In The News

Japan Bank Fuels Global Lending: Wall Street Journal

Telis Demos and Sam Goldfarb February 19, 2019
Corporate debt is unnerving some investors. For companies with low ratings, Norinchukin Bank in Japan with about $600 billion in deposits from agricultural and fishing collectives can come to the rescue. The company with about $1 trillion in assets, holds about $700 billion in collateralized loan obligations, which in turn cover about half of US loans to junk-rated companies, report Telis Demos...

US Debt and Foreign Creditors: Wall Street Journal

Daniel Kruger and Kate Davidson February 12, 2019
Foreign investors are less keen to own US government bonds, but domestic investors pick up the slack for now. “Foreign ownership of U.S. government debt has been decreasing since it reached a peak of about 55% during the financial crisis in 2008, falling below 40% in November for the first time since 2003, according to the most recent Treasury data,” report Daniel Kruger and Kate Davidson for the...

Foreign Policy: China’s Slowing Economy

Keith Johnson February 4, 2019
China injected a record $83 billion stimulus package in January, highlighting the world’s second-largest economy’s desire to jumpstart growth in the new year after scoring a 28-year low in its rate of growth for 2018. Even though the Chinese government posted a 6.6 percent growth last year, experts question the accuracy of official data. So what is the true extent of China’s economic slowdown?...

RAND: Russia and China as Challenges

James Dobbins, Howard J. Shatz and Ali Wyne January 30, 2019
Russia is intent on subverting the international order while China wants to compete in shaping that order. “Both countries seek to alter the status quo, but only Russia has attacked neighboring states, annexed conquered territory, and supported insurgent forces seeking to detach yet more territory,” suggests a RAND report. “In contrast, China's growing influence is based largely on more-...

Project Syndicate: Global Trade Cycle Warnings

Stephen S. Roach January 29, 2019
Growth in global trade has slowed since the 2008 debt crisis, and the trade cycle confronts many uncertainties in 2019, including Brexit, a US-China trade war and military conflicts that could ignite at any time. The International Monetary Fund has already revised its forecasts for global economic growth, from 3.7 to 3.5 percent. Stephen Roach, an economist and senior fellow at at Yale’s Jackson...

TNI: Unused Citizen Power and Public Collateral

Ann Pettifor January 26, 2019
Citizen majorities who support action on climate change or a tax system that reduces inequality must find political courage to battle moneyed interests. Citizens in nations with sound taxation systems hold more power than they realize. Taxpayers can demand that public debt target the public interest – as former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accomplished during the Great Depression and some...

Washington Post: Sudan Unites Against al-Bashir

Muhammed Osman and Max Bearak January 23, 2019
Nationwide protests erupted in Sudan and popular opposition to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir continues. Muhammed Osman and Max Bearak report for the Washington Post: “throngs of demonstrators – most in their teens and 20s – have been met with tear gas and bullets. Thousands have been swept up in mass arrests, and at least 40 have been killed.” Protestors have mobilized against a regime they...