In The News

Project Syndicate: Strong Dollar Weakness

Benjamin J. Cohen August 24, 2018
The US dollar gained more than 8 percent value for the year and shows no sign of slowing. US officials credit growing business confidence, but Benjamin Cohen, writing for Project Syndicate, credits rising interest rates for increased dollar demand. The rising dollar makes US exports more expensive, and new tariffs make imports more expensive, adding to inflation and prompting the US Federal...

Japan Times: Japanese Firms Face Tough Choices as Trade War Drags On

Cory Baird August 24, 2018
The US-China war is disrupting global supply chains, and companies must decide if they will relocate assembly lines away from China, temporarily or permanently, or wait for a compromise. Companies with long supply chains have more adjusting to do, and one petrochemical industry expert warned that recovery will require more time than the period the tariffs are in effect. China and the United...

Forbes: Will Tariffs Cause the US Fish Industry to Flop

Maisie Ganzler August 23, 2018
Another round of tariffs in the US-Chinese trade battle go into effect in September and will increase US seafood prices. About $900 million worth of US seafood is “first caught or raised in the U.S., sent to China for processing, and then subsequently imported back into the U.S. by companies that sell it to American consumers,” explains Maisie Ganzler for Forbes. “The fish was caught in Alaska,...

HuffPost: Manafort Is Tiny Part of DC Lobbying Corruption

Paul Blumenthal August 22, 2018
Foreign governments make their preferences known about leaders of other nations, with some attempting to influence policies and even elections. Paul Manafort, the former chairman of the Trump campaign, has been found guilty of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The jury could not reach a decision on 10 other counts....

The Conversation: How Globalization Transformed Mecca Pilgrimage Market

Seán McLoughlin August 22, 2018
Islam requires adherents to travel at last once for the annual Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Modern transportation made the journey more feasible, and the number of pilgrims increased from 100,000 in the 1950s to more than 3 million in recent years. Saudi Arabia has imposed restrictions in recent years: Muslim-majority nations are subjected to a Hajj quota of 1,000 pilgrims per million of...

Vanguard: Earth Loses a Statesman – Kofi Annan

Charles Kumolo August 21, 2018
The world is mourning the death of Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. “Annan was not the first person nor the only African to have headed the global body, but his ability to lead and inspire endeared him to the world,” writes Charles Kumolo for Vanguard in Nigeria. “His 10-year leadership of the UN in the post-cold war era, saw him championing...

NPR: Venezuelan Refugees Flee, Facing Violence, Closed Borders

Shannon Van Sant August 21, 2018
Venezuela’s politics and economy spiral into chaos and thousands of try to flee for other countries, but face protests, border closures and even attacks including a refugee camp set on fire in northern Brazil. The country of 31 million people borders Colombia, Brazil and Guyana. “The United Nations says more than 7 percent – 2.3 million refugees – of Venezuela's population have fled to other...