In The News

Beijing Is Key to Creating More U.S. Jobs

C. Fred Bergsten April 22, 2010
By artificially setting the price of its currency, China is robbing the United States of jobs and building up an unprecedented trade surplus. Former Treasury official Bergsten says that currency manipulation is a form of protectionism and the US and global institutions need to respond because it is a problem that affects economies around the world. He calls for a three-pronged strategy: the US...

A Greek Tragedy Haunts the World – Part II

Bruce Stokes March 3, 2010
The financial crisis in Greece is not only reverberating around Europe but is creating a difficult set of circumstances for the US, necessitating closer American involvement, according to journalist Bruce Stokes. The US has long supported European unity but the crisis is distracting Europeans from pressing concerns in Afghanistan and elsewhere, opening a new avenue for Russian meddling, and...

A Greek Tragedy Haunts the World – Part I

Jonathan Fenby March 1, 2010
The unfolding tragedy in Greece again demonstrates the interdependence of our integrated world – affecting countries near and far. In part I of this two part series, author Jonathan Fenby shows how Greece’s sorry state of affairs has thrown the European project into question. Indeed, Greece’s faltering has exposed some of the fundamental flaws in the EU’s conception. It could never be a true...

The Currency Albatross

Nayan Chanda March 1, 2010
Long-term political stability in China and the political future of the Obama administration both rest on resolving the economic crisis. But these goals may be at odds with one another as seen in the ongoing debate over China's currency, which is estimated to be under-valued by 25-40 percent. The legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party is in part predicated on economic prosperity, something...

Steelworkers Say Reactors Overseas Will Cost Jobs

Matthew L. Wald and Keith Bradsher February 23, 2010
President Obama is pushing nuclear power as a new source of energy and as a way to create jobs for Americans, offering loan guarantees to make it happen. Now, however, labor unions are protesting the move because they say that much of the material for new reactors will come from overseas, reducing the potential for US job growth. The trouble is that since the Three Mile Island reactor accident in...

Connecting Across Oceans

Nayan Chanda February 18, 2010
The global economic crisis inspired cries of globalization’s demise, but economic data from the past two years paints a more complex picture. Developed countries generally suffered through negative GDP growth, while developing countries largely stayed in positive territory. Trade collapsed, with shipping indices sinking to surprising lows, but has since recovered. And total international travel,...

Globalization in Trouble – Part II

David Dapice February 15, 2010
Globalization appears to have weathered the storm of the financial crisis, but it may be poised for a tumble. According to economist David Dapice, many developing nations, whose economies often depend heavily on exports, cannot sustain themselves without the willing consumption of their goods by the developed world. But with a pullback in aggregated demand among developed nations, the prognosis...