another sign of the growing strains on the economy. After November 8th, Cubans may still hold dollars and swap them for convertible pesos – but will have to pay a 10 percent commission to the government. Cuba, already short on cash, does not earn enough foreign exchange from investment,...

First Ever Ruling for Inter-Arab Court

Magda El-Ghitany October 27, 2004
The 22-member Arab League this week handed down a verdict via its business court. Although the judicial body was established in the 1980s, it had remained out of commission until 2003, when the League renewed the court's operations. The inaugural dispute centered on the Tunisian government and a Saudi Arabian company, in which the company sued for damages surrounding the execution of...

Time to Prick the Dollar Balloon, Gently

David Dapice October 27, 2004
As the already sizeable US account deficit increases at an astonishing rate, experts continue to debate its consequences. Offering a counterpoint to a previous YaleGlobal article by Hilton Root, economist David Dapice argues that the escalating US debt is not, in fact, innocuous. Asian central banks support over half of the US debt. However, if current trends persist, US needs will be...

¿Amenaza el déficit estadounidense la estabilidad financiera mundial?

Hilton Root October 15, 2004

Do US Deficits Threaten Global Financial Stability?

Hilton Root October 13, 2004
Many of the world's leading economists have issued dire warnings that US deficit spending is dangerous not only to its domestic economy - but may actually knock the entire global economy off kilter. Economist Hilton Root suggests that such concerns may be overinflated, if not misdirected. The relative stability of US social and political institutions - in spite of the cavernous deficit -...

G-Force

October 11, 2004
Building on the creation of the G7, several countries have conspired to establish their own G-titled alliances. Although G7 still dominates policy in international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, these "alphanumeric bodies" have largely ceased to have meaning. Perennial problems, such as the perpetual pegging of the Chinese yuan to the...

Koizumi's Change-Up

William Antholis October 8, 2004
Japan has been the biggest laggard among the developed countries, and given the size of its economy, its ten-year stagnation has been a drag for the whole world. Power of the entrenched bureaucracy and vested interest of the political bosses have held back attempts to reform the economy. But change may be coming. According to the Brookings Institution’s William Antholis, recent high-level...