The ease of doing business indicator, known as EDB, is a system that ranks the regulatory environment in countries around the world. New research looks at how the World Bank’s ease of doing business index has amassed considerable influence over business regulations worldwide. The financial institution has succeeded in doing so even though it doesn’t […]
In 1996, Jiang Zemin became the first Chinese head of state to visit India, underscoring the journey the two Asian neighbours had made since their 1962 border war. His successor Hu Jintao came calling in 2006. However, when you compare that to Xi Jinping’s three visits to India in the past five years – the […]
The trade war seems like the simplest explanation for China’s diminishing economic growth. The White House has slapped tariffs up to 25% on a $550 billion basket of U.S.-bound exports and Chinese exports to the U.S. dropped 22% in September. But while U.S. China hawks would no doubt like to take credit for dinging Beijing’s economy, […]
The boiling mind of Trump has spawned a cottage industry for cognitive experts who have questioned whether he is, well, all there. But as the impeachment inquiry barrels ahead on Capitol Hill, several associates of the president, including former White House aides, worry that his behavior is likely to get worse. Angered by the proceedings, unencumbered […]
E-bills, e-signature, the electronic transfer of funds – advancements in technology are bringing about remarkable changes in the business landscape, domestically and internationally. All this change is facilitating the faster movement of goods across borders and forcing governments to keep pace. Negotiations for regional trade agreements have proved an important forum for government consultation about […]
Hong Kong and the rest of the world have been stunned by the bloody spectacles and violence across the city over these past months. How did a peaceful society suddenly degenerate into lawlessness and chaos, with students, ordinary people and even policemen attacking one another like deadly enemies when, before this disaster, they were normal […]
Humanity would have suffered had Facebook been allowed to use Libra to privatise the international payments system. But the authorities that are now strangling Libra should look to the future and do with it something innovative, useful, and visionary: hand Libra, or its core concept, over to the International Monetary Fund so that it can […]
The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting […]
To see Tehran as helplessly riven with antagonistic factions is misguided. Under concerted pressure from Trump, the separate parts of Iran’s regime have closed ranks. Western policymakers must accept the reality that Iran conducts its security policy as a unified state actor. Read Here – Foreign Affairs
One of Asia’s oldest democracies may be in jeopardy. Sri Lanka’s presidential election next month, is expected to bring to power another member of the Rajapaksa family, whose affinity for authoritarianism, violence, and corruption is well known. While Sri Lanka’s democracy survived the last test – an attempted constitutional coup by outgoing President Maithripala Sirisena […]
looking beyond borders 