In The News

America’s Fiscal Policy Is Not in Crisis

Martin Wolf January 31, 2013
The angst of some US politicians would suggest the country is in terrible economic shape, close to bankruptcy and the inability to pay on its obligations. The view is false, contends Martin Wolf of the Financial Times. The US does have fiscal challenges, he maintains, largely due to its inefficient healthcare system and the inability to say no to special interests. The country is on the path for...

Portuguese Flee Economic Crisis

January 30, 2013
Struggling with debt, Portugal is losing its youngest, most educated citizens. More than 2 percent of the country’s population have emigrated during the past two years, reports the BBC News. The emigrants head to Switzerland or Angola rather than France, once a traditional destination. Other destination countries include Germany, Mozambique, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The Portuguese...

Laos Could Bear Cost of Chinese Railroad

Jane Perlez, Bree Feng January 8, 2013
China is financing a railway from Southern China to Laos, Thailand and Burma – “China considers it vital to its strategy of pulling Southeast Asia closely into its orbit and providing Beijing with another route to transport oil from the Middle East,” report Jane Perlez and Bree Feng for the New York Times. Laos is taking on tremendous debt for the project, and the bulk of trade benefits are...

Put Doomsday on the Schedule

David Dapice January 7, 2013
Americans, like most citizens all over the world, resent paying taxes, but are fond of government programs that allow health care, education or science to flourish. The US is overextended, living beyond its means, and Congress is divided over how to ease the climbing debt: Liberal Democrats want to tax the rich, while conservative Republicans aim to reduce spending that help citizens. Congress...

The French Connection

Nayan Chanda December 12, 2012
Steadfast national sovereignty and global trade don’t mix so well, warns Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online, in his column for Businessworld. Traders and investors appreciate flexibility. So when steel demand in Europe declined and ArcelorMittal announced plans to close two blast furnaces, the French government responded by threatening temporary nationalization and sale of the firm’s...

Eurozone Heaves Sigh of Relief – For How Long?

Jean-Pierre Lehmann July 3, 2012
The European Union’s heads of state avoided disaster for the time being, preventing impending collapse of Spanish banks and offering assistance to Italy, too. Europe has decided to move toward a more complete integration. The steps are cautious, but “the USE – United States of Europe – would seem to be the ultimate destination, in fact if not in name,” explains Jean-Pierre Lehmann. Yet nobody...

Could Europe Ruin the World Economy?

David Dapice June 19, 2012
Greek voters in parliamentary elections narrowly approved staying with the euro, but the debt crisis is far from over. Winning about 30 percent of the vote, the conservative leaders of New Democracy must build a coalition government and fend off a sizable opposition that resists austerity that was imposed as part of the bailout. Italy and Spain, heavily indebted, also test the eurozone’s...