In The News

Cross-Border Banking in the Balance

Erik Berglof November 16, 2011
Cross-border banking should not become a casualty of the clean-up act required for the eurozone crisis, argues Erik Berglof, the Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The gains from financial integration in Europe have been great, particularly through the actions of foreign subsidiaries of large European banks in emerging central and eastern European countries,...

Painful Euro Crisis and Lessons for the World – Part I

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard November 16, 2011
The slow-motion crisis of the euro seems to have reached a plateau with the formation of new governments in Greece and Italy. But Europe’s debt crisis is complex with far-reaching implications. In this two-part series, YaleGlobal examines the ramification of the crisis, the reform course Europe must take and the lessons that others can draw from it. In the first part of the series, Jacob Funk...

Europe Close to Creating “Budget Tsar”

Joshua Chaffin November 15, 2011
With European countries struggling to get a control on debt, the European Commission is taking steps to appoint one person responsible for scrutinizing finances. Rival commissioners could not over-ride disciplinary measures imposed by the commissioner for economics and monetary affairs on nations that overspend. “Commission officials argue that the new changes are necessary to prevent national...

Why Italy’s Days in the Eurozone May Be Numbered

Nouriel Roubini November 11, 2011
Italy is the world’s eighth largest economy and the government is now obliged to borrow at interest rates of 7 percent for daily operations. Italians have approved austerity reforms, but the nation’s €1,900 billion in debt may require restructuring, sending shudders among banks and investors. Restructuring won’t trigger economic growth, and reviving Italy’s credibility could require at least a...

“Playing Baseball Without a Bat”

Thomas. L. Friedman November 9, 2011
In an interview with YaleGlobal editor Nayan Chanda, Thomas. L. Friedman talks about his book "That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back," co-written with Michael Mandelbaum. He explains the reasons for the slow decline of the United States, especially its failure to adapt to the hyper-connected world it helped to create, four...

Denying Imbalances, G20 Risks Chaos – Part III

Jonathan Fenby November 9, 2011
Mounds of unsustainable debt in wealthy nations threaten the global economy, and many of these nations must keep borrowing in demanding global markets for daily operations. The G20 summit in France, a meeting of the world’s most powerful economies, failed to develop a strategy to ease spending, protect bondholders and lift confidence among consumers and investors. The G20’s failure will have...

The Globalization of Protest

Joseph E. Stiglitz November 8, 2011
A protest movement against corporate power, inequality and governments that do not serve citizens has gone global. From the Arab Spring protests that began in Tunisia to the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York, protesters question if the interests of a few trump the overall common good, explains Joseph E. Stiglitz in an essay for Project Syndicate. Stiglitz notes that “around the world,...