In The News

Chauncey Jung May 16, 2020
Covid-19 pandemic costs are immense, as the world heads into recession and unemployment increases. The United States, which may spend as much as $5 trillion to tackle the many challenges, and other nations question China's lack of transparency in late 2019. In turn, China threatens to boycott Australian goods as that government calls for an investigation. The issue has entered political...
Siddharthya Roy May 5, 2020
Questions emerge over India’s Covid-19 response with displaced migrant workers, food shortages and low testing rates. Analysts also continue to criticize the Indian government’s abrupt lockdown imposed with four hours’ notice. “Mandating social distancing in a country where cities have high population densities, and also announcing a complete shutdown of transportation necessary for people to...
April 30, 2020
Borders drawn by British colonialists for Myanmar and India divided indigenous peoples with long histories in the region. Though checkpoints and mountains divide the two nations, Naga tribes still talk about uniting the 3 million people living in India with the 400,000 in north Myanmar, one of that country’s poorest regions. The tribes, more fragmented over the years, also differ over rebel...
George Magnus April 24, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic is roiling governments around the globe, even China, despite a propaganda push that maintains China contained the virus with success. After centralizing control, China’s President Xi Jinping can expect to bear responsibility for pandemic-related challenges, including high debt levels, unemployment, an aging population and families hesitant to have more than one child,...
Nora Schlenzig April 21, 2020
The Belt and Road Initiative represents a wide variety of Chinese overseas initiatives, explains Nora Schlenzig of the Lowy Institute. “The initiative itself has gone through several rounds of rebranding since its official launch by Xi Jinping in 2013,” she explains, including One Belt, One Road Initiative and New Silk Road. “Supporters see it as a long-overdue plan for global infrastructure...
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...
Ben Hall, Martin Arnold and Sam Fleming March 30, 2020
The European Central Bank plans to expand asset purchases by €750 billion over the next nine months, aimed at preventing a profound depression. Such a plan boosted the bond market in Europe, leading to decreased finance costs of EU member governments. Even though the ECB’s monetary interventions can partly alleviate the downward pressure on the economy, deeply divided national leaders focus on...