In The News

Everyone Suffers From Oil-Price War: Economist

March 20, 2020
After Russia refused to reduce oil production in Vienna in early March, Saudi Arabia as de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, decided to produce more crude oil as a counterattack. Saudi Arabia announced that daily production would unprecedently increase to 12.3 million barrels per day in April, 25 percent more than it produced in February. Following that,...

COVID-19 Debt Deluge: Project Syndicate

Jayati Ghosh March 16, 2020
Crises immediately expose any weaknesses in public infrastructure, and COVID-19 will reveal needs in public health and economic systems. Societies realize that privatization and cost-cutting for health care for vulnerable populations expose all citizens to infection, explains Jayati Ghosh. Analysts anticipate a recession with supply chain disruptions and entire regions locked down. “A world...

Social Distancing Saves Lives: MarketWatch

Matthew McQueen March 12, 2020
More than half the global population could eventually be infected with COVID-19, and the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable. Sudden outbreaks can overwhelm health systems with limited staff, hospital beds and equipment. Already US testing capacity is stressed. To avoid disaster, public health experts advise avoiding large gatherings and maintaining social...

Governments Clamp Down: New York Times

March 9, 2020
The world has more than 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nations impose more restrictions to contain the spread, which also slows spending and hurts businesses. “Italy began one of the largest-ever attempts to restrict the movement of people in a Western democracy, with a lockdown of the country’s northern region affecting about 16 million people and fueling questions about whether...

Denmark the New “American Dream”? PIIE

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard March 2, 2020
Denmark may represent a new version of the American dream, as voters and Democratic candidates in the US presidential race seek secure benefits, especially affordable health care. An OECD study suggests that low-income families in Denmark, due to reduced inequality, can enter the middle class in two generations whereas low-income US families require five generations. Such reduced inequality comes...

When China Sneezes: Project Syndicate

Stephen S. Roach February 26, 2020
Cases of the new coronavirus, confirmed in more than 30 countries, strikes when the global economy is already vulnerable and many countries struggle with debt, stagnant growth, reduced industrial output and job creation. COVID-19 has triggered an unexpected disruption to supply and demand. China is at the center of global value chains, explains Stephen S. Roach, an economist based at Yale...

Lebanon on “Brink of Chaos”: Washington Post

Liz Sly February 17, 2020
Lebanon’s peaceful protests that began in October have turned violent in the face of further economic collapse in early 2020. For instance, a protest in late January saw “heavily armed troops joined riot police at the scene, some carrying shoulder-launched rockets.” Protestors and security forces have begun clashing in recent weeks, with police resorting to firing rubber bullets, teargas and...