In The News

Anna Fifield August 27, 2004
A Financial Times weekly roundup of economic news demonstrates a projected slowdown in the world economy. In China, dependence on agricultural imports has raised concerns about food security, and the IMF is projecting a significant reduction in the country's economic growth rate. Despite a continued increase in Japanese exports, meanwhile, domestic investment and consumer spending in...
Joseph Chamie August 19, 2004
The world’s population - currently at 6.4 billion - has quadrupled over the past century. In the first of a two-part series, UN demographer Joseph Chamie says that the global population boom has been accompanied by revolutionary changes in life expectancy, fertility, population aging, and large-scale migration – issues that will fundamentally shape the politics of the next century. Even with...
Audrey Tan August 18, 2004
In a synergistic effort to spur economic development, Singapore and Vietnam have made progress on a new initiative to encourage foreign investment in their respective economies. Winning joint contracts from Japanese investors, the two countries hope that by cooperating they can take advantage of Vietnam's strength in manufacturing and Singapore's connectivity to the global economy....
Marasri Boonroj August 4, 2004
Thai and Burmese travel officials are working together to promote Burma as a travel destination, despite its being considered a pariah state due to Rangoon’s military government and human rights abuses. Before the Burmese tourist industry can thrive, however, tourism experts say the country will have to develop its infrastructure, eliminate its two-tier exchange rate, and develop a two-part...
August 3, 2004
Foreign capital continues to flow into China, but its distribution remains unequal, with the majority of investment going to China’s eastern areas while a mere trickle makes its way to central and western areas. Consequently, the economy of eastern China is characterized by a higher number of foreign-funded enterprises and higher numbers of workers employed by foreign-funded enterprises. The...
Robert Manor July 26, 2004
Oil is an input used in all aspects of the economy, from transporting goods to illuminating factories. So when oil prices increase, great economic repercussions can follow. According to James Hamilton, a professor of economics at the University of California at San Diego, oil shortages trailing the Suez crisis of 1956, the oil embargo of 1973, the Iranian revolution in 1979, the Iraq-Iran war...
Stephen S. Roach July 22, 2004
Since the trough of the last recession in November 2001, private sector payrolls in the US have risen a mere 0.2 percent, well below the nearly 7.5 percent average increase in the 31-month period after each of the last six American economic recoveries. In this opinion article for the New York Times, Stephen S. Roach, chief economist for Morgan Stanley, writes that the reason for this anemic...