In The News

CNBC: Europe, Russia, China Join Forces to Dodge Iran Sanctions

Natasha Turak September 25, 2018
The United States withdrew from the international agreement to contain Iran’s weapons program and imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil, aviation, auto and other industries as well as others doing business with Iran. Other signatories to the agreement – France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China – have developed a “special purpose vehicle” to “assist and reassure economic operators pursuing legitimate...

Wall Street Journal: Emerging-Markets Rout Boosts Contagion Fears

Ira Iosebashvili, Ben Eisen and Amrith Ramkumar June 15, 2018
Stocks in emerging economies around the world like Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia have fallen dramatically in recent weeks – mostly driven by the strong US dollar and high US bond yields. Currencies and investments in emerging market bonds also remain low despite global economic growth. Countries like Argentina, Turkey, and Italy accumulated debt when interest rates were at record lows and are now...

Bloomberg: US Sanction Power Reaching Its Limit?

Ben Holland May 23, 2018
The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and plans unilateral sanctions. Ben Holland of Bloomberg News identifies a pattern: the Trump administration’s increasing reliance on sanctions and disdain for diplomacy. Other major economies, especially the European Union, China and India may be weary of US demands that increase their costs. “...

Guardian: Wealth of Our Collective Data

Chris Hughes April 28, 2018
Individuals constantly produce and share data. “We share all this data about ourselves because we like the services these companies provide, and business leaders tell us we must to make it possible for those services to be cheap or free,” explains Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, for the Guardian. Shareholders of tech and other firms benefited, and the profits add incentives for less data...

Project Syndicate: The Globalization Backlash Paradox

Arvind Subramanian April 26, 2018
Some forms of globalization tend to be appreciated more than others, and economist Arvind Subramanian delves into why cross-border financial exchanges are more widely accepted than trade or migration despite having “regularly wreaked havoc on rich and poor economies alike over the last 40 years.” He concludes: “When it comes to real global integration, it is easy to identify perpetrators and...

Bloomberg Businessweek: Climate Change Could Make Borrowing More Expensive

Emily Chasan January 23, 2018
The value of bond holdings for locales or companies struck by disaster can plunge: “bond rating agencies such as Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings are looking at whether they should be including more disaster forecasting in calculating the grades they give to government debt and to companies in industries ranging from insurance to construction,” writes Emily Chasen for...

Project Syndicate: America’s Supply-Side Scam

Stephen S. Roach November 28, 2017
A US tax proposal delivers big tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens. US companies already pay a low effective corporate tax rate. US corporations already rank high in competitiveness. Stephen S. Roach – author, senior lecturer at Yale University and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia – argues the country cannot afford tax cuts that will expand the country’s large deficit. A low savings rate...