In The News

The Morning After Fukushima

Nina Netzer May 24, 2011
Repercussions of nuclear accidents are not easily contained within borders, as demonstrated after an earthquake-tsunami damaged reactors at the Fukushima power plant. Explosions spewed radioactivity into the air, and Japan soon dumped more than 11,000 metric tons of radioactive-tainted water into the sea. A YaleGlobal series analyzes the pressing need for international energy planning, policy and...

Financial Regulation: Facing a Global Challenge

André Lévy-Lang May 13, 2011
Without global interventions, the outcome of the recent global crisis could have been far worse. Finance is an essential tool for unlocking capital, economic development and innovation, and writing for ParisTech Review, André Lévy-Lang outlines features and weaknesses of modern finance and its assessment of risk. Capital requirements since the late 1980s led to incentives for banks to engage in...

A Future Scenario for Asia

Philip Bowring May 12, 2011
Asia accounts for 27 percent of the global economy and nearly 60 percent of the world’s population. Analysts anticipate growth and influence, but labels of an Asian Century could be premature, warns an Asian Development Bank report, analyzed by Philip Bowring for the Asia Sentinel. Asia has capacity for economic supremacy, the report maintains, but not certainty. Countries tend to fall into a “...

Greece Considers Exit From Euro Zone

Christian Reiermann May 10, 2011
Countries immersed in debt squirm under the scrutiny of creditors and angry taxpayers. Spiegel Online reports that Greece, seeking relief, is considering abandoning the euro. The Greek government has denied the report. The story by Christian Reiermann reports that any such relief would be short-lived: Capital markets would sever ties. Banks would go insolvent. EU aid to Greece would stop....

Europe’s Angry Birds

Nayan Chanda May 9, 2011
European unity is being tested by global recession, fierce international competition and the politics of impatience. Voters in the strongest EU economies are increasingly less keen on bailing out fellow members, like Greece, for economic mismanagement. Right-wing parties with isolationist, anti-immigration and protectionist platforms are gaining traction in Finland, Sweden, Austria, the...

Is Growth Incomplete Without Social Progress?

Ejaz Ghani May 4, 2011
Poverty is concentrated in middle-income nations, explains Ejaz Ghani, World Bank economic advisor, writing for Project Syndicate. Poverty-reduction programs struggle to keep pace with population growth and rising wage inequality, though growth can ease the effects of income inequality. Income growth contributes to higher rates of education and literacy, yet poverty lingers in nations with...

Advanced Economies: Minutes to Midnight? Part II

Bruce Stokes May 2, 2011
To encourage growth, governments borrowed to finance infrastructure and current expenditures, and anticipated revenues to eventually cover the costs. Low interest rates led to surging debt, investment bubbles and unrealistic growth projections rather than a sustainable economy with jobs and tax revenues. This two-part series analyzes the impending crisis for advanced economies. Europe had hoped...