Economy and Finance

It's Time Overdue To Tame The Beast Called Capitalism

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Capitalism rules the world. Correct. But Bernie Sanders has his doubts about it. Good. It is a malicious system in many ways but as Winston Churchill might have said, it is better than all the alternatives. Nevertheless, it’s time overdue to tame the beast.

After the Second World War the Western world did make a big effort to mitigate some of its worst effects. In the U.S. there was the GI bill to help returning soldiers get started in life. Later, there was Medicaid for poorer people. In Europe there was a widespread attempt to replicate the free health services pioneered by the Scandinavian countries and New Zealand.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 25 February 2020

UN Study Predicts $32 Billion Fall in Post-Brexit UK Exports

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN | UNCTAD) — A new study expects non-tariff measures (NTMs) to cause major fractures in post-exit trade relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), knocking up to US$32 billion, or 14 per cent, off of UK exports to the EU.

NTMs are policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices, or both. They are the key factors mediating market access in the world economy.

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 25 February 2020

Image credit: Washington International Trade Association

Economic Growth Is Not The B-All and End-All In The Third World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Do we know how to end poverty in the Third World? Do we know why some economies expand and others don’t? Not really. There is no clear formula for growth. The two Nobel economics prize winners of last year, the husband and wife team of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, write in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “The uncomfortable truth is that the economics profession still doesn’t have a good sense of why some economies expand and others don’t”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 11 February 2020

Image credit: Transparency International

Politics-Big Money Nexus Feeds Corruption

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – In the last year, anti-corruption movements across the globe have gained momentum as millions of people joined together to speak out against corruption in their governments.

Protests from Latin America, North Africa and Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Central Asia made headlines as citizens marched in Santiago, Prague, Beirut and a host of other cities to voice their frustrations in the streets.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 26 January 2020

Image credit. Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Trump Fighting the Wrong Battle in A Tit-For-Tat Confrontation with China

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, Sherlock Holmes lectures Watson on the unlikely subject of free trade.

Holmes: “Capital article this on free trade. Permit me to read you an extract from The Times: ‘You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such legislation must in the long run keep wealth from the country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the general condition of life in this island.’”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 31 December 2019

Image courtesy of Stephff | The Korea Times

The China-India Double Helix in the Reemergence of Asia as World’s Dominant Power

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn *

NEW DELHI (IDN) – It has been posited that in the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, it is being Asianized. But is the story of the Asian success as blossoming as it looks.

There are immense challenges across the contemporary world. Merkelisation has caused a social crisis in the European Union which has been exacerbated by BREXIT, and Francis Fukuyama, the noted author of The End of History expresses his fears for a U.S.-China war.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 27 November 2019

Photo credit: Roscongress | Vyacheslav Viktorov

Russia and Africa Resolved on Concrete Actions in Trade and Investment

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – After the first Russia-Africa Summit in the Black Sea city Sochi on October 23-24, Russia and Africa have resolved to move from mere intentions to concrete actions in raising the current bilateral trade and investment to appreciably higher levels in the coming years.

As a first step, Russia plans to offer trade subsidies and investment guarantees as an emergency support for Russian companies to penetrate into African market, part of the strategy for strengthening economic ties between Russia and Africa, according to a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 07 November 2019

UN Warns of Damage US-China Trade War Is Wreaking

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN | UNCTAD) – The ongoing U.S.-China trade war is not only hurting both countries but also affecting the stability of the global economy and jeopardizing future growth prospects, warns the UN in a new paper and adds that while China is losing, other economies – such as Taiwan, Mexico, the European Union and Viet Nam – are gaining.

The study, Trade and trade diversion effects of United States tariffs on China, shows that the trade war has resulted in a sharp decline in bilateral trade, higher prices for consumers and trade diversion effects such as increased imports from countries not directly involved in the trade war.

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 05 November 2019

Trump’s Absence at ASEAN Summit Shifts the Focus to Asian Giants

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Ever since the U.S. was invited to join the East Asia summit that is held in conjunction with the annual ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit, media and conference attention has been focused on what the President of the U.S. says.

But this year, President Trump boycotting the Summit and sending a low-level delegation led by its newly appointed national security adviser Robert O'Brien has helped to focus attention on the role of the two Asian giants – India and China – in developing a regional trade and security architecture.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 04 November 2019

Opportunity Beckons as Asia Reemerges as the World’s Dominant Economic Power

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

The writer is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and former Foreign Secretary.

It has been said that in the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, it is being Asianized. Sri Lanka has another opportunity, through the astute management of its policies, both internal and external, to be part of the blossoming Asian success story.