Five years on from Lehman Brothers’ collapse and “where did it all go wrong?” analysis is all the rage. Answers have varied: poor regulation, malicious bankers, dozy politicians, greedy homeowners, and so on. But what if the answer was in our minds? New research published in the journal Neuron suggests that market bubbles are in fact driven by a biological impulse to try to predict how others behave.
Over 40 major donor organisations, including government and private agencies, received “Poor” or “Very Poor” scores in the latest Aid Transparency Index (ATI), bringing into question how and where foreign aid money is being spent, contrary to prior pledges towards more openness.
Sub-Saharan Africa has lost $1 billion a week for the past 30 years due to illicit financial flows related to their natural resources, according to international relief and development organization Oxfam America, urging governments and businesses to work together in introducing sweeping measures to improve transparency and governance in the region.
Estimates for China’s local government debts are now close to $3.3 trillion. Some analysts though believe that the government need not be duly concerned about rising bad debts in its banking sector, as their central bank’s extensive foreign reserves is easily enough to recapitalize the banks. What these analysts fail to understand is that these reserves were not accumulated merely by savings, but also involved more borrowing by the People’s Bank of China.
The IMF loans to Greece, Ireland and Portugal are considered controversial by some analysts. This column argues that these loans – granted without having agreed on convincing paths to manageable debt levels – constituted a substantial departure from IMF principles. The situation is costly for Europe and, having now permanently changed the principles guiding large IMF loans, it will be costly for crises to come. A serious rethink of the management and decision-making structure of the IMF is needed.
The Thai government may begin charging foreigners up to 500-baht ($16.13) to enter the country starting from January next year, said authorities this week, in the hopes of attracting a better “quality” of holidaymakers and, at the same time, pay for tourists who seek treatment at local hospitals but can’t afford the bill.
The ongoing debt and financial crises have exposed the dangers of the dysfunctional fiscal governance present in the U.S. and Europe. As African countries prepare to enter sovereign debt markets, they should heed the west’s “warning” – to handle fiscal issues with transparency and accountability or risk heading down the same route.
After two decades of on-and-off talks, Washington and Brussels hope to conclude their trade and investment partnership. However, it is not a marriage, but a triangle drama. Emerging Asia is the third party.
In his State of the Union address in February, President Obama announced he would initiate formal negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). That same day, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission President JoseÌ Manuel Barroso started negotiations.
An estimated 30 million people worldwide are currently living as slaves, according to the inaugural Global Slavery Index published Thursday, with India said to have the largest number of enslaved people, though African countries still had the highest proportional figure based on population.
The World Bank has cut its forecast for India’s economic growth from 6.1 percent to 4.7 percent in this fiscal year, citing a sharp slowdown in manufacturing and high interest rates as the key factors driving down investment.
In its India Development Update report released on Wednesday, the bank warned that “high headline inflation, an elevated current account deficit, and rising pressure on fiscal balances from the depreciation of the rupee” continued to be major risks for the Indian economy.
