In The News

The Broken Link Between Global Trade and Emerging Market Growth

Dan Bogler May 26, 2015
Growing global trade is no longer going hand in hand with GDP growth in emerging markets, reports Dan Bogler for Financial Times. Investors have anticipated growth in developing economies, but instead, the pace is in decline since 2010 due to lower commodity prices, the rise in the US dollar value and slowing growth in China. Domestic factors including high debt contribute to the slower pace. “...

Global Banks Admit Guilt in Forex Probe, Fined Nearly $6 Billion

Karen Freifeld, David Henry and Steve Slater May 21, 2015
Six major banks agreed to pay fines near $6 billion for the varying roles of their traders roles in alleged manipulation of foreign exchange rates. “In total, authorities in the United States and Europe have fined seven banks over $10 billion for failing to stop traders from trying to manipulate foreign exchange rates, which are used daily by millions of people from trillion-dollar investment...

Bigger, Deglobalizing World May Be Hostile for Investors

James Saft May 8, 2015
Much of the world is trying to put a pause on global trade, immigration and other means of integration and globalization. The global credit crisis triggered the trends: “De-globalization is the partial unwinding of the long-running shift to arrangements that allow capital, goods and services to move more freely around the world,” writes James Saft. He describes evidence of resistance to...

China, Pursuing Strategic Interests, Builds Presence in Antarctica

Jane Perlez May 7, 2015
China is extending its global reach under President Xi Jinping, and that includes Antarctica. “He signed a five-year accord with the Australian government that allows Chinese vessels and, in the future, aircraft to resupply for fuel and food before heading south,” reports Jane Perlez for the New York Times. “That will help secure easier access to a region that is believed to have vast oil and...

The Great Unraveling of Globalization

Jeffrey Rothfeder April 30, 2015
The trends in globalization of business and trade come and go, and long-term investment is a challenge in competitive global markets. Companies that fail to adjust suggest that globalization is falling apart. In an article for the Washington Post, Jeffrey Rothfeder describes multinational firms that complain about global sales results. In a climate of uncertainty, past sales do not promise future...

An Unending Refugee Tragedy: Europe's Path to Deadly Partition

Matthias Gebauer, Horand Knaup, Peter Müller, Maximilian Popp, Jörg Schindler and Christoph Schult April 28, 2015
European leaders were ashamed after the 2013 sinking of a rickety boat with more than 500 refugees near the Italian island of Lampedusa. The EU promised measures to avoid such tragedies, but thousands still use life savings to attempt the treacherous crossing, fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa, Syria and beyond. Many refugees do not survive. The article in Spiegel Online reviews the array of...

Divided Europe Mired in Crises

Chris Miller March 17, 2015
For a few short decades, Europe was viewed as a model for human rights and economic security. Many Europeans were eager for the continent to become an influential geopolitical actor, acting independently of the United States, notes Chris Miller, a Yale doctoral candidate and research associate at the Hoover Institution. But polarization within the Union and the institutional failure to address a...