Data is now at the center of global trade. For decades, international trade in goods and services set the pace of globalization. After the global financial crisis, however, growth in trade plateaued, and in its place came an explosion of cross-border data flows. Measured by bandwidth, cross-border data flows grew roughly 112 times over from 2008 to 2020.
Read Here | Foreign Affairs
The prospect of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis makes it all the more urgent to have a firm vision of how the burden of public debt can be reduced once the coronavirus has been vanquished. For this reason, every country must work on itself and strive to maintain budgetary discipline.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
Bill Clinton was fond of saying that when it came to elections it was the economy, stupid. Judging by his unusually large budget stimulus package so early in his Administration, it would seem that Joe Biden does not subscribe to Clinton’s view.
Read Here | The National Interest
To consolidate its post-pandemic growth momentum in 2021, China should not be in a rush to exit from expansionary fiscal and monetary policy. The government may have to issue more bonds than planned, and the People’s Bank of China may need to implement quantitative easing to facilitate this.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
China’s antagonistic response to concerns over the use of forced labor in Xinjiang suggests that its leaders believe that the Chinese market is simply too lucrative for Western firms or governments to abandon. They may be overplaying their hand.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
In recent weeks, senior Pakistani officials, including the country’s powerful army chief, have signalled or outright said that, from now on, their country’s foreign policy will emphasise geoeconomics. This is a welcome rhetorical shift.
Read Here | Foreign Policy
After last year’s economic collapse, the prospects for a strong cyclical recovery have always been strong. And judging by a series of must-watch high-frequency indicators, the long-awaited boom has arrived and seems likely to continue building – at least in the near term.
Read Here | Project Syndicate
The ruling communist parties of Vietnam and Laos have formally named their new leadership teams after five-year reshuffles, and the new lineups appear very peculiar. Politicians whose experience should have made them ideal candidates for certain roles were installed in positions ill-suited to their skills. Round pegs have been placed in square holes.
Read Here | Asia Times
It is one year into the COVID-19 pandemic and the global community still confronts extreme social and economic strain as the human toll rises and millions remain unemployed. Yet, even with high uncertainty about the path of the pandemic, a way out of this health and economic crisis is increasingly visible.
Read Here | IMF Blog
