In The News

Kemal Derviş July 27, 2015
The nature of work is changing, not simply due to technology, but also a labor force willing to provide services and skills at low prices as well as consumers who demand low costs and fast service. Economists often point to Uber – a driving service that relies on the internet to match willing drivers with clients in need of car service – as a disruptive business, undermining official taxi...
Samuel Massie July 24, 2015
Graduating in the midst of a recession, US graduate Samuel Massie went to Guangzhou, China, to become a business analyst. In an essay for the New York Times, he describes the cultural adjustment and the attention received for being the lone foreigner. The company used him for translation and recruiting videos. Colleagues sought advice, not complaining about “censorship, pollution or human rights...
Jennifer Hughes July 21, 2015
China surprised currency traders by announcing it is replacing its decade-long currency peg with a flexible exchange-rate, reports Jennifer Hughes for Financial Times. The renminbi has climbed steadily in value since 2005, reducing trade deficits and tension. “For China-watchers, the renminbi’s gradual moves towards full convertibility with long pauses along the way have become the classic...
Jean-Pierre Lehmann July 13, 2015
The international community has long recognized that the choices made by China weigh large on any global issue or industry. “In the incredibly fast-paced transformations in the dozen years since the publication China has become a global power in virtually every domain,” writes Jean-Pierre Lehmann for Forbes. China’s outbound foreign direct investment now exceeds inbound FDI. Likewise, China sends...
Paul Taylor and Renee Maltezou July 13, 2015
Greece accepted tough conditions – tougher than those rejected by Greek voters in a referendum – in exchange for aid from fellow members of the Eurozone. Greek leaders must submit public policy proposals and spending plans to bailout monitors. Aid is contingent on Greece meeting “a tight timetable for enacting unpopular reforms of value added tax, pensions, budget cuts if Greece misses fiscal...
Bernard-Henri Lévy July 8, 2015
Greek defiance, expressed in a referendum that rejected terms for a bailout, is a defeat for democracy – signaling Greece's lack of respect for a process. Citizens in other European nations have deep worries about another bailout without reforms that prevent over-spending, waste and corruption. “Despite its defects, the EU has become a laboratory of democratic innovation, in which, for the...
Peter Müller and René Pfister July 6, 2015
The Greek debt crisis, has put Europe into turmoil, and leaders could have set limits on Greece long ago. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heightened uncertainty by scheduling a referendum on whether Greece should accept conditions for a bailout. “Tsipras' radicalism lies in his faith in the power of the decision,” write Peter Müller and René Pfister for Spiegel Online. If he doesn't...