In The News

A Global Laughingstock, US Politicking Threatens Economy

Philip Bowring August 2, 2011
US Congress went to the wire, lifting a debt ceiling to allow payment of its bills, salaries and benefits. The world wasn’t impressed by a last-minute show of unity, after weeks of unseemly squabbling that put the global economy at risk. Financial journalist Philip Bowring contends the spectacle that raised the long-term costs of government borrowing also exposed an undercurrent of troubles: US...

Read China’s Lips

Stephen S. Roach July 28, 2011
China funded US government spending in recent decades with low-interest loans. But the threat of default may end that free ride. China is the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries and other agency notes, with about $2 trillion invested. US financial woes have prompted China to adjust its growth strategy, explains economist Stephen Roach in an essay for Project Syndicate. Beijing worries about...

Employment Versus Debt

Nayan Chanda July 26, 2011
Confronting an ongoing economic crisis, US politicians have assigned greater priority to the nation’s large deficit rather than an unemployment rate officially listed at 9.2 percent. Also overlooked is a report from the US Department of Labor that 3 million job openings go unfilled. It’s a head-scratching moment, suggests Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal editor in his regular column for Businessworld,...

With US on the Brink of Default, Eyes are on Rating Agencies

David Dapice July 26, 2011
Governments have long operated by borrowing, not just for long-term projects but also daily operations. The US, with a self-imposed debt ceiling, borrows more than 40 cents for every dollar it spends. With the government about to exceed spending limits, global investors are on edge, waiting to see if the US Congress lifts the current debt ceiling, allowing continued operations, or goes into...

China's Businesses Boom, But Its Brands Don't

Rob Gifford July 25, 2011
China is the world’s factory, yet other countries supply most of the designs. Chinese brands aren’t flowing along with the “Made in China” labels on products. “A key problem for Chinese businesses is a comparative lack of legal protection,” explains Rob Gifford for NPR. For China to move toward innovation, with corporate research and development, it must develop intellectual property rights to...

Middle-Class Uprising Poses a Global Threat

John Paul Rathbone July 22, 2011
The world’s greatest source of instability might not be terrorism but a middle class angered by vanishing prosperity, the loss of a lifestyle with many comforts and protections, argues John Paul Rathbone for the Financial Times. He points to an observation of journalist Moisés Naím, that most recent conflicts are within rather than between civilizations. In developed and developing countries...

Is France on Course to Bid Adieu to Globalization?

Pierre Haski July 21, 2011
The French have long been critical of globalizing forces that disrupt their nation’s economy or threaten their identity. Calls for démondialisation, or deglobalization, has emerged as a leading issue in the French presidential campaign. Intense opposition to engagement with the world builds among the left and right, along with alarm about the global debt crisis, structural youth unemployment and...