In The News

$5.5 Billion IMF Loan to Ukraine: New York Times

Andrew E. Kramer December 17, 2019
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend $5.5 billion to Ukraine if the Kyiv government led by President Volodymyr Zelensky meets required conditions. While this agreement requires approval by the IMF board, it is still a strong signal, encouraging foreign investment and demonstrating support for Ukraine's government, especially on its anticorruption and economic policies. In...

Turkey May Close Two Bases: Anadolu Agency

Cigdem Alyanak December 16, 2019
While the current set of US legislators do not agree on much, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, 1915 to 1923. As the Ottoman Empire declined and World War I began, Turkey sided with Germany and accused Armenians of supporting Russia. Targeted by Turks, as many as 1.5 million Armenians died during the period. US President Donald Trump opposed the...

Global Migration Trends Add Tensions: Asia Sentinel

John Berthelsen December 16, 2019
People migrate for wealthy nations for many reasons, economic and security, including poverty, disasters and conflict. Numerous businesses and families seek low-cost workers for household services, construction, farming and more, yet opposition to undocumented and even legal immigration is on the rise, suggests a new report on world immigration. The report warns that immigration is “weaponized”...

World’s First Liquid Hydrogen Ship: Bloomberg

Dan Murtaugh December 15, 2019
Kawasaki Heavy Industries launched the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier, the Suiso Frontier, a step in “tapping the carbon-free energy potential of the lightest element,” reports Dan Murtaugh for Bloomberg. “Hydrogen can be produced using water and electricity, and then stored and shipped and re-used to generate power, allowing countries with little space for wind and solar equipment to...

Downsizing and Letting Go: Stuff

Nick Barnett December 14, 2019
Older and younger people alike are reconsidering the size of their homes and how many belongings they should own. Decluttering and downsizing are in vogue, and many people conduct regular inventories to assess which belongings they have not used or touched during the previous year. “Moving from a regular house into a tiny house brought that reckoning forward for me,” writes Nick Barnett for Stuff...

$20 Trillion Threat of Climate Change: OilPrice.com

Nick Cunningham December 14, 2019
Businesses and investors who deny climate change is underway can anticipate the loss in trillions of market value. Natural disasters are on the rise and cost more, and entire asset classes and sectors can expect repricing. “One glaring example is the real estate market along coastlines, which will see both physical damage and a dramatic repricing as the threat becomes increasingly clear,”...

Argentina Faces Economic Crisis: Buenos Aires Times

December 13, 2019
Alberto Fernández, sworn in as president of Argentina, inherits enormous debt, recession, inflation, a 10 percent unemployment rate and 40 percent poverty rate, reports the Buenos Aires Times. The peso has lost two thirds of its value since 2018. The many challenges compound the hardship in paying external debt. Fernández promises to increase economic growth but offers no details, partly because...