Being an American journalist reporting on the troubles of Europe is sometimes an ego-damaging experience. I regularly encounter economists, officials and other Europeans who take the attitude that we Yanks just don’t understand
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One of the more gratifying moments so far this year – at least in the realm of high finance – was the decision last week by shareholders of Citigroup to reject a $15 million pay package for CEO Vikram Pandit. The shareholders …
Anyone out there who thinks the euro zone debt crisis is over – and you know who you are – should take a good look at what’s going on in Spain. If Italy represented the biggest threat to the euro in 2011, then Spain will be …
As you can imagine, the people out in Asia are feeling pretty good about themselves these days. And why shouldn’t they? While the U.S. and Europe struggle with debt, unemployment and sagging competitiveness, most of Asia seems …
If you’re watching global oil markets and getting a sickening feeling in your stomach, you’re in good company. Oil prices have spiked precipitously in recent weeks, with the U.S. benchmark price at over $107 and Brent rising …
Amid all of the aggressive market reform that has taken place in China over the past 30 years, the country’s financial and capital markets are a glaring exception. Capital controls restrict flows of money in and out of the …
China’s Premier Wen Jiabao sent a shockwave through the global economy this week when he lowered the country’s GDP growth target for 2012, to 7.5% from 8%. In doing so, Wen was not only recognizing the tremendous headwinds …
I have been guilty, on many occasions, of eviscerating the strategy taken by the leaders of the euro zone to combat its dangerous debt crisis. They have routinely acted too late with too little, causing contagion to spread …
The view in most of the world is that China is indestructible. Shrugging off the crises multiplying elsewhere, China seems to surge from strength to strength, its spectacular growth marching on no matter what headwinds may come. …
After months of delays, arguments and doubts, euro-zone finance ministers agreed on a second, $170 billion bailout of beleaguered Greece in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The agreement will not only provide fresh financing …
After the Greek Parliament on Sunday passed yet another package of austerity measures demanded by its euro-zone neighbors — this one worth $4.4 billion — the path seemed clear to finalizing a long-delayed, second bailout of …
The most important economic story of the first half of the 21st century is how China is changing the global economy. There are a lot of benefits to this change – hundreds of millions of new consumers to drive global growth, …
