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The Club of Rome’s landmark 1972 report warning of the potentially catastrophic consequences of exponential economic growth was widely dismissed by mainstream economists at the time. Had that not happened, The Limits to Growth would not be required reading today
20 May 2022
While some economic indicators suggest that the recovery remains on track, others show that consumers may be stalling out, and that households and businesses are becoming increasingly pessimistic. The US Federal Reserve will have to respond more nimbly to economic softening than it did to strengthening in 2021
20 May 2022
Between falling real incomes in advanced economies, China’s weakening outlook, and the uncertainties stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine, there is more than enough reason to worry that the post-pandemic recovery is giving way to a downturn. But there is still much that policymakers could do to mitigate the blow
19 May 2022
High commodity prices help buffer external positions, fiscal revenues
18 May 2022
By using all the means at its disposal to support potentially debt-distressed member states, the European Central Bank is not merely serving as a market maker of last resort. Rather, it is engaged in fiscal-support operations, potentially to the detriment of its mandated objectives
18 May 2022
Although the International Monetary Fund’s newly revised policy framework on capital controls makes some improvements on what came before, it is still likely to do more harm than good. Real-world experience and advances in economic theory have shown that the IMF’s suspicions about such policies are misplaced
18 May 2022
Rich countries have shown impressive unity in helping Ukraine counter the Russian invasion. They now need to demonstrate the same level of resolve to prevent the global economic fallout from the conflict from destroying the lives or livelihoods of many of the world’s most vulnerable people
16 May 2022
Now that markets have finally been conditioned for interest-rate hikes, the danger of financial over-tightening looms large. Just as central bankers have embarked on a long-overdue process of balance-sheet unwinding, global developments have pushed the economy to the edge of recession
16 May 2022
Leading central banks are now deploying tools that should help to contain growing price pressures. But these measures will impose a high economic cost, and could push the most vulnerable economies into recession
13 May 2022
With commentators offering increasingly dismal warnings about the inflation situation in the United States, one might think that the US Federal Reserve has failed completely at its primary task. But the bond market is telling a different story, and there is no reason to think that it is driven by doves
12 May 2022
The explosive growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has opened up a new front in the broader climate crisis by threatening to offset the progress made in recent years toward decarbonization. For the technology to gain wider adoption over the long term, its proponents will have to get serious about reducing its energy usage
11 May 2022
With the end of post-1990s hyper-globalization, scenarios for the world economy run the gamut. In the best case, achieving a better balance between the prerogatives of the nation-state and the requirements of an open economy might enable inclusive prosperity at home and peace and security abroad
10 May 2022
The time has come for Sri Lanka to face its financial demons head on. It will be a difficult fight, but a currency board – which strips the government and the central bank of the opportunity to mismanage the budget and the exchange rate – vastly improves its chances of winning
10 May 2022
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