In The News

The G-20 and the Future of Capitalism – Part I

Jeffrey E. Garten March 30, 2009
The world’s eye will be on the summit of the Group of 20 meeting in London on April 2. As the member nations – from Argentina to the United States – represent 80 percent of world trade, their decision will have an immediate and direct bearing on the global economic recession roiling the world. Doubts and anger emerge in nations that have long embraced capitalistic principles and free and open...

Book Rallying for Social Change Fails to Inspire the Masses

Fu Qi March 26, 2009
A book published in China criticizes the country's foreign policies, suggesting the country could do more to shake off western influences, report Fu Qi and Li Huizi for Xinhua News Agency. The five authors of “Unhappy China” argue that "the current financial crisis reflects an overall corruption of the American society” and that stern, even punitive, foreign policies could provide...

China Rises Again – Part I

Wang Gungwu March 25, 2009
In China’s long history, its leaders have managed other rises in power and preeminence, but the current rise confronts them with a different set of challenges on a global scale. This two-part series reflects on how China handles its rise and responds to other global powers. In the first article of the series, leading historian of China’s foreign relations, Wang Gungwu, details the considerations...

China Takes Aim at Dollar

Andrew Batson March 25, 2009
China has proposed that a new currency gradually replace the US dollar as the world standard, reports the Wall Street Journal. The proposal from Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of People’s Bank of China, could reflect a desire to straighten out global finances and frustration over dependence on the US – as well as a warning about Chinese impatience over funding immense US debt. China has $2 trillion in...

No One Model for New Global Economy

Yoichi Funabashi March 23, 2009
As the global crisis deepens and countries seek different ways out, devising new global economic institutions would do little to restore confidence. Instead, the institutions in place – the International Monetary Fund, the Bretton Woods system on exchange rates and the World Bank – should take immediate steps to incorporate a rising Asia into their systems of global governance. Otherwise the...

World Economy: What Went Wrong

March 23, 2009
The IMF concludes that a lack of regulation – not global imbalances – led to crisis, and “the distinction has important consequences for whether macroeconomic policy or more regulation of financial markets will provide the solutions to the mess,” reports the Economist. Economists examine the root causes, comparing problems to previous crises to develop solutions and prevent repeats. “The IMF...

Meltdown Is Causing a Crisis of Confidence in Globalization

Ian Verrender March 20, 2009
Doubts about global connections have emerged in every country, even those that have benefited most from globalization. Recessions, job loss and vanishing savings are not new, but this global crisis struck swiftly, sparing no nation. Many governments look inward, observes Ian Verrender, in the Sydney Morning Herald, and seek to contain their own benefits and restricting any pain from others. “It...