What’s Troubling India?

India’s recent fall from macroeconomic grace is a lamentable turn of events. After many years of outperformance, GDP growth has slowed sharply. Annual output will most likely rise by less than 5% this year, down from 6.8% in 2011 and 10.1% in 2010. Reform has stalled amid profound political paralysis. All of the major emerging […]

Rate this:

Economic Recovery May Come Too Late For Obama

The green shoots of recovery are growing a little taller. Newly released gross domestic product estimates   measuring consumer and government spending, investments and net exports   show the economy growing at 2 percent in the third quarter, up from 1.3 percent in the second. In normal times, this would be nothing to get excited about; average GDP growth between […]

Rate this:

UK Emerges From Double-Dip Recession

George Osborne has seized on news that the economy has emerged from double-dip recession, growing by 1% in the third quarter of 2012, as evidence that his policies have put Britain “on the right track”. The figures, announced by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday, mean the chancellor will be able to deliver his autumn statement […]

Rate this:

Africa’s Big Boom

Africa is undergoing a period of unprecedented economic growth. According to The Economist, six of the ten fastest-growing countries in 2011 were in Africa. Average external debt on the continent has fallen from 63% of GDP in 2000 to 22.2% this year, while average inflation now stands at 8%, down from 15% in 2000. This positive trend […]

Rate this:

History Offers Tips for Getting a Handle on Public Debt

Countries battling high public debt must combine policies that support economic growth with lasting changes in government spending and taxation, a new study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concludes. A chapter in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook notes that public debt has surpassed 100 percent of GDP in Japan, the United States, and several European countries in recent […]

Rate this:

Does Economic Growth Make You Happy?

Adair Turner is the jewel in the crown of British public servants. He is one of a tiny minority in public life today capable of thinking and acting at the highest level. Economics after the Crisis, based on three lectures he delivered at the London School of Economics in 2010, is a thinking person’s delight, not […]

Rate this:

How Politics and Perceptions Trump Economics (In Russia)

If you were to measure the recent economic performance of the world’s major countries — say, those that comprise the Group of 20 — you might be surprised to find Russia among the top performers by most common metrics. This outcome is a fact. For example, based on data compiled by The Economist, Russia’s real growth in gross domestic product in the first half of 2012 at 4.4 percent exceeded all […]

Rate this:

New Waves Of Urbanization And Re-balancing Of Industries Will Sustain China’s Economic Growth, Argues Stephen S. Roach

Concern is growing that China’s economy could be headed for a hard landing. The Chinese stock market has fallen 20 percent over the past year, to levels last seen in 2009. Continued softness in recent data – from purchasing managers’ sentiment and industrial output to retail sales and exports – has heightened the anxiety. Long […]

Rate this: