In The News

New York Times: Globalization’s Backlash Comes at Wrong Time

Neil Irwin March 28, 2018
US voters responded to promises of tariffs, jobs and protectionism during the 2016 presidential campaign and spurred a backlash to globalization: “It is coming after the major costs of globalization have already been borne,” explains Neil Irwin for the New York Times. “And it comes just as billions of people who have become integrated into the global economy over the last three decades are...

Spiegel Online: Trump's Dangerous Game With the US Dollar

Tim Bartz and Martin Hesse February 16, 2018
Economists around the globe suggest the United States is engaging in a currency war. “Even though the U.S. economy has already been growing robustly for years and, with an unemployment rate of just 4.1 percent, is approaching full employment, Trump is continuing to stimulate growth – a focus that could result in an overheated economy, which would present a danger to the entire global economy,”...

Financial Times: The Real Price of Brexit Emerges

Chris Giles December 18, 2017
Brexit supporters had suggested that Britain, by leaving the European Union, would have more money to invest in health care. Most economists at the time suggested the opposite was true, and updated analysis confirms the bad news: Britain can expect an annual GDP loss between £20 billion and £180 billion. The 2017 growth rate has already slowed to 1.5 percent even as the global economy is...

The Cairo Review of Global Affairs: The Case for Open Markets

Dany Bahar September 6, 2017
In the aftermath of Brexit and Donald J. Trump’s presidential ascension, a world that embraced globalization and free trade is turning its back on economic and political principles established after the Second World War. Dany Bahar, writing for the Cairo Review of Global Affairs, prefaces his advocacy for more global trade by arguing that protectionism – a policy championed by Trump to revive the...

Bloomberg: Japan Buries Cherished Economic Ideas

Noah Smith August 9, 2017
Japan’s economy defies traditional economic theories. High debt and full employment have not led to inflation; the Bank of Japan is resigned that policies won’t achieve a 2 percent inflation target. “Basic econ theory says that as the labor market gets tighter, competition should push up wages, which will then boost consumer prices via increased demand and higher costs,” writes Noah Smith for...

Global Finance: Trade Winds Shifting

Jonathan Gregson August 5, 2017
After years of stagnation, international trade growth is anticipated at 4 percent this year. “Many factors could explain what appears to be a secular decline in global trade: lower levels of business confidence and investment; demand cycles and their impact on commodity prices; the maturing of global value chains, which have in turn triggered structural changes in the composition of cross-border...

FiveThirtyEight: US Ban on Travel to Cuba Might Actually Help Cuba’s Economy

Andrea Jones-Rooy August 4, 2017
In June, President Donald Trump enacted a series of policies indicating a tougher attitude toward the Communist government in Cuba, including Treasury Department audits of travelers to Cuba. Critics suggest such policies could harm the island nation’s economy. The financial reality is more complicated, argues Andrea Jones-Rooy for FiveThirtyEight. “Because the resorts are often financed by...