In The News

Age of Clashing Empires: New Statesman

Mark Leonard April 13, 2020
Analysts are less certain that nations bound by trade might find it impossible to head to war. The US-China trade war and Britain’s embrace of Brexit signaled that decoupling was already underway. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic applied sudden brakes and exposed weaknesses. “Britain will be exiting into a totally different world, one defined by competing blocs and protectionism rather than...

COVID-19 Debt Deluge: Project Syndicate

Jayati Ghosh March 16, 2020
Crises immediately expose any weaknesses in public infrastructure, and COVID-19 will reveal needs in public health and economic systems. Societies realize that privatization and cost-cutting for health care for vulnerable populations expose all citizens to infection, explains Jayati Ghosh. Analysts anticipate a recession with supply chain disruptions and entire regions locked down. “A world...

China and Global Balance of Economic Power: Lowy

Roland Rajah and Alyssa Leng March 13, 2020
A rising China since 1980 has changed the global trade landscape. The world’s leading manufacturer, the largest trading nation and second largest economy has displaced the United States from its traditional dominance. Roland Rajah and Alyssa Leng analyzed bilateral trade data from the International Monetary Fund’s Direction of Trade Statistics database, focused on exports and imports, and...

Declining Fortunes of the Young: IMFBlog

Era Dabla-Norris , Carlo Pizzinelli and Jay Rappaport March 3, 2020
A key indicator of economic success for families is that children do as well as their parents. Such assumptions are less sure. “Despite being more educated than their parents, millennials – those born between 1980 and 2000 – may have less job stability during their working life,” explains a team for the IMFBlog. Entering and remaining in the middle class, fast-changing job requirements, intense...

Reshaped Global Commerce: Wall Street Journal

Josh Zumbrun, Feliz Solomon, and Jeffrey Lewis February 13, 2020
The trade war between the US and China in the past two years has contributed to slowing global trade growth. Imports for both the US and China declined in 2019 due to additional tariffs and the global trade system has made adjustments. A Wall Street Journal article describes which regions benefited from the dispute: In Asia, cellphones made in Vietnam are growing rapidly while other east and...

This Is How Democracy Dies: Atlantic

Yascha Mounk and Roberto Stefan Foa February 7, 2020
Democracy requires hard work, patience, compromise and trust. Citizens may be dissatisfied with a leader but must stay informed and engaged in politics. Yet support for democracy around the world is in decline. The University of Cambridge’s Centre for the Future of Democracy analyzed data from more than 154 countries, 3,500 surveys covering more than 4 million respondents, and social-science...

Wage Transparency: New Frame

Carlos Amato February 1, 2020
Wage inequality thrives on secrecy. Members of society have some insights: some positions pay minimum wage, teacher and government salaries are public information, and annual reports disclose CEO salaries and benefits. It’s no coincidence that Norway, Sweden and Finland are societies with greater equality and “every taxpayer’s annual income and tax payments are transparent,” explains Carlos Amato...