The World Economic Forum is underway in Davos. The global capital markets are off to one of their worst years ever. The threat of terrorism hangs over us like the Sword of Damocles while GDP growth, except in a few countries, is not keeping pace with population growth.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report this week pertaining to poverty levels among member nations. According to the report, a few surprising nations ranked high on the list, with Israel at number one and the United States at number four.
The weak growth, large output gap, low return on capital, and a host of other economic malaise are widely recognized. There seem to be two main schools. One is associated with Reinhart and Rogoff. They argue that “this time is not different” and that much of disappointment with economic performances is what one should expect given the end of a historic credit cycle and debt crisis.
Over 500 victims have reported allegations of sexual assault, groping, and theft taking place in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve, forcing German Chancellor Angela Merkel to take a tougher stance on migration. Germany has welcomed more migrants and refugees than any other nation in Western Europe, accepting over one million refugees in 2015, but the government is turning away more migrants wishing to get in from the southern border.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty adopted in 2013, did not intend to serve as a major economic treaty. Its aim was to reduce mercury pollution around the world. However, according to a recent MIT study, that treaty, and several others, may have a significant positive impact on the U.S. economy.
As most people look forward with hope to the potential of a new year, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, warned of a disappointing global economic outlook.
Our impact on the environment might not be at the forefront of our minds during the rush of the Christmas festive season. We might be far more worried about our light wallets from the expected pile of presents and massive food feast. Many of us are concerned about just getting through it.
However, the consumer madness of late December is the perfect time to ponder the consequences of our habits and excesses. Christmas is probably the most extravagant of our Western celebrations.
Today, almost 200 nations have united in a global agreement on global change. However, the efforts of a few can still undermine the hopes of the many.
After the 1992 Kyoto Protocol, it took almost a quarter of a century to achieve the Paris accord. . For the first time, it obligates both advanced nations as well as emerging and developing economies into reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
Long-term challenges
According to the World Bank, about 1.5 billion people currently live in conflict zones, 19.5 million people live as refugees from these areas, and 38 million people have been displaced within their own countries because of these disputes. Unfortunately, going hand-in-hand with so many people in desperate situations, corruption has become an enormous concern in these “fragile” conflict-zone countries.
The Paris climate talks have been heralded as a historic deal. However, while they have been praised for the very feat of reaching an agreement and for setting an ambitious aim to keep warming below 2℃ and endeavouring to limit it to 1.5℃, the agreement has been criticised for being weak. In terms of achieving the 1.5℃ limit, it is up to the states themselves to change their behaviour and they can pull out of the agreement at any point. This, however, might not be such a bad thing.
