In The News

Russia’s Turbulence Could Drive Sustainable Development

Anastasia Okorochkova April 14, 2015
Falling oil prices and western sanctions have led to hard economic times for Russians. But lingering economic crisis can also allow a country new opportunity to regroup and reform, innovating and transforming the economy. Paradoxically, the long-running crisis could drive Russia to end its reliance on export of fossil fuels and embrace sustainability. “To do so, Russia must mobilize its...

What the West Can Learn From Japan’s “Lost Decades”

Roland Kelts April 3, 2015
Economists often label Japan as the “the sick man of Asia,” but the country’s stagnation may also reflect its leadership on sustainability. “Japan’s stagnation, pilloried by economists and analysts in the west, may turn out to be the catalyst for its greatest strengths: resilience, reinvention and quiet endurance,” writes Roland Kelts for the New Statesman. He points out that unending population...

The Curse of Chávez’s Ghost

María Elena Candia March 27, 2015
In the wake of the abrupt drop in global oil prices, Venezuelans have experienced a shortage of food, paper goods and medicines. The Maduro administration makes no effort on economic reforms and instead blames the United States for its heavy dependence on oil revenues and other economic troubles. “There is still no commitment from the government to hike the cost of gasoline, which is heavily...

Putin’s European Fifth Column

Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Gérard Roland and Edward Walker February 27, 2015
Putin rejects EU or NATO membership for neighboring states for Russia. “Indeed, the existence of a European model continues to guide and encourage those pursuing transparent, democratic governance in many post-communist countries,” explain three professors with the University of California at Berkeley in an essay for Project Syndicate. Russia’s intimidating authoritarianism has little appeal, and...

Oil Price Fall Leaves Gulf States With Difficult Reform Choices

Simeon Kerr February 4, 2015
Subsidies distort markets, and because consumers take the low prices for granted, governments struggle to restore fair-market prices. States that rely heavily on oil revenues struggle over whether to dip into reserves to continue subsidies or enact unwelcome reforms. Stability for many oil-rich states in the Persian Gulf hinges on oil revenues. The price of oil has fallen by half since summer...

Pull of Global Economy Increases Latin America-Africa Engagement

Manuel Orozco and Julia Yansura January 26, 2015
Africa and Latin America are opening new trade and diplomatic relations, particularly in four key countries of Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and South Africa. Compared with their exports to the northern hemisphere, the exchange of goods between Latin American and African countries remains small, around 3 percent. However, trade between the two continents grew 75 percent between 2005 and 2012, and new...

Bracing for Stagnation

Raghuram Rajan January 14, 2015
The United States may be enjoying economic recovery, but stagnant wages and widening inequality suggest that those few glimmers will not sustain the global economy. Worries run high about feeble economic growth and deflation. In an article for Project Syndicate, reprinted by Live Mint, Raghuram Rajan, governor of the Reserve Bank of India, lists the problems and underlying causes of the “new...