In The News

Tensions at G-7: Wall Street Journal

Rebecca Ballhaus, Noemie Bisserbe and Max Colchester August 26, 2019
G7 leaders tried to present a cooperative image despite tensions over issues like trade, climate change and Iran. The United States under Donald Trump is isolated in this forum. “G-7 leaders tried to squeeze concessions from Mr. Trump on Iran and other issues over closed-door meals, beyond the reach of White House advisers and TV cameras,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “But Mr. Trump responded...

Korea to Ban Stock Short-Selling: Korea Herald

Park Ga-young August 7, 2019
Stock exchanges of many nations imposed various bans on short-selling during and after the 2008-2009 global debt crisis. Investors expecting a stock to decline borrow shares – as a hedging strategy or speculation – and then resell these to buyers who pay the market price: Further decline results in profits for the first investor while a rise can result in huge losses, explains Investopedia. South...

China's Central Bank Saves the Day: Forbes

Kenneth Rapoza August 6, 2019
A trade war and US tariffs have eroded the value of China’s currency. The US president announced tariffs and global stock markets declined. The US Treasury Department designated China as a currency manipulator, and China’s central bank announced removing about 30 billion yuan, or $4.2 billion, from the Hong Kong market. China denies the currency manipulation charge. “Many emerging market central...

US Under Trump Leads on Global Dealmaking: FT

Eric Platt, Arash Massoudi and Don Weinland June 27, 2019
The United States is dominating in what the Financial Times calls a record-breaking boom in global mergers and acquisitions. “Ambitious deals by large companies ranging from drugmaker AbbVie to defence contractor United Technologies, to oil group Occidental Petroleum, have driven US activity,” reports a team for the Financial Times. “Buoyant stock markets and cheap financing in the debt markets...

G-20 and Taxation Rules for Digital Giants: Kyodo

June 7, 2019
The world’s major economies agreed in a draft statement to accelerate tax collection from multinational digital companies like Google and Facebook. “The G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors will also warn that the world economy continues to face downside risks from trade conflicts between leading economies, while calling for accommodative monetary policy to ensure the economy is...

Debt Hampers Response to Changing Economy: IMFBlog

Vitor Gaspar, John Ralyea, and Elif Ture April 15, 2019
The International Monetary Fund warns that public debt combined with slowed economic growth could constrain future government spending on education, employment, healthcare, infrastructure and retirement. The IMF advises policymakers to encourage more inclusive growth by reducing debt and investing in the futures of their citizens by reducing tax exemptions and improving tax administration. “The...

Capitalism or Socialism? Common Dreams

Robert Freeman April 8, 2019
The United States prepares for the 2020 presidential election and Republicans as the party in power insist that their opponents, the Democrats, are increasingly socialist and want to upend the capitalist system. Proper economic governance cannot rely on all capitalism or all socialism, and the definitions suggest that successful and prosperous countries rely on a combination of both. “Tools of...