In The News

Joe Deaux November 4, 2015
Companies and consumers alike seek supplies with lowest prices. That trend is prompting Alcoa to cut back on making and refining aluminum. “For more than a decade, output has been moving to where it’s cheaper to produce: Russia, the Middle East and China,” reports Joe Dean for Bloomberg News, adding that low labor, energy and currency costs give overseas plants an advantage. China accounts for...
October 29, 2015
Human rights advocates have long blasted China for its strict one-child policy. Confronting an aging population and slowing growth, China’s Communist Party is scrapping a policy crafted to ease poverty and allowing two children per family. “China is trying and complete its transition from a[n] investment-and-export-dependent developing nation to a ‘moderately prosperous society’ with an economy...
Joergen Oerstroem Moeller October 20, 2015
Global growth no longer keeps the pace of just a decade ago. Researcher Joergen Oerstroem Moeller points to behaviors that contribute to reduced consumption: Life expectancy has risen, but ages for collecting pensions have remained steady at around age 60, thus stretching out the retirement stage of life. Fearing poverty, combined with increased uncertainty over government regulations and social...
Tim Fernholz October 13, 2015
Economies are built on people’s choices, and the Nobel for economic sciences, the Sverges Riksbank Prize, has been awarded to Angus Deaton for his research in that area. “In a world where we increasingly measure welfare based on what we can consume, Deaton has given policymakers important tools to boost prosperity, particularly in poor countries, while arguing – sometimes controversially – that...
Paul Brown October 12, 2015
Volatile weather patterns, with severe droughts, floods and wildfires increase concern about climate change. The uncertainty contributes to a volatile stock market, and the chairman of the G20 Financial Stability Board warns that a panicked sell-off of stocks for companies reliant on fossil fuels could lead to a financial crash. Mark Carney, also governor of the Bank of England, points out that...
Nayan Chanda October 7, 2015
Foreign investors are not rushing to invest in India. Monthly foreign direct investment equity inflows to India have fallen by half in recent months, from $4.4 billion to $2 billion. Modi has promised economic structural reforms but a culture war over religious differences could also contribute to investor reluctance: “arbitrary rule changes and whimsical bans now dominate the news and send the...
Rupa Subramanya October 5, 2015
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to use his recent trip to the United States as a platform for encouraging Indian diaspora communities to foster closer economic ties with their home country. With more than 28.5 million Indians living overseas, 4.5 million in the United States alone, the Indian government is trying to make it easier for migrants to send remittances home by treating such...