The People’s Bank of China, in line with the US Federal Reserve’s March 15th decision, recently increased some interest rates while the Bank of Japan responded by maintaining its negative interest rate target. Divergence in monetary policy “adds a new element of market uncertainty into 2017,”...
A state-owned Russian company has given North Korea a second internet connection. The first one was provided by China Unicom. North Korea has thousands of trained cyber specialists, and the new connection could increase North Korea’s hacking capabilities while helping the country evade similar...
As President George W. Bush’s tax cut for the rich did not help to stimulate a lagging economy during the 2001 recession, the Fed sought to lift by a drastic interest rate cut. Unfortunately, this only made matters worse as more Americans went into large debt. In recent years, lured by "...
The pessimists who have long forecasted that America's economy was in for trouble finally seem to be coming into their own. Of course, there is no glee in seeing stock prices tumble as a result of soaring mortgage defaults. But it was largely...
In 2004, Britain declassified cannabis, decreasing the penalties for growing or possessing the controlled substance. As fear of punishment faded, demand grew and so did the appeal of producing the drug for greater profits. Organized crime rushed to fill the gap between supply and demand, and with...
Click here for the original article on The Independent's website.
Hydro-engineers making their way to the Chezhou village in rural China didn’t expect a warm welcome, but never imagined they would be held hostage by villagers angry about the construction of a dam that will force them to abandon their homeland. The government has proposed a dam for one of China’s...
When the hydro-engineers made their way up the steep, winding Himalayan road to Chezhou village, they knew that they could not expect a warm welcome from the residents.
They were coming unannounced to survey...
Media coverage of the Iraq War varied to such an extent that viewers in the US and in Europe were left with distinctly different understandings of what was going on. Some Europeans claimed that America's 'embedded journalists' were simply 'in bed with' the US military,...
Cover of Stern newsmagazine: Anti-Americanism is now socially acceptable.
Thanks to 24-hour satellite television and all the global news agencies, the Iraq War was a global event. Yet the same event was seen in different corners of the world...
Reality television shows are popular across Africa, attracting young viewers and making celebrities out of the shows’ stars. The shows promote unity and integration across Africa and allow a new focus on continent-wide issues such as HIV. Supporters say the shows bring Africans together in a way...
Click here for the article in The Daily Nation.
Consumers take products like aluminum for granted but resent the smelly, unsightly smelters that produce the product. As a source of cheap clean geo- and hydropower, Iceland has attracted aluminum smelters. Yet increasingly, Icelanders question whether they should sacrifice their landscape for the...
Click here for the article on The Economist.