Subterms
Donald Trump is all about boundaries. At a personal level, he doesn’t like touching strangers for fear of infection. Politically, he makes no long-lasting close alliances. And geopolitically, he obsesses over strong borders: big walls, more stringent immigration requirements, tariffs on foreign imports. But Trump is nothing if not a walking contradiction. For a guy who shies […] More
On February 24, the World Health Organization declared that the world should prepare for a possible coronavirus pandemic. Outbreaks in South Korea, Iran and Italy have caused alarm. Clearly, the virus has traveled widely and rapidly. Authorities have canceled concerts, carnivals and football matches as well as closed schools, imposed curfews and restricted travel. Despite […] More
Gallup’s current survey of how Americans feel about their personal financial situation has surprised many people. The media and Gallup’s analysts are citing it as evidence that US President Donald Trump’s policies have been successful and that Trump consequently has excellent chances of being reelected. On its webpage that bears the title “Record-High Optimism on […] More
Seismic risks for the global system are growing, not least worsening US geopolitical rivalries, climate change and now the coronavirus outbreak In my 2010 book, Crisis Economics, I defined financial crises not as the “black swan” events that Nassim Nicholas Taleb described in his eponymous bestseller but as “white swans”. According to Taleb, black swans […] More
Moderate leftists need an argument and an inspiring leader, writes John Pawsey, while Dariel Francis says the threat of populism is best countered with a dose of Keynesian economics Benjamin Moffitt, in his review of the forces of populism, suggests that if anti-populists want to defeat the likes of Trump, they’ll need a different approach […] More
Sino-US relations have been a marriage of mutual economic convenience that worked rather well for both countries for several decades. What is commonly referred to as “Chimerica” — where China produces products and purchases American treasury bonds, and the US purchases Chinese products and derives fiscal stability as a result of Beijing’s purchase of a […] More
Yes, the Dow is at a record high and unemployment rates are lower than they have been in decades – but 140 million people are also poor or low wealth Rather than offer a report on the State of the Union, Donald Trump used his annual primetime slot in the House of Representatives to host […] More
Last October, Ecuador witnessed some of the largest mass protests in its modern history. Concentrated mainly in the capital city of Quito and, less intensely, in Guayaquil, Cuenca and Portoviejo, the protests ignited on October 3, when President Lenin Moreno’s government announced the elimination of long-standing fuel subsidies for gasoline and natural gas. The cancellation […] More
