Politics can be messy when a group of voters depend on outside aid. Palestinians elected members of Hamas during summer of 2006, causing alarm among Western nations that provided much aid to the struggling government. Western governments cut aid since the election and civil strife has increased. So...
Hamas' victory-like language cannot hide the fact that the final outcome of its government is very negative, both at the political level and with regard to the living conditions of the Palestinian people. For his part...
Economists debate whether the financial interdependence of the modern world provides insulation against shocks or sets the stage for a chain reaction of woes. Every major power has its financial weak point – immense debt for the US; regional conflicts and poverty for India; and a lack of...
Export bounty: China's farsighted planning in building roads and ports has yielded a bonanza in trade. Enlarge image
SINGAPORE: Recent ructions in Asian financial markets and deepening US anxiety over its...
Economic growth used to produce widespread wealth – and a combination of low inflation and unemployment once reflected a content and productive society. A widening income gap between rich and poor, in countries as diverse as the US and China, however, is producing large groups of disgruntled or...
Click here for the original article on The Independent's website.
“Purchasing power parity” is a complex economic theory that suggests identical goods cost the same in different countries and allows economists to account for the influence of exchange rates and inflation on prices. Relying on that system of measurement, an Asian Development Bank report this summer...
Click here to read the article in the Financial Times.
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Researchers have long pointed to some correlations in international affairs: Oil countries tend not to be entrepreneurial; nations dependent on one industry, such as oil extraction, tend to be hostile with the US; and entrepreneurial nations tend to befriend the US. But such observations were...
Source of wealth: Nations rich in oil may lose their innovative edge; above, shoppers crowd a Russian mall NEW YORK: In the post-Cold War period, researchers have long wondered why some countries befriend the US. They have noted some...
France argues that the euro’s increasing value undermines French exports. But finance ministers from other nations disagree, arguing that French labor policies, offering lavish benefits for workers, discourage interest in French exports. At a meeting with eurozone finance ministers, French...
Click here to read the article in The Economist.
Success in strategic sourcing requires finding the global hot spots first. Getting established in a budding community builds connections and provides early access to eager workers. Goals for foreign investment vary immensely around the globe. Kenya is particular, wanting firms that will contribute...
Click here for the original article on IndustryWeek's website.
The results of the UN's recent world summit are widely derided as a disappointment. Yet they are a significant show of global unity, argues Kofi Annan – and a significant improvement over the pre-conference status quo. Annan writes that observers should not underestimate the difficulty of...
The "outcome document" adopted last Friday, at the end of the United Nations world summit, has been described as "disappointing" or "watered down." This is true in part - and I said as much in my own speech to the...