In The News

The Shadow Superpower

Robert Neuwirth November 10, 2011
The world has a significant informal economy, employing half the world’s workforce and estimated to be worth $10 trillion, excluding blatantly illegal activities. The so-called System D, slang from French-speaking Africa and the Caribbean, can no longer go ignored by policymakers, argues Robert Neuwirth for Foreign Policy. The actions of street vendors, barterers, garage sale operators, impromptu...

Denying Imbalances, G20 Risks Chaos – Part III

Jonathan Fenby November 9, 2011
Mounds of unsustainable debt in wealthy nations threaten the global economy, and many of these nations must keep borrowing in demanding global markets for daily operations. The G20 summit in France, a meeting of the world’s most powerful economies, failed to develop a strategy to ease spending, protect bondholders and lift confidence among consumers and investors. The G20’s failure will have...

Technology Boosts Bangladesh Migrant Job Search

Anbarasan Ethirajan November 9, 2011
The Bangladeshi government has turned to technology to assist its citizens in looking for jobs overseas. Any worker can now post his or her resume, national identification and passport details on a government website portal, which can then be viewed by foreign employers. This process reduces transaction costs related to attaining jobs overseas, particularly payoffs to corrupt middlemen, and rural...

“Playing Baseball Without a Bat”

Thomas. L. Friedman November 9, 2011
In an interview with YaleGlobal editor Nayan Chanda, Thomas. L. Friedman talks about his book "That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back," co-written with Michael Mandelbaum. He explains the reasons for the slow decline of the United States, especially its failure to adapt to the hyper-connected world it helped to create, four...

The Popular Mandate

Nayan Chanda November 8, 2011
A suggestion by the Greek prime minister for a referendum on a proposed European bailout – negotiated by European leaders to continue lending to Greece while erasing half the nation’s debt –was bashed by financial markets and Western leaders. Analysts anticipated an angry Greek electorate to reject the deal, and the prime minister backed down. "Athens offers a valuable lesson in...

Denying Imbalances, G20 Risks Chaos – Part II

David Dapice November 7, 2011
Once again, the leaders of the world’s most powerful economies have procrastinated in coming together on a viable global strategy to end unsustainable imbalances. Overshadowing the G20 summit was the threat of a disorderly Greek default; the Greek government’s scrambled response; and rising bond prices and trouble for Italy’s debt. Eurozone leaders agreed to set up a rescue fund of at least $1...

Denying Imbalances, G20 Risks Chaos – Part I

Shen Dingli November 4, 2011
After the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98, a group of developed and emerging economies came together as the G20 to stabilize global financial markets. With widening imbalances caused by huge trade surpluses on the part of some nations while others drown in debt, the global economy is perilously close to chaos. Now the eurozone – specifically and immediately, Greece and Italy – is in danger of...