In The News

China's Steel Industry Is Dominating the Global Market

Peter Pham May 2, 2016
China is the world’s biggest steelmaker, explains Peter Pham for Forbes. The country manufactures nearly half the world’s steel, essential for modern economies and infrastructure. Other Asian nations make 19 percent of the world’s steel; the EU, 10 percent; and NAFTA, 7 percent. As Chinese leaders try to transform the economy toward more services and reduce manufacturing, investment in Chinese...

Managing Debt in an Overleveraged World

Michael Spence April 29, 2016
Debt still threatens the global economy. Debt as an investment in the future, delivering high yields or serving a long-term purpose is not necessarily a problem, notes economist Michael Spence for Project Syndicate. He reviews the risks: high levels of household and individual debt are more problematic than corporate or government debt; slowing growth without inflation could increase defaults;...

OECD Issues Damning Report on Effect of Brexit

Chris Giles April 27, 2016
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development argues that Brexit – the UK leaving the European Union – would be an economic shock with costs. “In the longer term, [the OECD] calculates that more restrictive trading arrangements with the EU alongside less competition, lower foreign direct investment and fewer skilled immigrants, would hit gross domestic product by a central estimate of...

The $2 Trillion Project to Get Saudi Arabia’s Economy Off Oil

Peter Waldman April 26, 2016
Saudi Arabia possesses about 20 percent of the world’s proven petroleum reserves is among the world’s largest exporters, reports OPEC. The oil and gas sector accounts for about half the country’s gross domestic product and almost 90 percent of the state budget, but a slump in oil prices has spurred the kingdom to reduce dependence on oil and act on diversifying the economy. Deputy Crown Prince...

Out of Africa

Thomas L. Friedman April 14, 2016
Thousands of migrants travel the deserts of North Africa, fleeing poverty and conflict, determined to reach Libya and eventually Europe. Many Africans with large families can no longer find work as drought and high temperatures devastate the agriculture industry, explains Thomas Friedman for the New York Times. Smugglers collect migrants from Senegal, Nigeria Chad and other countries, cramming...

Globalization Is Changing, Not Going Into Reverse

Minouche Shafik April 14, 2016
Globalization can't be expected to move at an even pace. Some aspects of globalization like trade growth and capital flows are slowing, explains Minouche Shafik for Financial Times, but others like communications are growing. She is a deputy governor of the Bank of England. Shafik adds that regional agreements are emerging in trade and financial areas because of mistrust of global approaches...

Corporations’ Flight to Low-Tax Countries Angers US

Farok J. Contractor April 12, 2016
US presidential candidates are responding to voters' ire over a complex tax code that shields the wealthiest from tax payments. Reports of corporate inversions – US firms relocating headquarters to take advantage of lower tax rates in countries like Ireland – highlight the negative consequences of globalization for voters already angry about entrenched income inequality, outsourcing and job...