Showing 1 - 10 of 14
Trade shifts redefine development
News, Published on 03/02/2025
» Global trade is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by three major shifts. New technologies are redefining countries' comparative advantages and the types of goods they produce and export. The revival of activist trade and industrial policies threatens to distort trade flows and provoke retaliatory measures. And escalating tensions risk fragmenting the global economy along geopolitical lines.
Are Trump's tariffs going to be worth it?
Oped, Published on 03/12/2024
» US President-elect Donald Trump's promise to impose a 60% tariff on imports from China and a 10-20% tariff on all other imports has triggered a public debate about whether such policies are really so bad. After all, a tariff is a consumption tax, and most economists favour taxes on consumption over income taxes.
Arizona aspires to be chip off the Taiwanese block
Oped, Published on 21/09/2024
» Contrary to expectations, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) semiconductor plant in Arizona is reportedly on track to meet its 2025 production targets. This announcement poses a challenge to the many observers who predicted that the effort to bring chip manufacturing back to the United States would fail. What went right this time?
The high costs of new US tariffs on Chinese EVs
Published on 25/05/2024
» US President Joe Biden’s administration has just announced 100% tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured in China, prompting Donald Trump to promise a 200% tariff on Chinese cars made in Mexico if he is elected in November. Neither policy would have notable effects on the US car market because imports of Chinese EVs are minuscule, owing to past tariffs and the anti-Chinese sentiment that has gripped the country in recent years. Nonetheless, the announcement is significant for three reasons.
The high costs of new US tariffs on Chinese EVs
Oped, Published on 25/05/2024
» US President Joe Biden’s administration has just announced 100% tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured in China, prompting Donald Trump to promise a 200% tariff on Chinese cars made in Mexico if he is elected in November. Neither policy would have notable effects on the US car market because imports of Chinese EVs are minuscule, owing to past tariffs and the anti-Chinese sentiment that has gripped the country in recent years. Nonetheless, the announcement is significant for three reasons.
Developing nations sour on multilateralism
Oped, Published on 23/03/2024
» Multilateralism is waning, and one of the world's leading multilateral institutions, the WTO, is in crisis because the US has been blocking new appointments to its dispute settlement mechanism's Appellate Body since 2018. In the run-up to the WTO's 13th Ministerial Conference last month, some optimists hoped to see progress on specific issues, such as an agreement not to impose tariffs on digital commerce, but expectations were generally low.
Protectionism started the geopolitical fire
Oped, Published on 04/10/2023
» It has been puzzling to see many prominent economists decry the Trump administration's tariffs as welfare-reducing protectionism while approving of the Biden administration's even more drastic steps to reshore, friend-shore, and decouple from China.
Refugee deaths an immigration wake-up call
News, Published on 24/07/2023
» For around a week in late June, Western media were obsessed with the fate of the Titan, a small submersible carrying a few billionaires and others to the sunken Titanic and later found to have imploded within hours of beginning its descent. Meanwhile, a boat carrying some 750 economic refugees capsized off the Greek coast, killing hundreds who had boarded in Libya after making perilous journeys from places like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. Pakistan declared a national day of mourning for its citizens lost at sea. But the West paid hardly any notice.
More than rate hikes needed
News, Published on 01/08/2022
» As inflation in the United States reaches new heights, economists are debating how high the Federal Reserve will need to hike interest rates to curb demand and rein in price growth. Some commentators believe that the Fed will need to be as aggressive as Fed Chair Paul Volcker in the early 1980s, who ended up raising interest rates to as high as 20%.
Weaponising trade won't end Ukraine conflict
News, Published on 19/03/2022
» One of the strongest arguments for free trade is that it promotes peace between participating countries. There is an undeniable correlation between the two, even if it is not always clear whether peace is a precondition for the free trade, or commerce creates the economic incentives for all participants to maintain peace.