In The News

Spiegel: Germany Prepares for Coming Tax Battle

Christian Reiermann February 15, 2017
The United States and the United Kingdom – intent on attracting foreign investment and jobs – may “begin stretching, undermining or completely redefining the internationally established tax framework,” reports Christian Reiermann for Spiegel Online. Finance ministers of the world’s 20 largest economies meet in March, and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants to lead a fight against tax...

Mexico Can Thrive Without Trump

Ernesto Zedillo January 29, 2017
Donald Trump has put other nations on notice – the United States is reviewing relationships, expecting balanced trade and compliance on security matters. He promised that Mexico would pay for a border wall though such “demands have defied legal and economic rationality,” explains Ernesto Zedillo, Yale professor and former president of Mexico. Zedillo lists flawed assumptions including NAFTA was...

China’s Glut, Exports Could Threaten World Economy

Börje Ljunggren August 11, 2016
China came to the aid of the stricken global economy in 2008 with record stimulus funds. But that stimulus injection encouraged debt and overcapacity in key markets like steel and aluminum, explains Börje Ljunggren, author and former Swedish ambassador to China. The country’s total debt has more than doubled, now exceeding 250 percent of GDP. China accounts for half of global output in steel and...

We’re in a Low-Growth World. How Did We Get Here?

Neil Irwin August 8, 2016
Economic growth increases wealth and improves living standards, driven by additional workers, work hours and technological advancements that increase productivity. But economic growth and income have slowed for the world’s most advanced economies, and the trends contribute to rising inequality and populist movements. Economists are trying to determine if supply or demand issues contribute to low...

Greece’s Russian Fantasy; Russia’s European Delusion

Pavel K. Baev July 10, 2015
Greeks, well informed about their status as borrowers in advance with bank closures and limits on withdrawals, rejected foreign creditors’ conditions for aid in a referendum. “Many Greeks see Russia as a state that upholds its sovereignty and defies the EU diktat,” writes Pavel K. Baev for Brookings. Russia, sanctioned for its military interventions in Ukraine, has its own economic struggles with...

Oil Price Fall Leaves Gulf States With Difficult Reform Choices

Simeon Kerr February 4, 2015
Subsidies distort markets, and because consumers take the low prices for granted, governments struggle to restore fair-market prices. States that rely heavily on oil revenues struggle over whether to dip into reserves to continue subsidies or enact unwelcome reforms. Stability for many oil-rich states in the Persian Gulf hinges on oil revenues. The price of oil has fallen by half since summer...

Global Consequences of US Failure to Pay Debt

October 9, 2013
Deadlock over lifting the US debt limit – arbitrary, created by Congress to control spending – is unnerving economists worldwide. A few in Congress are willing to test a bizarre theory that refusing to pay debt, thus disrupting the global economy, will win them voters’ respect and force the country to tighten spending. Analysts in the US, China and Europe do not agree. Instead, US leaders will be...