In The News

The $2 Trillion Project to Get Saudi Arabia’s Economy Off Oil

Peter Waldman April 26, 2016
Saudi Arabia possesses about 20 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves is among the world’s largest exporters, reports OPEC. The oil and gas sector accounts for about half the country’s gross domestic product and almost 90 percent of the state budget, but a slump in oil prices has spurred the kingdom to reduce dependence on oil and act on diversifying the economy. Deputy Crown Prince...

Panama Papers: Leaks Spur Global Investigations

April 4, 2016
Investing funds in offshore accounts is not necessarily illegal, but avoiding taxes is a violation of local and national laws. “Eleven million documents were leaked from the secretive Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca,” reports BBC News. “They show how the company has helped some clients launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax.” The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists...

Bank of Japan Stuns Global Markets by Announcing Negative Interest Rates

David Scutt January 29, 2016
The Bank of Japan narrowly approved a three-tiered system on rates including one in the negative territory, -0.1 percent for “excess reserves parked at the bank by financial institutions,” reports David Scutt for Business Insider Australia.The move essentially encourages lending and charges banks for storing cash. The central bank also announced further rate cuts may be issued as needed. “The BOJ...

How to Make Sense of Plummeting Global Markets

Neil Irwin January 21, 2016
The globe economy is in “reasonably solid state,” according to most leading forecasts as reported by the New York Times. Yet market “volatility and direction are consistent with the prospect of a new crisis or global recession, explains Neil Irwin. The evidence does not yet indicate whether such levels of market turbulence are rational or irrational, he explains, with the S&P 500 falling 9...

Worries Over China’s Slowdown Drive Global Markets

Farok J. Contractor January 21, 2016
Global markets are plummeting, in part a response to slowing growth in China and volatility in the nation’s stock markets. “World markets turn needlessly bearish – failing to understand that the Shanghai or Shenzhen markets are not necessarily good indicators of the fundamentals of the Chinese economy or cultural root causes driving Chinese investors,” writes Farok Contractor, a professor at...

The World Wary as US Federal Reserve Declares End to Debt Crisis

Chris Miller January 5, 2016
Central banks around the globe responded to the 2007-2008 global debt crisis by reducing interest rates and loosening monetary policy to encourage consumer spending, investment, employment and price stability. After seven years the US Federal Reserve lifted interest rates in December and signaled the possibility of gradual rate hikes, a move described by Chairwoman Janet Yellen as a process of “...

How the Fed's Rate Hikes May Impact Asia

December 20, 2015
The US Federal Reserve responded to the 2007 financial crisis by reducing interest rates to stimulate spending and investment. Analysts since warned that a rate lift “could pose a challenge to a number of emerging market economies – particularly across Asia, a top exporter to the US – by pushing up bond yields, augmenting capital outflows and depreciating currencies,” reports Deutsche Welle. The...