In The News

US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue

July 14, 2014
Tensions run high between the world’s two largest economies over trade and currency, cyberhacking, and maritime disputes in the East and South China seas. Top officials of the United States and China meet annually to review economic, financial and security concerns, and the most recent US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue was held July 9 and 10. “The S&ED is now the main event in the U.S...

Positively Un-American Tax Dodges

Allan Sloan July 11, 2014
Multinational firms are moving headquarters to avoid US tax rates. The US corporate tax rate is 35 percent compared to Ireland’s 12.5 percent. About 60 firms have abandoned the United States because it taxes all profits worldwide, notes Alan Sloan for Fortune magazine, and he contends the transfers undermine the US tax base, standards and respect for corporate brands: “Inverters don’t hesitate to...

Modi’s Brics Summit Challenge

Nayan Chanda July 7, 2014
Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the so-called BRICS, meet July 14-16. The theme for discussions: “Inclusive growth: sustainable solutions.” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is new to the summit; his “diplomatic skills in preserving India’s interests will …be tested as Xi attempts to turn Brics into a platform from which to advance China’s global agenda,” explains...

A Greener Energy Matrix for the Caribbean and Central America

Harold Trinkunas July 4, 2014
The high cost of electricity and imported manufactured goods from the US rings the alarm for a future energy crisis in the Caribbean Islands and Central America. Electricity costs in some islands are about three times higher than those in the US. An alternative proposal based on green energy and other natural resources, such as natural gas, could help reduce carbon emissions, improve living...

From the Unipolar Moment to a Multiplex World

Amitav Acharya July 3, 2014
The speed of communications, travel and globalization in general has transformed international relations. World order is no longer unipolar or multipolar; it is more like a multiplex theater than a chessboard, argues Amitav Acharya, in an article based on his new book, “The End of American World Order.” The professor of international relations at American University in Washington writes: “A...

South Africa’s World Cup Advice to Brazil

Andrew Harding July 2, 2014
Ahead of the 2010 World Cup, FIFA made enticing promises to the locals in South Africa. Four years later, many locals found the $2 billion dollars in infrastructure investment did not benefit South Africans. Construction was accelerated on the Gautrain train¬ – a high speed railway connecting Johannesburg and Pretoria – but its prices are out of reach for most South Africans. “Following the...

The New Casinos – Emerging Markets

Anthony Rowley July 1, 2014
Financial analysts tout the potential of emerging economies for growth and wealth creation. While progress cannot be denied, the physical, institutional and financial infrastructures of many nations remain relatively weak, explains author and editor Anthony Rowley. He describes how Wall Street relabeled about 70 developing nations, once known “third world” or “basket cases,” as “emerging markets...