In The News

College Grads May Be Stuck in Low-Skill Jobs

Ben Casselman March 27, 2013
The US economy could be in a long-term structural bind, failing to provide enough work for its educated young adults. Many economists had suggested that underemployment would be a temporary problem. But research by a team of Canadian economists suggests that a high-tech economy has reduced need for workers over the long term. Other economists suggest the findings are speculation, reports Ben...

Euro Crisis Poses Grave Dangers to EU Unity

Spiegel Staff March 26, 2013
During a banking crisis, political leaders try to maintain calm to prevent panic and a run on vulnerable banks that can’t possibly return deposits to customers all at once. But a bailout for EU member Cyprus could fracture the calm by even suggesting new precedents, especially early proposals to tap into all bank depositors’ savings accounts and ignore guaranteed protections on holdings up to €...

Pakistan’s Army of Overseas Workers Keeps Economy Afloat

Khurrum Anis March 26, 2013
Inequality among nations encourages workers in poor nations to hunt for jobs abroad – and send funds home to families. Writing for Bloomberg, Khurrum Anis describes a young man dropping out of school and selling the family’s two buffalo to purchase a visa to work in Dubai so his family can build a new home and brothers can marry. “Almost 10 million Pakistanis work overseas and the sum they’ve...

Africa Told to View China as Competitor

William Wallis March 21, 2013
Nations are competitors, regardless of size, location or wealth. Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria’s central bank governor, offered that reminder to fellow Africans about China and its potential to flood the continent with low-cost goods and overwhelm a struggling manufacturing industry. “Trade between China and Africa was worth more than $200bn in 2012, 20 times what it was in 2000 when Beijing committed...

World Markets Roiled as Cyprus Bailout Deal Stalls

Eric Reguly March 18, 2013
Cyprus, with a population just over 1 million, is posing big challenges to global financial markets. The government failed to pass a €10-billion package that would have taxed bank deposits to pay for the rescue – 6.75 percent for deposits less than €100,000, 9.9 percent for those with more. “None of the euro zone’s sovereign and bank bailouts, from Ireland to Greece, has insisted that bank...

Fossil-Fuel Subsidies Help Asia Roar

Will Hickey March 15, 2013
Governments have long provided subsidies, direct and indirect, on fuels for both consumers and producers. Providing subsidies on fossil fuels is costly in terms of public health and climate change. In 2009, G20 leaders agreed that subsidies should be curtailed, but Asian countries continue to fund them to support economic growth. Subsidies for consumers lead to waste, traffic and pollution. Less...

The Financial Crash Will Not Bring About “Globalization on Steroids”

Joshua Kurlantzick March 11, 2013
Despite the international outlook of the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies – the US and China – Joshua Kurlantzick argues that there is a new trend of deglobalization. The precarious state of the world economy is contributing to the prominence of national boundaries in shaping economic policies. Foreign investment has dried up as national legislatures reject takeovers or funding for...