In The News

Nayan Chanda December 12, 2012
Steadfast national sovereignty and global trade don’t mix so well, warns Nayan Chanda, editor of YaleGlobal Online, in his column for Businessworld. Traders and investors appreciate flexibility. So when steel demand in Europe declined and ArcelorMittal announced plans to close two blast furnaces, the French government responded by threatening temporary nationalization and sale of the firm’s...
Nayan Chanda October 9, 2012
Central banks can add to the money supply by lowering interest rates for major financial institutions and purchasing bonds, thus increasing credit and liquidity – and this is what major central banks in the West have set out to do until economic growth and jobs return. The practice amounts to “printing money.” For example, the US vows to insert $40 billion each month into the economy to purchase...
Nayan Chanda December 13, 2011
Had the government proposal not run into a buzzsaw of opposition, foreign investors might have given India’s retail industry a jumpstart. The government tried to limit the potential impact on at least 20 million traders by limiting the big-box stores to cities with more than 1 million people, allowing state governments the right of refusal, mandating that 30 percent of manufactured and processed...
Nayan Chanda November 22, 2011
Recovery from natural disasters is costly, and climate change, combined with ongoing reliance on fossil fuels, promises more crises and expenditures. Extreme weather events are disrupting the global supply chain with consequences for corporations. Flooding in Thailand is just one example: The country “quietly emerged as a key player in the production and distribution of automobile and consumer...
Nayan Chanda November 8, 2011
A suggestion by the Greek prime minister for a referendum on a proposed European bailout – negotiated by European leaders to continue lending to Greece while erasing half the nation’s debt –was bashed by financial markets and Western leaders. Analysts anticipated an angry Greek electorate to reject the deal, and the prime minister backed down. "Athens offers a valuable lesson in...
Nayan Chanda October 24, 2011
To avoid a day of reckoning, governments should heed, not mock, the complaints emerging from movements that have gained rapid global momentum, contends Nayan Chanda in his regular column for Businessworld. In 2003, protests in 60 nations opposed the impending US invasion of Iraq. The protests did not prevent the costly war, but exposed the war’s flawed rationales. This year, protesters in more...
Nayan Chanda October 10, 2011
Americans are frustrated by their inability to find jobs and the widening inequality that brings. Proposals from government and corporations so far rely on unworkable notions that failed in the past, including protectionist measures or subsidies that reinforce aging industries that are no longer competitive. The world economy has undergone structural transformation, explains Nayan Chanda in his...