In The News

Europe Flood Losses to "Increase Fourfold" by 2050

Matt McGrath March 5, 2014
Forecasting models predict flood damage losses could increase fourfold for Europe by 2050. Governments are not engaging in adequate planning. “The scientists believe that the continent's annual flood costs may be 23.5bn euros by the middle of the century,” reports Matt McGrath for BBC News. “Two-thirds of the projected increase in flood damage will be caused by human development, not climate...

Russian Markets Plunge as Putin Tightens Crimea Grip

Lidia Kelly and Alissa de Carbonnel March 4, 2014
Ukraine, deep in debt and geographically located between Poland and Russia, is divided over pursuing closer ties with Europe or Russia. After months of non-violent protests, the Ukrainian president accused of corruption and mismanagement unleashed a harsh response and then left for Russia. The parliament quickly installed a new government, and Russian forces moved into the Crimea, an area with...

As Africans Surge to Europe’s Door, Spain Locks Down

Suzanne Daley March 3, 2014
Europe’s barricades and dangerous seas, beatings and insults, military police and rubber bullets, are not slowing the stream of immigrants attempting to flee poverty in Africa or war in Syria. “Ten years ago Spain spent more than 30 million euros building up the barriers around Melilla and Ceuta, its two enclaves surrounded by Morocco on the northern coast of Africa,” reports Suzanne Daley for...

Venezuela Unrest Shakes Up Opposition

Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore February 28, 2014
Protesters and opposition candidates blast Venezuela for problems listed by the US Central Intelligence Agency: “a weakening of democratic institutions, political polarization, a politicized military, rampant violent crime, overdependence on the petroleum industry with its price fluctuations, and irresponsible mining operations that are endangering the rain forest and indigenous peoples.” Reuters...

America's Energy Edge

Robert D. Blackwill and Meghan L. O'Sullivan February 26, 2014
Discoveries of shale energy throughout the Americas and beyond will upend geopolitics. “The fracking revolution required more than just favorable geology; it also took financiers with a tolerance for risk, a property-rights regime that let landowners claim underground resources, a network of service providers and delivery infrastructure, and an industry structure characterized by thousands of...

Debt Ceiling Redux?

James Leitner and Ian Shapiro February 20, 2014
US Congress raised the artificial debt ceiling to pay bills without a fuss, but the move may galvanize extremists who want to slow government spending, explain James Leitner, president of Falcon Management, and Ian Shapiro, a Yale political science professor. Economists around the globe agree the United States should slow spending and reduce debt, but oppose the crude approach that would...

China Moves to End Its Codependency with US

Stephen S. Roach February 18, 2014
Global analysts fret about the resilience of emerging markets, including China’s. Yet economic managers in China know what needs to be done, already taking steps to rebalance, shifting from dependence on manufacturing and exports towards more services and consumer spending. The world is not prepared for the necessary slowdown in growth from China as its leaders focus on domestic spending,...