Thomas Malthus penned his terrifying vision for the future of mankind more than two centuries ago, but it still haunts us today. He believed that we could never overcome two basic laws of nature – man’s ability to procreate would always outstrip our planet’s ability to feed everybody. His view is one of perpetual poverty and …
Over the centuries, Europe has witnessed many major battles that determined the continent’s future. There was the 8th century battle of Poitiers that stopped the invading Muslims and preserved Christian Europe. Waterloo finally put an end to Napoleon’s quest for European dominance. And of course, the landings at Normandy. Now Europe …
The word “Japan” has become synonymous with economic malaise. Any time an economist wants to describe how bad things could get for an industrialized economy, he or she inevitably says something like the place “could end up like Japan.” And there is good reason why Japan has become a four-letter word in the world of economics. …
Did you know that the U.S. still stations nearly 50,000 troops in Japan? That’s pretty amazing when you think about it. The war in the Pacific ended 66 years ago, and there hasn’t been a conflict in Northeast Asia since the Korean War of the early 1950s, but America still maintains a hefty military presence in the area. Another bunch …
The world economy dodged a bullet today. Parliamentarians in Greece voted in favor of a painful package of austerity measures aimed at reducing the government’s yawning budget deficit, controlling its ballooning debt and convincing the rest of the euro zone to continue to support the country with rescue funds. The vote paves the way …
The entire financial world was watching Athens today to see whether or not the Greek government would survive a no-confidence vote. Thankfully, it did. More importantly, the government now has to push a new slate of severe austerity measures through parliament next week to try to control its escalating debt. If the package gets rejected, …
As the contest for the top job at the International Monetary Fund heats up in the wake of Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s embarrassing arrest, I’m considering nominating a new candidate: Myself. Am I qualified? Well, I haven’t managed a finance ministry or a central bank, and I barely recall taking calculus in high school. But I’ve got …
We all recall from our high school literature classes that the Greeks are especially adept at the art of the tragedy. We can see that expertise playing out in Athens today. The government of Prime Minister George Papandreou is fighting for its life as the nation teeters on the edge of default and descends into violent street protests. He …
We can all remember the sudden collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the official launch of the last financial crisis. Panicked investors dumped stocks and bonds around the globe in a desperate flight to cash and …
In the latest news out of Athens, Greek prime minister George Papandreou is offering to give up his post for the cause of Greek salvation. The outlook couldn’t get much worse.
We can all remember the sudden collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the official launch of the last financial crisis. Panicked investors dumped stocks …
You’d think that OPEC would be laughing it up right now – all the way to the bank. With oil prices at a lofty $100 a barrel, OPEC’s oil exporters are sucking in petrodollars on a grand scale. But all is not happy in the world’s …
You’d think that OPEC would be laughing it up right now – all the way to the bank. With oil prices at a lofty $100 a barrel, OPEC’s oil exporters are sucking in petrodollars on a grand scale. But all is not happy in the world’s most infamous cartel. A meeting of the 12 OPEC states last week broke down in acrimony after a …
