Foreign Policy Blogs

Economics

Outlook for the U.S. Economy is Shaky in the Trump Era

Outlook for the U.S. Economy is Shaky in the Trump Era

The 1st quarter of the Trump presidency has been disappointing, with the first 3 months of 2017 seeing the weakest Q1 growth in America in 3 years.

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Crazy, or Crazy Enough to Work? India’s Financial Shakeup

Crazy, or Crazy Enough to Work? India’s Financial Shakeup

Narendra Modi turned his country’s economy upside down by banning its two most common bank notes in an effort to combat the proliferation of “black money”.

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Minding the Global Gender Gap

Minding the Global Gender Gap

Women are catching up with men in education. Yet, they still earn less than men and are much less represented in the top deciles of the income ladder.

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See No Evil? Distorted Finance and Economic Risk

See No Evil? Distorted Finance and Economic Risk

The global economy has been leaning on monetary policy—the printing of money by central banks —to avoid decline. But what are the spillover effects?

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Soccer Inflation and the Transfer Market

Soccer Inflation and the Transfer Market

Astronomical amounts of money are being spent on soccer (football) transfers. These days, no one is shocked at news of multi-million dollar signings.

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The Myth of Islamic Banking

The Myth of Islamic Banking

Islamists not only look at religion as a panacea to political issues, but also as a provider of social justice and an engine of economic prosperity.

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Syriza’s Haphazard Reforms Leave Greeks Suffering

Syriza’s Haphazard Reforms Leave Greeks Suffering

In 2016, Grexit—the issue that was once billed as “existential” for the EU—was barely mentioned across European media. Sometimes, no news is not good news.

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Iran’s Delicate Balancing Act

Iran’s Delicate Balancing Act

Simultaneously courting the West and expanding its influence beyond its borders could work in the short-term. But in the short-term only.

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Why We Should Not Abandon Saudi Arabia

Why We Should Not Abandon Saudi Arabia

Beset by challenges ranging from the collapse in oil prices, to the spreading instability in the region, to criticism from its longtime allies in the United States, Saudi Arabia is facing its most difficult test in decades. But the kingdom has the means to overcome these difficulties, and also has the will to seize a unique opportunity to carry out important reforms.

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Greece’s Forgotten Recovery

Greece’s Forgotten Recovery

After negotiations between the Greek government and the Troika finally came to an end last August, the gaze of the world drifted away from Athens.

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Industry Must Be Part Of The Solution At COP21

Industry Must Be Part Of The Solution At COP21

In the U.S., any discussion involving climate change tends to deteriorate into an argument between two factions—those who feel that climate change is a very real threat to the planet, and those who say it is nothing but a scare tactic.

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Ben Bernanke’s Monetary Policy: Bubble Double Toil and Trouble ?

Ben Bernanke’s Monetary Policy: Bubble Double Toil and Trouble ?

Bernanke’s speech back in 2002 can help shed some light on the question of how asset prices have been taken under consideration in the past by the Fed. It also helps explain how these prices will affect monetary policy in the future.

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Can Business Help Build International Harmony?

Can Business Help Build International Harmony?

The United Nations Global Compact Says, “Yes, Indeed!” By John Paluszek Is “Business For Peace” a non-sequitur? Not at all, especially  for all who participated in the United Nations Global Compact’s “Business For Peace” launch event during the Compact’s mid-September “2013 Leaders Summit” in New York City. The two-day Summit — with some 1,500 registrants and  […]

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Mining Continues to Polarize

Mining Continues to Polarize

As old as Cortez and colonialism, the quest to satisfy modern appetites underlines economic scarcity and, increasingly, political instability. Mining in less-mature economies runs the same risks as its fossil fuel cousins. Over several days in late May, protestors in Kyrgyzstan cut off power to its Kumtor gold mine, vital to the country’s economy; they […]

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Rich Debates

Rich Debates

As questions of economic inequality elbow their way from the classroom to the headlines of the evening news, the question of tax has become ever more prescient. It was also the topic of the latest installment of the Munk Debates. The simple question was put forward as “be it resolved: should the rich be taxed […]

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