Expanding the Legacy
Tag: Trade
10 Posts
Struggling to Remain Relevant
Reports of its premature passing are greatly exaggerated. Maligned by many and ill-understood by most, globalisation is far from death – or dying. The Corona Pandemic, now into its second year, did expose weak links in cross-border supply chains and the perils of just-in-time manufacturing. Operational efficiency, it would seem,...
WTO DG Meeting High Expectations
She a master of detail yet sustains a grand vision of securing a multilateral approach to cross-border issues that affect nearly all. An enviable political astuteness and the ability to come up with fresh solutions to tired problems have propelled Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to ever greater heights, shattering countless glass ceilings...
Pursuing Hegemony, China Plays the Victim
It is barely a secret that the ruling caste of present-day China seeks to return the country to its former magnificence, lost during the ‘Century of Humiliation’ (1839-1949). This was when Japan and the great western powers unceremoniously carved up the Middle Kingdom. Such a broad policy objective is eminently...
Free Trade in Retreat
The EU free trade baton, carried by the UK until Brexit materialised, has been relayed to the ‘Stockholm Six’ of likeminded liberal countries pushing back against French and Italian pressure for Europe to get tougher on trade defence – and relax on subsidies. Germany was invited to join the informal...
Returning to Accelerated Growth
Home to half of the world’s fastest-growing economies, most of Africa is already now living its long-promised bright future. After a few lean years brought about by the end of the commodities super cycle, most of the continent’s top performers have pushed through the structural reforms needed to ensure the...
Crackpot at the Helm
The established wisdom, first formulated and then imposed by the United States, says that trade encourages nations to maintain peace. In the decades following the end of World War II, the US erected a new world order based on the premise that cross border trade creates common interests which conspire...
Turning the Tables
President Trump may enjoy his Twitter-powered banter and bluster; he is not quite getting his way either at home or abroad. As US relations with the European Union and others sour, President Trump pours out one problem after the other, blaming all and sundry – and particularly the much-maligned EU...
Wheel of Fortune: In Search of the Golden Decade
Download a PDF of this essay A golden decade is all it takes for a nation to progress from basket case to powerhouse and erect a solid foundation for lasting economic success. The 1980s were such a decade for South Korea which tripled its per capita annual income to almost...
From Dakar with Love
A self-described creative Marxist, Samir Amin (84) is a French-Egyptian economist who lives in Senegal and firmly believes that world capitalism – defined as the rule of oligopolies based in rich countries – maintains its power through five monopolies: technology, natural resources, finance, global media, and red buttons.
Beyond the British Glitter
The UK economy may be growing at an impressive clip: the spurt is powered by borrowed money and, as such, akin to a bubble. The same holds true for the seemingly impressive economic performance of the United States.
