In The News

Don’t Bet Against the Greenback Yet

Erik Britton and Danny Gabay April 10, 2014
The US benefits from its reserve currency status; 85 percent of all global transactions involve the dollar. But the dollar is worth less than half its value from 1973. Two threats to the dollar’s status as reserve currency include stagnation in demand within the United States and the rise of China’s fully convertible yuan, suggest Erik Britton and Danny Gabay for the Asia Sentinel. They analyze...

Self-Insurance or Self-Destruction?

Gene Frieda April 7, 2014
The US Federal Reserve is gradually pulling back after months of purchasing bonds to inject liquidity into global markets. As liquidity shifts toward developed economies, the foreign reserves of emerging economies may not be enough to protect those financial systems, argues global strategist Gene Frieda for Project Syndicate: “In order to break the destabilizing cycle of short-term capital flows...

Romania: Chinese Are Coming!

Raluca Besliu March 4, 2014
Communist Romania, in 1949, was one of the first countries to recognize the communist People’s Republic of China. In 2007, Romania joined the European Union and has felt like a second-class member since – a market for European goods and services, but not a full partner. Prime Minister Victor Ponta is striving to demonstrate to Europe that Romania has alternatives by selling resources to China: “...

As Africans Surge to Europe’s Door, Spain Locks Down

Suzanne Daley March 3, 2014
Europe’s barricades and dangerous seas, beatings and insults, military police and rubber bullets, are not slowing the stream of immigrants attempting to flee poverty in Africa or war in Syria. “Ten years ago Spain spent more than 30 million euros building up the barriers around Melilla and Ceuta, its two enclaves surrounded by Morocco on the northern coast of Africa,” reports Suzanne Daley for...

Can Machiavellian Renzi Save Italy?

Joseph LaPalombara February 25, 2014
Machiavellian maneuvers rely on clever deceit and appearances to achieve political goals, as described by Niccolò Machiavelli in his short book The Prince, published in 1532. Using political machinations, disrupting a coalition carefully crafted by the leader of his own party and promising expansive reforms, Matteo Renzi followed Machiavelli’s playbook to become prime minister of Italy, suggests...

Debt Ceiling Redux?

James Leitner and Ian Shapiro February 20, 2014
US Congress raised the artificial debt ceiling to pay bills without a fuss, but the move may galvanize extremists who want to slow government spending, explain James Leitner, president of Falcon Management, and Ian Shapiro, a Yale political science professor. Economists around the globe agree the United States should slow spending and reduce debt, but oppose the crude approach that would...

China Moves to End Its Codependency with US

Stephen S. Roach February 18, 2014
Global analysts fret about the resilience of emerging markets, including China’s. Yet economic managers in China know what needs to be done, already taking steps to rebalance, shifting from dependence on manufacturing and exports towards more services and consumer spending. The world is not prepared for the necessary slowdown in growth from China as its leaders focus on domestic spending,...