In The News

The Rising Burden of Government Debt

Eswar Prasad, Mengjie Ding December 29, 2010
Nations hiked debt in recent years to escape economic crisis – with advanced economies doing most of the borrowing. Global debt is expected to more than double from $23 trillion in 2007 to $48 trillion in 2015. Emerging markets not only borrow less, but they also contribute more to economic growth, report Eswar Prasad and Mengjie Ding for the Brookings Institution. The pair examines debt not only...

WikiLeaks Poses Legal Challenges for US Prosecutors

Kate Woodsome December 27, 2010
At the start of 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heralded internet freedom as a top foreign policy concern. But the website WikiLeaks released a series of embarrassing military and diplomatic cables, and the US restricts its employees from reading documents readily available throughout the world. US analysts and researchers are at a disadvantage with foreign counterparts who can review...

The Redistribution of Hope

December 24, 2010
The ability to compare and engage in long-term planning can inspire hope or fear. For the past four centuries, optimism gave Western nations advantages, as citizens embraced technology, progress and global connections. “Now hope is on the move,” suggests the Economist, as the can-do spirit emerges in China and Brazil. The US and UK are moody, hampered by polarized electorates that squabble over...

Our Dickensian Economy

Alan S. Blinder December 21, 2010
Britain’s prolific novelist Charles Dickens, 1812 to 1870, spent part of his childhood visiting his father in debtor’s prison, an experience that influenced themes of alienation, ambition and inequality in his work. Economist Alan Blinder, writing for the Wall Street Journal, evokes Dickens, detailing how US government policies promote growing social divides: unemployment concentrated among those...

Calls Mount Everywhere for Deportation of Illegal Immigrants

Joseph Chamie, Barry Mirkin December 20, 2010
Rags-to-riches tales of traders and adventurers who provided skills and innovations during their wanderings are among the more charming parts of world history. But such globalization could go into reverse in the modern era, even in democratic nations, as political parties rile voter anger over rising unemployment and security concerns, and make immigrants a scapegoat for economic crises, The top...

The Post-WikiLeaks World – Part II

Rebecca Wexler December 17, 2010
After WikiLeaks released secret diplomatic cables, the US government strives to apologize for sensitive breaches in confidences and punish all involved. Internet privacy is elusive for both individuals and powerful institutions, and this two-part series examines responses to leaks from governments and internet chat forums. The second article describes a motley group of strangers who apply...

The Post-WikiLeaks World – Part I

Jamsheed K. Choksy December 15, 2010
Behind closed doors, government officials often relay sentiments that differ from public proclamations, and the public takes this for granted. But release of classified US State Department cables via WikiLeaks has exposed hundreds of specific examples, shocking in their rawness. The release underlines the promises and perils of fast global communications. It is a world where an individual can...