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China on the Way Back to Rebalancing
China’s economy keeps recovering from the coronavirus pandemic-led crisis through the third quarter of 2020, as revealed by the numbers of August activity. Its GDP grew by 3.2% in the second quarter, after falling by 6.8% in the first quarter,
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Africa – Unity Key to Remarkable Success in Fighting Covid-19
The corona scare has passed, and most countries of Africa are reopening their borders and businesses. Infection rates never reached the apocalyptic highs that had been predicted. With around 17 percent of the world population, the continent tabulated just under
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Perfect Storm Brewing: The Winter of Our Discontent
Winter is coming. Instead of setting the stage for another spell-binding episode of an epic television drama, the ominous phrase presages a time of struggle and discontent. Commenting on the present moment in Foreign Affairs, Political Science Professor Charli Carpenter
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Otaviano Canuto: Dependency and Disconnect of U.S. Financial Markets
U.S. stock and corporate bond markets performed extraordinarily well from the March financial shock caused by covid-19 to the end of last month. Then, three consecutive weeks of decline in the three major stock market indexes have been followed this
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Between a Rock and a Hard Place: UK Discovers the Hard Limits of Its ‘Newfound’ Sovereignty
It is not a good time to be a supporter of Brexit. If spin were a tradeable commodity, all would be exceptionally well in the realm. Alas, it is not. The attempt by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to supplant essential
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The Twilight Zone of Fiscal Stimulus
Now in its second iteration, the corona pandemic no longer inspires the blind fear it did just six months ago. Governments are taking stock of the damage wrought and have begun exploring ways to repair economies derailed by lockdowns, social
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Middle East – Business Trumps Politics
Joint business ventures, and the pragmatism required for success, laid the groundwork for the normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which was marked by the touchdown of the first official El Al flight at Abu
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World Bank on COVID-19 in Africa: Can Safety Nets Ease Social and Economic Impacts?
Across the world, governments have geared up to respond to the socio-economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. Early action in countries hard-hit by the crisis range from economic stimulus packages and the lowering of interest rates to social safety nets
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Vietnam – No Stopping Country on the Ascendancy
After two decades of recording full employment and boisterous growth rates, Vietnam has taken a significant, though far from fatal, economic hit even as the country received near-universal praise for its deft handling of the Corona Pandemic. Though most of
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Otaviano Canuto: Brazil, South Korea – Two Tales of Climbing an Income Ladder
The “middle-income trap” has captured many developing countries: they succeeded in evolving from low per capita income levels, but then appeared to stall, losing momentum along the route toward the higher income levels of advanced economies (Gill & Kharas, 2007,
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