In The News

China Turns a Corner as Spending Takes Hold

Andrew Batson April 13, 2009
Recent data suggests that China’s economy may have bottomed: crude oil imports are up; steel mills are importing record amounts of iron ore; and the Shanghai Composite index is up over 32 percent year to date. It would appear Beijing’s stimulus program is having an effect. The fact that China remains partially a command economy has allowed the stimulus program to take effect more quickly...

Untested Solutions

Nayan Chanda April 13, 2009
The G-20’s proposed solution to sanitizing toxic assets and to solving plummeting trade is nothing short of monumental. But is it enough amid a backdrop of moribund data – exports are down 20-50 percent – and bleak forecasts – the World Bank expects export volumes to fall 9 percent in 2009? The answer is, not likely. These solutions are untested and brushed aside is perhaps the most important...

Unravelling Free Trade

Nayan Chanda April 9, 2009
The G-20 leaders, though accustomed to protests and denouncements, may find resisting protectionism even more arduous. But with the International Labour Organization forecasting a loss of 50 million jobs globally due to the current recession, refraining from protectionism is precisely what is required. Thus far, however, only three countries from the G-20 have kept their pledge to refrain, while...

The G-20 and the Future of Capitalism – Part III

Pranab Bardhan April 3, 2009
In the third part of our series on the G-20 and the Future of Capitalism, Berkeley economics professor Pranab Bardhan suggests perhaps much to the chagrin of its naysayers, capitalism is here to stay. But chastened by the crisis, it is likely to take on a much milder form. Financial asset growth will slow; producers rather than traders will resume precedence; and financial regulation will...

The G-20 and the Future of Capitalism – Part II

Jean-Pierre Lehmann April 1, 2009
At a time when the EU needs to present a united voice if not in policy, at least in speech, at the G-20 summit, the union is in chaos. In the second article of this three-part series on the G-20 Summit and the Future of Capitalism, professor of International Political Economy, Jean-Pierre Lehmann points to the unfortunate coincidence of Europe’s faltering unity at a time when it is needed the...

The G-20 and the Future of Capitalism – Part I

Jeffrey E. Garten March 30, 2009
The world’s eye will be on the summit of the Group of 20 meeting in London on April 2. As the member nations – from Argentina to the United States – represent 80 percent of world trade, their decision will have an immediate and direct bearing on the global economic recession roiling the world. Doubts and anger emerge in nations that have long embraced capitalistic principles and free and open...

China Rises Again – Part I

Wang Gungwu March 25, 2009
In China’s long history, its leaders have managed other rises in power and preeminence, but the current rise confronts them with a different set of challenges on a global scale. This two-part series reflects on how China handles its rise and responds to other global powers. In the first article of the series, leading historian of China’s foreign relations, Wang Gungwu, details the considerations...