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Back to homepageWaiting for the Government to Come Knocking
Streamlined to a skeleton, the US federal government is singularly unable to keep up with politicians eager to dole out trillions of dollars to businesses and individuals caught short by the pandemic. Jolted out of their small-is-beautiful philosophy, lawmakers and
Read MoreWorld Bank Readies $160 Billion Emergency Aid Package
World Bank President David Malpass has joined IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in urging bilateral creditors to extend debt relief to poor countries struggling to cope with the corona virus. “Many countries will need debt relief. This is the only
Read MoreBig Egos, Poker Faces, and Deep Pockets Meet to Address Oil Glut
President Vladimir Putin of Russia has a poker face and knows how to use it. A real-life display of his diplomacy-on-ice takes place today as OPEC oil and energy ministers meet online to discuss ways to avoid a further collapse
Read MoreOtaviano Canuto: More Than One Coronavirus Curve to Manage – Infection, Recession and External Finance
Flattening Coronavirus Curves – Otaviano Canuto First appeared at the Policy Center for the New South The global reach of COVID-19 is now clear. In a short time, country after country has suffered outbreaks of the new coronavirus, with each
Read MoreThe Fabric, and the Notion, of EU Solidarity is Being Ripped Apart
Italians are suffering – but they are also angry and defiant. EU flags are being burned. On social media, Italy’s citizens are telling each other, and the world, that “we will save ourselves”. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is pleading for
Read MoreClash over Eurobonds Widens Rift in Eurozone
Sixteen hours into their videoconference, sleep deprived Eurozone finance ministers early this morning agreed to disagree and try again for consensus later today. Eurogroup Chairman Mario Centeno suspended the discussion and said a deal was close, but still out of
Read MoreDeflation, Inflation, and the Disappearance of Deficit Phobia
Inflation is, essentially, the expression of excess demand or, on its flip side, a sign of depressed supply. The trillions of freshly ‘minted’ dollars and euros that seek to maintain an equilibrium of sorts between supply and demand whilst the
Read MoreSmoke and Mirrors Line the Fringes of the Pandemic
Luigi di Maio owes his rapid ascendancy in Italian politics to an almost virulent display of Euroscepticism. It propelled the former drinks vendor at the Naples San Paolo football stadium to a top spot in his country’s notoriously vicious political
Read MoreSeparating the Wheat from the Chaff
Scale, speed, and simplicity. In order to have a discernible effect, measures taken to alleviate the impact of the corona pandemic on people, businesses, and institutions must include these three key elements. Earlier this week, the US navy became the
Read MoreBook Review: The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger – Iger’s Wild Ride to the Top of ‘the Happiest Place on Earth’
Back in 2005, Robert Iger’s 31-year journey at Disney and ABC looked like it could come to an end. Pulitzer prize-winner James B Stewart had released his book DisneyWar, an exposé on Michael Eisner’s 20-year reign as CEO of the
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