In The News

Russian Gas Politics

Yoo Chul-jong January 14, 2009
Russia began supplying gas via pipeline to Western Europe during the Cold War, a result of the contract between n Leonid Brezhnev, chairman of the Soviet Communist party, and Willy Brandt, chancellor of West Germany. “Despite consistent pressure from the United States, Brandt, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971 for his ‘Ostpolitik’ policy of reconciliation with socialist countries in...

Chinese Exports and Imports Continue to Shrink

Keith Bradsher January 14, 2009
China’s exports and imports continue to decline, setting up a scenario for more job losses and possible social unrest, reports Keith Bradsher for the New York Times. The sharp decline follows reduced consumer spending in the US and the West, down even for the holiday month of December. The global credit crunch also contributes to the decline: “Chinese suppliers have become more wary of shipping...

Ukraine Says Russia Shuts Down All Gas Supplies to Europe

David Jolly January 7, 2009
Russia ranks first in the proven reserves of natural gas, and Europe relies on Russia for about 20 percent of its natural gas. But that supply is disrupted as the result of a dispute between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides pointing to the other as responsible for shutting down the pipelines that supply gas to Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Italy...

US and China Must Tame Imbalances Together

Michael Pettis January 6, 2009
With surging liquidity and massive trade imbalances, no one should have been surprised by the global economic crisis, because as finance professor of Peking University Michael Pettis explains, this has been the historical pattern. Pettis details the history of the crisis, starting in 1980s, when US policy encouraged securitization of mortgages, converting illiquid assets into highly liquid...

Emerging Economies to Reap From Global Crisis

Dani Rodrik December 19, 2008
Because of the global economic crisis, emerging economies will gain more power in global institutions, as the crisis has diminished both financial and political influence for the US and Europe. Emerging economies like South Korea, Brazil, India and China command a greater share of the global economy, and the developing nations must prepare for their new role, advises Dani Rodrik, political...

Divergence Grows Between China and the West – Part I

Xu Sitao December 18, 2008
The international community hopes that China steps up as a global leader on a wide array of crises. But the West is then taken aback when China goes about pursuing policy with seeming unconcern about the world. This YaleGlobal series analyzes the growing divergence between China and the West over two issues – the global economic crisis and festering discontent in Tibet. Due to trade imbalances,...

Global Car Industry Fearful for Detroit

Nelson D. Schwartz December 16, 2008
Overseas operations have long helped carry the US car companies through hard times. But the current economic crisis is especially severe, as US car companies confront mounting health-care costs and reduced credit, an abrupt reduction in demand for oversized vehicles, volatile fuel prices which influence consumer choices, and a home base of customers who have sharply curtailed their expenditures....