Economics

The surest bet on the future of energy is the need for low-carbon energy supplies; And while early movers, such as France & Germany, may pay a slightly higher price today for these strategies, they and the world will reap...

The Nordic nations have gone much further down the road to gender equality than anywhere else in the world. By comparison, some of G8 nations, especially France, Italy and Japan, have a lamentable record. But few countries are emulating the...

Billionaire Bill Gates will provide up to $1 million to anyone who can develop the “next generation condom”, said his charitable foundation this month, in the hopes of reducing unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases across the world,...

Nepal could eradicate poverty within the next 20 years if its poverty reduction rate continues on its current level of progress, said an Oxford University study published on Monday, citing “social policy investments combined with active civil society engagement” for...

The Obama administration has asked U.S. lawmakers to approve an increase in the United States’ contribution to the International Monetary Fund, as well as changes to the voting process within the Fund that will boost the influence of emerging economies...

The United States has called for drunk diplomats to be barred from United Nations meetings, proposing that negotiation rooms “should in future be an inebriation-free zone”. Speaking at the UN General Assembly’s budget committee, also known as the Fifth Committee,...

The European Union Emissions Trading System was the world’s first large emissions trading scheme, which required industrial emitters to purchase a permit for each ton of CO2 emissions. However, with permits’ prices plummeting in the midst of Europe’s economic slowdown,...

The equality movement has made tremendous gains in the last decades and women too can now enjoy greater freedom and access to education and employment. So why is there a persistent gender pay gap that just won’t go away? It...

  World leaders seem to have their minds made up regarding what will fix world CO2 emissions problems. Their list includes taxes on gasoline consumption, more general carbon taxes, cap and trade programs, increased efficiency in automobiles, greater focus on...

In a momentous verdict last week, BP was ordered to pay the largest criminal penalty in U.S. history for its role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. However, while polluters are increasingly being held accountable for their crimes in the...

With a shift in economic strategy comes a radical change in the relationship between underlying growth variables and their impacts on growth. Instead of making predictions and estimations extrapolated from previous forecasts – the problem with most development and growth...

Chinese and European leaders meet in Brussels today for the high-level EU-China summit with the emphasis on increasing trade ties between the two. Trade between China and the EU, the world’s largest trading block, has doubled since 2003, reaching 428...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has called for compassion for the average American, arguing that economic indicators fail to reflect the suffering of individual citizens. US unemployment in July remained stubbornly high at 8.3 percent, with an estimated 12.8 million...

For many years, the risk of climate change was widely regarded as something far in the future, a risk perhaps facing our children or their children. But recent global events suggest that we have now entered a new and very...

A senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has criticised the fund for its “incompetence” in dealing with the eurozone crisis; and slammed the decision to appoint Christine Lagarde as managing director, in a resignation letter submitted to the...