In The News

Banyan: Having it Both Ways

November 11, 2009
China claims it plans to stay in Afghanistan much longer than the United States. While it has no military presence there, it does have a major investment: a copper mine that should bring billions of dollars in profit. But this investment is in some ways possible only because of the security provided by US military forces. China thus benefits from the US military presence to help it expand its...

Down But Not Out

Krishna Guha October 21, 2009
With the US caught in a deep recession and mired in deepening debt, the status of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency is in question. Should these questions appear warranted, a crisis of confidence could create a “self-propelling spiral” weakening the dollar further. And if the dollar were to plummet, intervention by not only the US, but also other economies could be the response. But...

The Noodle Bowl

September 8, 2009
Large economies like China, Japan and India have signed free trade agreements (FTA) with the regional grouping ASEAN. But in the absence of a comprehensive, multi-lateral free trade agreement, Asian countries are settling for bi-lateral FTAs. But this trend is not necessarily in response to the stalled Doha round of trade talks. Bi-laterial FTAs have increased from six in 1991 to 166 by mid-year...

How Can We Preempt Investment Protectionism?

Ernesto Zedillo October 23, 2008
Nations laden with debt fret about investments by overseas cash-rich sovereign wealth funds. “The most common fears are that the SWFs, being government-owned, may be used not only for the purpose of receiving attractive returns on their investments but also for pursuing geopolitical objectives, gaining control of strategic natural resources or extracting sensitive technologies; that they could...

Gulf to the US: Thanks, But No Thanks

Dilip Hiro October 22, 2008
Some financial analysts anticipated the cash-rich sovereign wealth funds of the Middle East to swoop down on giants in the financial and industrial world struggling with a global credit crisis – a notion arousing both fear and hope throughout Europe and the US. But such rescue investments have not materialized, explains author and Middle East analyst Dilip Hiro. Hiro reports that operations of...

Global Crisis: How Far to Go? Part II

Manu Bhaskaran October 10, 2008
Speed of transportation and communication that characterize today’s global supply chain requires trust and flow of credit along the many steps: But now consumers worry about the future of their jobs, retailers and manufacturers worry about sales, suppliers worry about orders and lenders clutch to their reserves of cash. In the second article of the YaleGlobal series addressing the repercussions...

Can Asia Rescue the Global Economy?

Linda Lim September 29, 2008
During the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, US financial experts lectured Asians to accept good governance, transparency and free-market outcomes while avoiding drastic government intervention. Asian nations indeed tightened their belts, saving funds and seeking out safe havens for funds, including US Treasury bills. “This inflow of foreign lending conveniently enabled the Bush administration to...