Russia faces serious economic challenges, including a demographic crisis, corruption, weak enforcement of property rights, and over-reliance on hydrocarbons. A combination of structural political and economic reforms is required to save the country from stagnation.
Contingent on the global economy’s resilience, economic trends in Latin America appear favorable. In the medium-term, however, a number of structural challenges persist.
China's economic imbalances are the result of urbanization and migration, not financial policy, and expanding residence rights for migrants would do more to boost consumption than fiddling with interest rates.
Global trade imbalances would moderate and China’s growth would be more robust if its citizens were less frugal.
An increasing trade deficit with China, coupled with Chinese purchases of large tracts of Latin American farmland, could cause strain between China and Latin American nations.
With recent financial headlines echoing those just before the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, European and U.S. policymakers must take urgent steps to reduce risk and prepare for bad times ahead.
While it may no longer be possible to provide manufacturing workers the kind of security they once enjoyed, given the fact that technology and globalized markets are changing too quickly, a much better job can be done to help workers adjust to these changes.
While economic inequality has always existed and is not going away, this year it is likely to top the global agenda for voters, protesters, and politicians running for office in the many important elections scheduled around the world.
French President Sarkozy’s request for Chinese money in support of the euro rescue symbolized three historic shifts in great power relations: the fragility and endangerment of the European project, the ascendance of China, and the beginning of the end of the American era.
The United States has been losing its status as the world’s sole superpower since the end of the Cold War, while China has gradually increased its relative power. This re-balancing is beginning to have a profound impact on the international system and the way it is governed.























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