In The News

France Deals With Globalization Crisis – Part II

Alain Renaudin January 27, 2012
Citizens of wealthy nations blame globalization and competition from Asia for unemployment and other economic woes. This two-part YaleGlobal series analyzes the temptations of protectionism, particularly in France during its presidential election campaign. Promoting labels that identify a product’s country of origin is not a solution, argues Alain Renaudin in the second and final article, and the...

End of an Affair? City of London and EU in Bitter Acrimony

Philip Whyte January 12, 2012
One’s history is long and the other’s is short, but the City of London and the European Union have each in their own way been drivers of financial globalization and economic wealth. But the hard-hitting credit crisis, a series of bailouts and global recession have tarnished reputations of governments and financial industries alike, endangering mutual admiration and cooperation: The EU resents...

The Anatomy of Global Economic Uncertainty

Mohamed A. El-Erian December 28, 2011
Uncertainty is bad for business, and policy gridlock, unsustainable debt and a changing global order promise unsettling times for the developed world, suggests Mohamed A. El-Erian in an essay for Project Syndicate. Countries, corporations and individuals are adjusting to the changing paradigm in diverse ways – deleveraging themselves from others in debt, taking on more debt and toying with...

China's Real Estate Bubble May Have Just Popped

Patrick Chovanec December 26, 2011
China’s real estate scene is reminiscent of the 2007 US market: developers are slashing prices and infuriating owners who paid top yuan for properties. Problems in the real estate market are extending into steel, banking, mining and other sectors. Vacant developments are numerous because wealthy Chinese savers have few alternatives for investing growing wealth. “Beijing's response to the...

Lenders Losing Battle of “Basel”

Victoria McGrane, Dan Fitzpatrick December 22, 2011
The US Federal Reserve may have little choice but to follow Europe’s lead and require US banks to add more capitalization. US banks had argued that guidelines need not be so strict, report Victoria McGrane and Dan Fitzpatrick for the Wall Street Journal. Banks described as “too big to fail,” ones that pose risk to the global financial system, are the target. “Basel regulators last month...

India Not Shining Any More

Ashok Malik December 20, 2011
The world’s largest democracy wages constant battle against entrenched special interests and the lure of socialistic protectionism. The most recent skirmish was on India’s plan to allow limited foreign direct investment in the retail trade. Critics rallied, raising doubts about the government’s ability to protect small traders against giants like Walmart, Carrefour and other foreign retailers....

Turks Enjoy a Little Schadenfreude at EU's Expense

Peter Kenyon December 14, 2011
Many Turks are now thanking their lucky stars that Europe delayed Turkey’s accession into the European Union. Turkey, associate member of the European Economic Community since 1959, applied for full membership to the EEC in 1987 and was recognized as an EU candidate in 1999, undergoing many reforms along the way. The insult felt by Turkey over delay was keen after rival Greece’s accession in 2000...