In The News

Project Syndicate: Explaining Global Recovery Amid Political Recession

Michael Spence August 4, 2017
A disconnect between political dysfunction and strong economies is disconcerting. Michael Spence, Nobel laureate in economics, suggests the global economy may not be reaching its full potential. “Leaders in Europe, as well as in a number of emerging economies, have now concluded that both the UK and the US are unpredictable and unreliable allies and trading partners,” explains Spence. “Asia, with...

The Economist: Unintended Effects of Rules Aimed at Stopping Financial Crimes

August 3, 2017
As the old saying goes, everyone pays the cost of crime. Costs include direct losses and indirect regulations. The Economist explains that banks are “lending less and shedding customers” due to “strict new rules on capital and liquidity” and avoiding high-risk customers and sectors. Poorest nations are most affected. “Banks in Africa, eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean have been...

Bloomberg: Huawei Agrees to Deal to Help African Expats Send Money Home

Loni Prinsloo July 25, 2017
The Chinese company Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment, has partnered “with British money-transfer operator WorldRemit Ltd” in order to “tap into growing demand for money transfers from Africans living abroad using mobile-payments services,” reports Loni Prinsloo for Bloomberg. At approximately $36 billion, remittances are a key component of the sub-Saharan African economy,...

Caixin: China Maintains Grip on Overseas Deals

Peng Qinqin and Leng Cheng July 21, 2017
China’s outbound foreign investments are shrinking as the government tries to rein in debt and encourage “rational” investments, report Peng Qinqin and Leng Cheng for Caixin. For the first six months of this year, they note that China’s nonfinancial outbound investment plunged by nearly half from the previous year to $48.19 billion, adding that scrutiny is applied to “deals in real estate, hotels...

Politico: Trump Administration to Allow for 15,000 More Foreign Workers

Louis Nelson July 21, 2017
The US departments of Homeland Security and Labor have announced that they will issue up to 15,000 additional H-2B visas for temporary, non-agricultural workers this year. Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly explained the decision to increase the Congressionally-approved cap of 66,000 H-2B visas per year as a supply-and-demand problem: “there are not enough qualified and willing US workers...

Project Syndicate: Why Do Cities Become Unaffordable?

Robert J. Shiller July 18, 2017
Cities, as vibrant economic hub, can become unaffordable. Inequality rises, eventually driving some residents away. “If too many lifelong inhabitants are driven out by rising housing prices, the city itself suffers from a loss of identity and even culture,” explains Robert Shiller, professor of economics at Yale University. “As such people depart, an expensive city gradually becomes an enclave of...

Forbes: Without "Neutral" Internet, US Workers Could Lose

Janet Burns July 12, 2017
If the US Federal Communications Commission drops protections on net neutrality, the country's innovation and global competitiveness will decline. Companies and internet users are speaking out to block a proposal by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to roll back the protections: “these so-called "net neutrality rules" establish that internet service providers (ISPs) must comply with Title II...