In The News

Sweden’s Approach on Covid-19: Euronews

Darren McCaffrey April 22, 2020
Sweden rejected economic lockdowns and border closures as overly cautious in managing the Covid-19 pandemic. The country did ban large gatherings, closed some schools, and told its older population to self-isolate, reports Darren McCaffrey for Euronews. Restaurants, primary schools and most businesses remain open. The disease has not overwhelmed hospitals, and Swedish people support the approach...

Worldwide Surging Food Prices: Bloomberg

Agnieszka de Sousa, Ruth Olurounbi and Pratik Parija April 10, 2020
The prices of wheat and rice have been surging in the spot and future markets. Countries that rely on imports must bear additional financial burden besides confronting COVID-19. The reasons for the price increases remain unclear, with analysis of the future markets’ influence, local supplies and panic buying underway. Anxiety over governments’ ability to control food prices and guarantee supply...

Disagreement on COVID-19 Policy: Global Policy

Benjamin Cashore and Steven Bernstein April 9, 2020
The world has more than 1.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 80,000 dead, and numerous countries tackle the public health crisis with mixed results. World leaders are in a hurry to reopen economies, and even public health experts have differed on how to contain the disease’s spread, with approaches ranging from the early prevention to delays and denials. Professors Benjamin...

US-China Relations Worsen Amid Pandemic: Economist

The Economist March 26, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic could have been an opportunity for the U.S. and China to cooperate and disregard previous enmity. On the contrary, both countries approach the worst period since the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 through mutual exchanges of blame and conspiracy theories. The first-stage deal to stop the trade war has been signed, but tensions continue in other areas. In January, China...

Governments Clamp Down: New York Times

March 9, 2020
The world has more than 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nations impose more restrictions to contain the spread, which also slows spending and hurts businesses. “Italy began one of the largest-ever attempts to restrict the movement of people in a Western democracy, with a lockdown of the country’s northern region affecting about 16 million people and fueling questions about whether...

Globalization Spreads Contagion of All Kinds: FT

Ian Goldin March 3, 2020
The swift spread of COVID-19 followed by market declines alarms citizens and policymakers. “As trade, finance, travel, cyber and other networks grow in scale and interact, they become more complex and unstable,” writes Oxford University professor Ian Goldin for Financial Times. “The super-spreaders of the goods of globalisation, such as major airport hubs, are also super-spreaders of the bads.”...

China Media as Government Entities: New York Times

Lara Jakes and Steven Lee Myers February 26, 2020
Rejecting concerns about press freedom, the Trump administration has designated five Chinese media entities as foreign government functionaries. The action comes at the heels of a trade war and scrutiny of Chinese involvement in education, research and telecommunication. Five news outlets will be required to report staff names, personal details, property holdings and US staff turnover under the...