America’s steel madness
Late last year, Japan’s Nippon Steel announced that it had reached a deal to acquire US Steel Corporation for $14.1 billion – a move that would make it the world’s second-largest steel producer...
The coming debt crisis
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund reported that a rising share of countries – 56% of low-income countries and 25% of emerging markets – are “in or at high...
China and the sovereign debt bomb
International capital flows have long been a major source of economic growth. Savings in higher-income countries have financed high-yielding investments in low-income countries, generating benefits...
How to fuel inflation and harm the environment
Inflation has become a hot-button political issue worldwide. In the United States, the consumer price index increased at an annual rate of 8.6% in May, and EU inflation is not far behind. The root...
Will the war in Ukraine revive the WTO?
After continuing Donald Trump’s destructive trade policies for more than a year, US President Joe Biden’s administration finally appears to have recognised the importance of strong trade...
How to use economic sanctions wisely
To help Ukraine while avoiding a nuclear confrontation between Nato and Russia, the United States and its allies have attacked the Russian economy with trade and financial sanctions on a previously...
The futility of unconditional debt support
Although the pandemic has caused upheavals and hardship around the world, it has fallen particularly hard on low- and middle-income countries. Vaccine availability has been far more limited in LMICs...
The Bretton Woods credibility crisis
Despite setbacks like the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, the world economy has had a massively successful run since World War II. That success was underpinned by the post-war global...