In The News

Great Fall of China Sinks World Stocks, Dollar Tumbles

Marc Jones August 24, 2015
Global investors are panicking over a long anticipated economic slowdown in China. Hard hit in particular are commodities and companies that relied on market growth and suppliers in China. The result is an abrupt 9 percent drop in the China stock markets, a drop for the US dollar along with those of emerging economies, and volatility in global markets amid fears about a currency war and new...

Devalued Yuan Seeks Reserve Currency Status

Will Hickey August 13, 2015
China is pushing for the renminbi to join the ranks of reserve currencies as designated by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF may delay such designation and gave a nod to China’s abrupt devaluation of the yuan, letting the unit respond to market forces. Reserve status for the yuan would be symbolic, a gesture acknowledging China’s weight in the global economy, argues Will Hickey. The United...

China’s Latest Currency Actions Are Market Driven

Nicholas R. Lardy August 13, 2015
China’s move to devalue its currency is “a potentially major step toward a more market-determined exchange rate,” argues Nicholas Lardy for China Economic Watch. The move unleashed a sell-off of global stocks, but is more likely tied to China’s efforts to promote the renminbi as a world reserve currency to the International Monetary Fund and less motivated by currency manipulation intended to...

IMF Staff Urges No Rush to Add China Yuan to Currency Basket

David Chance and Krista Hughes August 12, 2015
China is pressing the International Monetary Fund to designate the yuan as a reserve currency, but IMF staff have urged a delay until September 2016. “The IMF board is scheduled to make a decision in November on whether to include the yuan in a basket of currencies comprising dollars, euros, pounds and yen, although the decision could be pushed back if policymakers decide they need more...

Cheaper Chinese Currency Has Global Impact

Jon Hilsenrath and Brian Blackstone August 12, 2015
Rising debt, a slowing economy and battered stock markets prompted China to devalue the yuan. “By devaluing the yuan, Chinese authorities are turning to a controversial growth-boosting tactic whose effects by their nature reverberate far and wide,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Chinese officials framed their action as a modest move toward a more market-sensitive currency, something U.S....

Capitalists, Arise: We Need to Deal With Income Inequality

Peter Georgescu August 10, 2015
Billionaires are nervous about growing inequality. The United States is wealthy, yet 40 percent are in debt, living from pay check to pay check. Businesses that rely on ordinary consumers purchasing clothes, home products and more will see stagnation. “If inequality is not addressed, the income gap will most likely be resolved in one of two ways: by major social unrest or through oppressive taxes...

Are Foreign NGOs Rebuilding Haiti or Cashing In?

Nathalie Baptiste August 3, 2015
Since the 2010 earthquake, billions of dollars in aid have poured into Haiti. But most of this money has gone towards salaries for expatriate NGO workers, not towards rebuilding Haiti. The trend has created a class of well-compensated expats who take jobs that might have gone to Haitians and drives up the island’s cost of living, suggests Nathalie Baptiste for Foreign Policy. Projects like...