In The News

Global Bond Rout Deepens on US Fiscal Worries

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard December 10, 2010
The price of borrowing is climbing for the US as investors like China and Russia unload holdings of US treasury bills. The US has massive debt, representing about 10 percent of its GDP, and struggles for fiscal responsibility in a range of government programs, including health-care and retirement for senior citizens. Meanwhile the US president and Congress contemplate renewing across-the-board...

Chinese Workers Build MLK Memorial: Investigation

Annys Shin December 7, 2010
It’s an old debate: Should planners of symbolic projects rely on local workers or stretch funds by hiring immigrant labor? The latest project under scrutiny is construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC. Debt crisis in Greece delayed granite delivery, and critics slammed the Chinese sculptor’s original design. The foundation organizing the $120 million project...

If You Thought the Bank Bailout Was Bad, Wait Until the Mortgage Defaults Hit Home

Morgan Kelly November 16, 2010
Ireland’s decision in September to borrow from the European Central Bank to repay €55 billion in bonds of bankrupt Irish banks calmed markets for the time being. The outcome satisfied large European banks that held the bonds, but left the Irish government with an open-ended commitment to cover losses amounting to more than 20 percent of GDP. Writing for the Irish Times, economist Morgan Kelly...

Debt Plan Ideas Draw Scorn of Liberals and Tea Party

Jackie Calmes November 15, 2010
A debt commission appointed by US President Barack Obama released a deficit-reduction draft plan with a long list of cuts in the federal workforce, defense and entitlement programs – along with simplifying the tax code, lowering tax rates for individuals and corporations while eliminating many tax breaks. The US budget ballooned under Obama's watch: Rescuing the economy from global crisis...

The G20: Captive in the Prison of Mercantilism

Ernesto Zedillo November 13, 2010
The G20 meeting of the world’s major economies concluded in Seoul without a serious plan for coordinating macroeconomic policies. Since the first G20 meeting in November 2008, global leaders have recognized that inconsistent, poorly coordinated policies spurred the global economic crisis along. But behaving like the mercantilists of old rather than world powers in the 21st century – delivering a...

Only the Weak Survive

Nouriel Roubini November 12, 2010
Export giant China has resisted revaluation of the renminbi. Eager for exports, nations follow China’s lead, increasingly engaging in competitive currency devaluations. These maneuvers exacerbate global imbalances already huge. “A world where over-spending countries need to reduce domestic demand and boost net exports, while over-saving countries are unwilling to reduce their reliance on export-...

G-20 to Push Current Balance Guidelines

Kim Yon-se November 12, 2010
The G-20 meeting in South Korea closed with assurances that leaders of the world's largest economies would set up a warning system on excessive current-account imbalances. The leaders rejected US proposals that would have placed specific caps on surpluses or deficits. The G-20 also agreed to refrain from currency manipulations and to allow the markets to direct currency values; pursue stable...