In The News

The Dollar and the Market Mess

Bill Wilby January 29, 2008
Recent steps by the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, in an effort to stabilize global financial markets, directly contribute to a decline in the value of the dollar. That in turn leads to increases in inflation and oil prices. As a result, the dollar is in danger of losing its reserve currency status, writes equities analyst Bill Wilby for the Wall Street Journal. “The real economic...

Next Stop Asia

January 24, 2008
With Asia’s emerging economies posting spectacular growth, Asian investors had hoped that a US recession would cause little concern for their economies. But then global stock markets took a big tumble. World markets are connected, but that does not mean a recession in one part of the world will necessarily devastate another part. Some Asian markets are more vulnerable than others, reminds this...

Globalization and the Markets – Part II

Xu Sitao January 24, 2008
As anxiety spread about a possible recession hitting the US, stock-indexes went into sharp decline in Europe and Asia. Not surprisingly, worried investors scrutinize the Chinese stock market, as conventional wisdom suggests that China investments are the world’s next over-valued bubble. But analyst Steven Xu points out that the Chinese market could continue to grow, especially this year as China...

Globalization and the Markets – Part I

David Dapice January 22, 2008
Stock-market indexes have tumbled like dominos around the globe, exposing vulnerability of intricate economic connections. A crisis in one nation – and the panic – can quickly bounce from one country to the next. A major cause behind the stock-market plunges the world over are US financial instruments designed to spread and protect risk by including all manner of home mortgages, explains...

World Rides to Wall Street's Rescue

David Enrich January 17, 2008
Nations with hefty savings accounts, including Singapore and Saudi Arabia, are devoting billions to rescuing US banks in trouble, a result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. “After flooding the world with capital that fed both economic growth and excess, battered U.S. financial institutions now are turning to countries and companies that not so long ago were suffering through their own disasters...

The IMF’s Next Mission?

Harold James January 10, 2008
With imbalances threatening ongoing disruption to the global economy, Harold James, history and international relations professor at Princeton University, proposes a new task for the International Monetary Fund. In the past, the IMF has served as a crisis manager for global economic problems, and James proposes that the IMF assist nations with massive sovereign funds. China has $1 trillion in...

The Invisible Hand of Globalization

Susan Froetschel January 3, 2008
Despite exponentially-advancing understanding of economic forces over the 20th century, Adam Smith’s invisible hand continues to elude. In his recently published book none other than former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan essentially throws up his hands. Every time a financial crisis hits the world, like the current turmoil caused by sub-prime mortgage lending in the US, calls...