In The News

Debt and Unemployment: Is Global Capitalism Responsible? – Part I

Jeffrey E. Garten April 23, 2010
Global capital markets have been footloose and fancy free since the 1980s, boosted by rapid globalization in transportation, communication and technology industries. Prowling for profits, investors leap boundaries in an instant, manipulating growth, jobs and industries. In this series, two economists explore global capitalism’s growing reach that defies even the world’s greatest economic power....

Despotism Doesn’t Equal Stability

Owen Matthews April 15, 2010
The recent ousting of Kyrgyz President Bakiyev exposed the instability of today’s ex-Soviet oil-rich Central Asian nations. Western countries, as well as the nearby giants of Russia and China, have a history of sustaining the repressive rule of communist-era chiefs in order to shore up their own interests in the region. This approach may end up working against them as the corrupt regimes they...

Kyrgyzstan Turmoil Puts US Base and Afghan War in Balance

Dilip Hiro April 12, 2010
Landlocked, lacking resources that typically attract notice of distant powers, the Kyrgyz Republic holds a strategic position. Not far from war-torn Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda hatched plans for the 9/11 attacks, Kyrgyzstan remains a nation of interest. Russia gave the go-ahead to former Soviet republics to assist in the US-led effort against Islamic extremism, explains author Dilip Hiro, but...

Challenges for China at Sixty – Part I

Pranab Bardhan September 25, 2009
China is in many ways a land of contradictions, confounding outside observers. And such contradictions are nowhere more obvious than in China’s economy: a market-driven allocation of resources overseen by the Communist Party. But as Berkeley Economics Professor Pranab Bardhan notes, the contradictions lie at an even deeper level. Simply establishing private ownership of some of China’s largest...

Testing Times: Collapse of European Industry Worse than Expected

February 13, 2009
An onslaught of bad news continues to hit Europe, with protests about economic troubles on the rise. Some European leaders, like French President Nicolas Sarkozy, resort to nationalist and protectionist approaches. Meanwhile, the European Union’s current president, Czech Republic Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, stresses the need for “adherence to the rules,”including continued trade among the EU...

A Global Credit Squeeze Is Felt Unevenly

Floyd Norris February 11, 2009
A “downside” to globalization struck when the US credit crisis had a global effect that neither Europe nor Asia could diminish or avoid. Many countries cannot borrow money to stimulate their economies as the US does and lack the savings of China, and some government leaders fear that the big economies will focus on domestic investments at the expense of poorer nations. Greater government...

Germany Joins EU in Tying Car Fees to Emissions

February 4, 2009
In Germany, described as the EU’s “most car-obsessed nation” in this Spiegel Online article, the government will reduce taxes on small cars and charge a penalty of €2 for every gram of carbon emitted per kilometer over a 120-gram limit. The tax plan may encourage consumers to choose small, fuel-efficient vehicles. “With carmakers Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche leading the way, a large percentage...