In The News

Fuss About China Is Overdone

Guy de Jonquières February 20, 2006
The world has become “mesmerized” by China – hungry for its market and fearful of its increasing strength. In this article, Guy de Jonquières speculates about the possibility of an economic downturn for China and what that might mean for the world at large. Such an event, while unlikely, could emerge with “internally generated upsets” such as a property market crash or social unrest. His argument...

Boom Town

Adam Nicolson February 13, 2006
The future of the modern world is being raised, literally, from the sandy depths of the waters surrounding the city of Dubai. A developer’s paradise, this fastest-growing city in the world is open to all with a checkbook and an imagination. Dubai, centered between the rising powers of the East and the traditional powers of the West, is man-made, from its sky-high towers and luxury ski resorts in...

Europe’s Improving Economy Still Faces Some Hurdles Amid Global Competition

Marcus Walker January 24, 2006
With exports to the US, Asia, and oil-producing countries boosting corporate profits, Europe’s economy has attracted increasing optimism ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Wall Street Journal reporter Marcus Walker, however, warns us not to “count on Europe to float the global economy yet.” Cheap global competition—particularly from China and Eastern Europe—has inhibited...

Export-Led Growth: The Elephant in the Room

Thomas Palley January 17, 2006
Economic experts are professing themselves confounded by continued US prosperity despite trade deficits and rising interest rates. Thomas Palley explains that export-led growth, or the exchange of goods produced in Emerging Market (EM) countries for US dollars, has contributed much to the buoyant economy. Since EM countries have thus far chosen to use the dollars received for their goods to buy...

Malaysia Delivers a Short, Important Face-Slap

Connie Levett December 15, 2005
Malaysia has refused to regard Australia as a part of East Asia, and stated that Australia should not expect to become part of any future East Asian community. The leader of Malaysia, Abdullah Badawi, who served as chairman of the recent inaugural East Asia summit, offered geography as a primary reason for rejecting Australian participation. Australia has been jockeying to join the East Asian...

Globalization vs. Economic Sovereignty

Pang Zhongying December 2, 2005
China is often presented as a poster boy for successful globalization. But at least some intellectuals in China are not happy with the course globalization has taken. Chinese academic Pang Zhongying, writing in China Daily, points out that many countries, especially in the developing world, suffer an “erosion of permanent and exclusive privileges over [their] economic activities, wealth and...

Greenspan Says Globalization Driving U.S. Current Account Gap

Craig Torres November 14, 2005
The US current account deficit has skyrocketed in recent years, reaching an unprecedented 6.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan attempted to explain the widening of that gap yesterday, arguing that the gap reflects “a pronounced new phase of globalization.” Globalization, says Greenspan, has weakened “home bias”—the tendency to invest in one’s...