Economics

A new government crackdown is targeting lawyers abusing an investment visa program.The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced it is pursuing an investigation against business owners and lawyers who the SEC claims are running “fraudulent investment scams” to exploit...

The US dollar's upside momentum, sparked by the strong January jobs report, and anxiety over the brinksmanship politics in Europe over Greece (and Ukraine), faded last week.  The weaker than expected US retail sales and some optimism over another ceasefire...

Credit Rating Agencies have been a lot in news ever since the US Subprime Mortgage Crisis 2007. Later, Europe blamed them for making matters worse for individual countries by downgrading Greece and Cyprus to ‘junk’ status. Over a period of...

Two government reports released on Thursday indicate the U.S. recovery might not be as strong as previously believed.Retail sales fell 0.8% on a month-to-month basis in January, the United States Department of Commerce reported. On a year-over-year basis, January retail...

After over a gloomy decade of inconclusive talks, a small but important step was taken in early December 2014 to finish the Doha Round negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2015 and beyond, actions to arrive at a...

Whether you fear or welcome a challenge to the world’s existing power structure, the main focus of attention is on when China will begin to translate its increasing influence into genuine global leadership. And after a period when China has...

Australia’s farmers, particularly beef producers, may have celebrated too early when the Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA) took effect on 15 January 2015. The deal may be gazumped by another that is taking shape between Japan and the United States...

A ceasefire in Ukraine appears to have been reached, and despite some confusion late yesterday, no compromise has been struck over the new Greek government's demand that it is recognized that the previous agreements are not working. However, that may...

Property in the United States is getting more expensive and demand for real estate is falling even when mortgage rates remain at record lows.A flurry of indicators suggests that the real estate market in the U.S. is slowing due to...

The Euro group meeting today and the heads of state meeting tomorrow cannot resolve the standoff with Greece. The logic of each side demands negotiating until the very last minute as the only way to ensure achieving the most.  Of...

Stocks surged in Europe and the United States as rumors floated about an announcement, maybe tomorrow, regarding an agreement over Greece’s debt.Equities rose as rumors surfaced that the European Commission will announce a compromise between the European Central Bank, the...

It is official: India and the US will resume negotiations on a high-standard bilateral investment treaty (BIT). In a recent joint statement Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama affirmed their ‘shared commitment to facilitating increased bilateral investment flows...

Oil prices may fall again by over 50% even as rising geopolitical tensions threaten energy supply chains in Europe.  A report by Citigroup suggests that oil can fall to as little as $20 per barrel as a result of historically...

Many bilateral FTAs signed to date in Asia have not brought significant commercial or domestic reform or benefits. For one thing, bilateral ‘free trade agreements’ (which are preferential in character) are less likely to deliver substantial trade opening benefits unless...

The critics were right. Ten years after the Australia–United States free trade agreement (AUSFTA) came into force, new analysis of the data shows that the agreement diverted trade away from the lowest cost sources. Australia and the United States have...