In The News

China’s Global Governance Challenge

Stephen S. Roach June 9, 2015
China is preparing for a broader role in leading Asia on economic development and world affairs. The nation has long been an active member of global organizations including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and others, and now is “engaged in global institution building of its own” with the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, writes Stephen S. Roach, author, former...

Bigger, Deglobalizing World May Be Hostile for Investors

James Saft May 8, 2015
Much of the world is trying to put a pause on global trade, immigration and other means of integration and globalization. The global credit crisis triggered the trends: “De-globalization is the partial unwinding of the long-running shift to arrangements that allow capital, goods and services to move more freely around the world,” writes James Saft. He describes evidence of resistance to...

China Must Prove Silk Road Plan Is Serious

George Magnus May 6, 2015
China is trying to reinforce its ties with its neighbors with a modern-day Silk Road that links 65 nations: “the so-called One Belt, One Road plan – incorporating a Maritime Silk Road – has become the centerpiece of the president’s foreign policy and international economic strategy. Important commercial consequences for the region and global companies will go hand-in-hand with unpredictable...

The Dollar Joins the Currency Wars

Nouriel Roubini May 6, 2015
Countries want to export more than they import and promote growth and employment. More than 20 central banks around the globe have eased monetary policy, reducing the value of their currencies to make exports more attractive, explains economist Nouriel Roubini for Project Syndicate. He notes that trade and lending imbalances are growing. “The dollar has also risen relative to currencies of...

Economic Policy Turned Inside Out

Stephen S. Roach May 4, 2015
Unsustainable economic imbalances combined with financial engineering to reduce interest rates and currency values, could threaten the global economy, suggests economist Stephen S. Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute of Global Affairs. The essay focuses on Japan’s struggle since 1985 to revive its economy by relying on monetary policy. In 2002, the US Federal Reserve...

High Debt and Low Oil Prices Threaten Canada’s Globalized Economy

Vikram Mansharamani April 20, 2015
The world’s 11th largest economy does not rank among the world’s 30 most populous countries. Despite handily managing the global debt crisis after 2007, Canada’s economy is vulnerable. Volatility brought by globalization and interdependency may bear part of the blame, explains Vikram Mansharamani, a Yale lecturer and senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the...

The Global Economy’s Bizarre Problem: Too Much Money

Matt Phillips April 16, 2015
After global recession struck in 2008, the US injected money into the economy to reduce interest rates and encourage lending. The US effort was described as successful and Japan and Europe soon followed. Overall, the global economy is still sluggish, economic uncertainty lingers. Companies, normally competitive, hesitate to expand or invest in research. Individual and corporate investors compete...