In The News

US Federal Reserve Raises Rates

Harriet Torry December 14, 2016
The Federal Reserve, seeing improvements in the US economy and reduced unemployment rates, not only raised its benchmark short-term interest rate for the first time in a year but anticipates more rate hikes in 2017. The board’s vote was unanimous. Rates were kept near zero for seven years since the 2007-2008 financial crisis until a small rise in December 2015. “Fed officials said an improving...

The Complexity of Inequality

Michael Heise December 13, 2016
Governments delayed in accepting or tackling inequality as a major challenge. The concept “remains poorly defined, its effect is highly variable, and its causes hotly debated,” notes Michael Heise, chief economist of Allianz SE, for Project Syndicate. Inequality is concentrated in the developed world, and wealth is more broadly distributed at the global level: Since 2000, the ranks of the middle...

Europe Worries Portugal Is Prone to a Debt-Crisis Relapse

Patricia Kowsmann October 26, 2016
Portugal’s economic weakness is part of a long string of bad news for the European Union, which has been hit by a rising tide of euroscepticism. Earlier in October, Portugal’s central bank predicted a decline in investment in the country. The International Monetary Fund has asserted that this decline is due to the government’s turn away from austerity, including high levels of public and private...

Green Sovereign Bonds: Tactical Moves on an Emerging Market

October 20, 2016
France issued the first green sovereign bond in September and China may soon follow, joining the ranks of institutions like the World Bank and large companies. Green bonds fund programs aimed at stemming climate change and promoting alternative energies, energy efficiency, water treatment and other forms of sustainable development. So far, yearly issuances represent about 1 percent of the global...

Abe to Seek Cuba’s Help Over North Korea and Boost Trade

Ayako Mie September 21, 2016
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is making an unprecedented trip to Cuba off the heels of North Korea’s fifth nuclear test and the UN General Assembly. Cuba has been an ally of North Korea, while Japan and North Korea have strained relations due to the abduction of Japanese citizens and the potential for a close-range nuclear attack. Increased investment in Cuba reflects a larger pattern in...

Abenomics: What Japan’s Economic Experiment Can Teach the Rest of the World

August 16, 2016
Japan’s economy shifted from being the envy of the world in the 1980s to today's case study in stagnation. The country's nominal GDP for 2015 is mostly unchanged from levels in 1995 even as the US nominal GDP grew by more than 130 percent, reports the Economist. “To reflate Japan and reform it, Shinzo Abe, prime minister since December 2012, proposed the three ‘arrows’ of what has...

China’s Glut, Exports Could Threaten World Economy

Börje Ljunggren August 11, 2016
China came to the aid of the stricken global economy in 2008 with record stimulus funds. But that stimulus injection encouraged debt and overcapacity in key markets like steel and aluminum, explains Börje Ljunggren, author and former Swedish ambassador to China. The country’s total debt has more than doubled, now exceeding 250 percent of GDP. China accounts for half of global output in steel and...