Markets

Despite recent rhetoric by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Japanese economy remains in dire straits – with ‘Abenomics’ simply the past LDP neo-Keynesian policies on steroids. The time is right for Japan to redistribute its reserves back to its...

Despite the global economy’s myriad of problems, leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, particularly those from Europe, seemed more interested in celebrating the euro’s survival, rather than in tackling long-term concerns. Over the last 25 years, our world...

At his second inaugural address on January 21, U.S. President Barack Obama promised more progressive politics for America – shifting away from the Reagan-era policies, led by corporate special interests, over the last three decades. And while it is too...

The Mediterranean has joined the shale game, but as most of Europe's Mediterranean countries drag their feet, all eyes are on Israel, Turkey, and Algeria. For Israel, it will be a slow road without the majors. For Algeria, it's full...

  Oil prices are expected to remain high this year, especially with the high cost of extraction involved in obtaining more tight oil and oil from other unconventional sources. If the cost of oil continues to rise, what further damage...

Economic history suggests that most countries fail in the reform and adjustment process precisely because the sectors of the economy, not to mention individuals, that have benefitted from the distortions are powerful enough to block any attempt to eliminate those...

Unlike the old days, the threat of a looming currency war will not be directly related to trade imbalances and balance-of-payments crises. Rather, the main driver has been major central banks’ pursuit of experimental measures – in order to compensate...

While chances of a perfect economic storm in 2013 are low, the global economy still faces major risks this year – especially as fiscal austerity continues to spread to more advanced economies, leading to an increased risk of a hard...

Financial repression results from policies that allow governments to fund their borrowing through imposing costs on others – increasingly seen across global financial markets from Japan’s asset purchase programme to the European Central Bank’s outright market transactions. By artificially lowering...

The pace of land grabbing in the developing world is accelerating fast. Foreign governments, financial institutions and corporate giants have combined to create a neo-colonial expansion, which has disastrous consequences for the local populations, as well as the environment. The...

Besides its economic and social implications, the persistent decline of the American middle-class also poses a significant geopolitical threat: Can the U.S. really maintain its status as a global superpower when half of the country is either stagnant or already...

As we begin a new year we wanted to take a look at the current energy landscape and see what the future holds for the global economy, America's oil and gas boom, whether renewables will continue to be a favourite...

As the European Union mulls another year of economic stagnation and the United States a year of lacklustre and uncertain economic recovery, will emerging markets take the lead in global economic recovery?  As the European Union mulls another year of...

The relationship between oil shocks and global recessions is one that has been strongly established for decades. Since World War II, 10 out of 11 recessions in the U.S. were preceded by a sharp increase in the price of oil,...

The ascent to power of the Democratic Party of Japan marked the end of Japan's one-party state, dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party since 1955. However, the DPJ was unable to address the challenges Japan faced, was internally unstable, and...