Food prices have doubled during the past two years, and Moisés Naím of Foreign Policy observes that politicians, journalists and economists often blame the recent hikes on growing demand by rising middle classes in the developing world. But Naím cautions against blaming people in India and China...
There are many culprits we can blame for higher food prices. But the poor isn’t one of them.
The spike in food prices is a global crisis, and it is destabilizing politics and economics everywhere. Food prices...
Pain from the US financial crisis is spreading globally, with leadership in developing countries often blaming free-market failures. The free market is under attack worldwide: Honduras’s president deems its laws "demonic" and the Brazilian head of state suggests its speculation causes the...
Financial meltdown will not cause the U.S. to abandon democratic capitalism, but the outcome is less clear for countries deciding whether capitalism is the best system. In many of these countries the choice is not...
Richard Betts, John R. MacArthur, William Nordhaus, and Ernesto Zedillo
There’s a vast disconnect between the Middle East’s uprisings – a quest for democracy – and rigid religious controls promised by Al Qaeda. An operation, authorized by US President Barack Obama, tracked Osama bin Laden to a compound in Pakistan, killing the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks in New...
Click here for the article in The New York Times.
North Korea has an average income of about $1500 and the unemployment rate is about 25 percent. The country’s rural poor is suffering. “The combination of the limited variety of foods that are available and the stresses on the body from the frigid weather creates major hardship for most North...
HYANGSAN, COUNTY NORTH KOREA – North Koreans are hunkering down for a harsh winter that some fear could be made worse by a poor harvest following summer floods.
In rural areas like Hyangsan County in North Pyongan province, about 130 kilometers (80...
Extremism is not deterring China’s foreign-investment plans with Pakistan. The builders behind the world’s largest dam, China’s Three Gorges, have proposed a $15 billion dam project for Pakistan and the Indus River, promising to control floods and produce power, reports William MacNamara for the...
Click here for the article in The Financial Times.
One country’s success with exports should generate appreciation for competition and not envy, suggests a German publication. The US Department of Treasury released a report that notes “Germany’s anemic pace of domestic demand growth and dependence on exports have hampered rebalancing at a time when...
Click here for the article in Spiegel Online.
A new release of documents from Edward Snowden, a low level contract employee for the US National Security Agency, suggests that the US bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels, including one operation directed from NATO headquarters. Europe is stunned by the disclosure of intercepted...
Click here for the article in The Guardian.