Tag "covid-19"
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Lessons from China
For the first time in nearly half a century China’s economy has stopped growing. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported a 6.8 percent drop in economic output over the first quarter of the year. Retail sales were down by
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The Great Lockdown and Echoes from the Past
The brief and uneventful interlude that followed the Great Recession of 2007-13 has been supplanted by the Great Lockdown of 2020. The term was coined by Chief Economist Gita Gopinath of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as she unveiled the
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Debt Relief Needed to Preserve 30 Years of Progress
A grand coalition of creditors is to provide debt relief to the world’s least developed countries. Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took the lead and cancelled some $214 million in debt repayments owed by 25 of its
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Raining on China’s Parade
Sensing a unique opportunity to take a shortcut to the global top spot, China is putting in a sustained effort to turn tragedy into triumph and expand its standing and reach in the wake of the pandemic. The Chinese government
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The Final Destiny of the Trillions
When the going gets though, the weak are moved aside. A depressingly large number of the 181 US corporations that last year signed a solemn pledge to fight inequality and work for the benefit society have failed to honour their
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Waiting 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
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World 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
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Big 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
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The 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
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Clash 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
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