Markets

Summer crises are a familiar feature of European history – and of financial history. Often, addressing some technical issue was not enough to resolve a major political problem, which is true today as well, with Europe’s current crisis reflecting exactly...

The dependence of modern economies on large-scale computer systems presents a new age risk to the global economy. Unfortunately, as the 2008 financial crisis demonstrated, most politicians are still congenitally incapable of making difficult choices until the risks actually materialize....

With US unemployment still above 8 percent, jobs have become a major focus in the presidential campaign. But, while President Barack Obama’s proposals are convincing, none of Mitt Romney’s would do much in the near term – and some could...

In the seven years since Beijing promised with increasing urgency to rebalance its economy, China has unfortunately managed to rebalance externally without rebalancing internally. China’s growth has been propelled by state-driven domestic investment, rather than consumption, and despite the availability...

The EU summit, held in Brussels last week, managed to bring about some much needed, albeit temporary, relief for the euro. Nevertheless, the region’s fundamental weaknesses remain unresolved and confidence in Europe’s periphery is now waning. The EU summit, held...

The eurozone crisis might break European leaders’ inherent resistance to compromise, collaboration, and common action. But the longer they bicker and dither, the greater the risk that what they gain in willingness will be lost to incapacity. NEWPORT BEACH –...

The U.S.’s recovery from the 2008 financial crisis has led to widespread hope that America has the capacity to stay the course and provide a backstop for the rest of the world in the midst of the euro crisis. But...

A new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement would benefit all by increasing developing countries’ capacity to trade, strengthening the WTO’s development mandate, and boosting global economic growth. Indeed, such an agreement could be a down payment on WTO members' commitment to...

Since 2003, Turkey has long fretted whether a sovereign Kurdistan could lead to social unrest within its own borders – especially given Turkey’s native Kurd population. Yet with Ankara’s recent announcement of a series of bilateral deals with the Kurdistan...

The recent appointment of John Griffith-Jones, the senior partner of KPMG, as chairman-designate of the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K. is troubling. Rather than properly investigating the causes of the banking and financial crisis, dealing with the culprits, and...

Globalisation was the buzzword for several years before the global economic crisis hit. Globalisation brought about promises of increased connectivity, growth, greater transfer of knowledge and wealth. Yet, recent economic drama shows that the process of globalisation brings about higher...

A global perfect storm is brewing. Across the world, dark, lowering financial and economic clouds are now looming over the economy, with the eurozone cloud set to be the largest to burst. Indeed, the global economy in 2013 could be...

Twenty years have passed since the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992; yet today, the world is still marked by a complete failure to implement any of the three great treaties signed during that historic conference. Is Rio+20 doomed to...

The future of the planet is at stake in Rio. Without a real and lasting solution that recalibrates our current economic thinking at a systemic level, the scale and pace of change could soon push the planet past critical thresholds...

READER SUBMISSION – No one knows for sure what’s going to happen in Europe. But to suggest that a disorderly exit in Greece is inevitable, followed by the almost certain exit of Spain and Italy, seems hugely irresponsible given what’s...