In The News

China Launches Freight Train to Britain

Louise Moon January 11, 2017
China started the new year by dispatching the country’s first freight train to the United Kingdom, part of a larger effort to stimulate global trade. The train will depart from the city of Yiwu, a major commodities center, traverse central Asia and continental Europe, and reach its destination in London after almost 12,000 kilometers. “The railway is a major strategic development to assist Xi...

We Can’t Undo Globalization, But Can Improve It

Gary Pinkus, James Manyika and Sree Ramaswamy January 10, 2017
Global flows of trade and investment add economic value, and dismantling systems that rely on globalization would reduce prosperity. “While the impulse to erect trade barriers is understandable given the pain experienced by workers in a range of industries and communities in recent years, it is not the way to create lasting growth and shared prosperity,” notes a Harvard Business Review article. “...

Emerging Market Investors Prepare to Buckle Up for 2017

Roger Blitz and Elaine Moore January 2, 2017
Emerging markets are growing, lifted by rising commodity prices and foreign investment. However, a rising dollar, higher interest rates and protectionist policies as promised from developed countries will pose challenges. “US relations with China will cause EM [emerging markets] much angst,” write Roger Blitz and Elaine Moore for Financial Times. They add that countries that have diversified...

What the Latest Standardized School Tests Tell Us

Karin Klein December 9, 2016
Strong education systems contribute to strong economies. Every three years the Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA, tests the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in math, reading and science. More than 80 countries have participated, and many obsess about rankings. Comparisons based on raw scores can be tricky, warns Karin Klein for the Los Angeles Times. Researchers...

China Set to Rescue Australia Economy at Just the Right Time

Michael Heath December 9, 2016
A precipitous decline in global commodity prices since 2011 left Australia struggling financially, but the recent Chinese stimulus spending brightened the economic prospects. Exports are increasing as Chinese manufacturing and industry ramps up, and Australia is “the developed world’s most China-dependent economy,” reports Michael Heath for Bloomberg. During the period of low commodity prices,...

Trade Week Africa and the Continental Free Trade Area

Amy Copley December 7, 2016
Africa is not rejecting trade agreements. All 54 countries on the continent are projected to be in the Continental Free Trade Area, or CFTA, which “is shaping up to be the largest free trade area in the world in terms of the population it covers,” notes Amy Copley for the Brookings Institution. The African Union and UN groups continue negotiations, and analysts suggest that CFTA could increase...

Understanding Latin America’s New Political Paradigm

Ernesto Talvi November 11, 2016
In Latin America along with Europe and the United States, political parties that lean right are strengthening. Since the 1970s, social and political change is shown to be derived from cycles of “economic malaise,” writes Ernesto Talvi for the Brookings Institution. Corruption scandals combined with economic doldrums, as in the case of Brazil, have reduced popularity of left-leaning governments....