In a recent discussion, Pope Francis’ deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said the world would need to develop a new model of economic development. The Vatican believes this new model must marry economic growth with plans to combat poverty by seeking ways to use resources in a sustainable manner.
Nobel laureate economist and mathematician John Nash and his wife Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Lardé died in a car crash this Saturday.
John Forbes Nash, Jr. was famous for revolutionizing game theory and partial differential equations; his insights into non-cooperative games expanded the field of economics and encouraged generations of economists to study how independent agents will behave within complex systems.
A Brilliant Dissertation
As this year’s crop of college graduates don their caps and gowns and listen to inspiring commencement addresses before embarking on uncertain futures, they’ll also hear a lot about the consequences of the large debts most of them amassed attaining a degree.
Such as: student loan debt is a drain on the economy. Debt prevents young adults from buying homes, starting families and saving for retirement. It is so high, recent graduates are discouraged from starting small businesses and gaining financial independence.
After the Senate’s refusal to pass trade promotion authority (TPA) on May 12, some trade advocates feared that President Obama’s ongoing commercial negotiations with Asia and Europe would die a slow death.
Yesterday’s narrow vote in the Senate to close debate on TPA – a key hurdle to final passage – promises to lift their spirits considerably, as it likely guarantees passage of the bill within the next few days, ahead of the Memorial Day recess.
As the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) December 2015 deadline approaches, most observers feel that the initiative’s deliverables — an integrated production space with free movement of goods, services, and skilled labour — are unachievable. This may be true. However, the AEC is a work in progress. Simply, it will miss its deadline is to ignore other crucial facts about the AEC’s role and circumstances.
The US dollar’s recovery last week may not get the kind of fundamental support that medium and long-term investors would like to see to raise the confidence that the two-month correction has run its course.
Unless the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks conclude soon, they risk dragging on interminably. If that happens, the United States’ capacity to function as a benign world hegemon will be diminished.
To avoid this, the White House is determined to get the pact signed and ratified by the end of 2015. This means persuading the US Congress to approve the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) in June and its TPP negotiating partners to sign a deal just few weeks later.
Recently, two very powerful and damaging storms have wreaked havoc in the Western Pacific: Cyclone Pam and Typhoon Maysak. These were two of the most intense storms to impact this region in the past 15 years, by some metrics, the worst ever recorded—, and they occurred about a month apart. Climate change, once again, was said to have added to their intensity, which has many Pacific Islanders extremely worried.
According to a report from the World Bank, Gaza’s employment rate is the highest in the world, and its economy will not survive without support from international donors and aid from Israel. The economy is struggling due to poor management, blockades and conflict.
