Economics & Business Archive

One of China’s top military leaders has warned the United States not to interfere in a territorial spat between Beijing and Tokyo. World News Videos by NewsLook

On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission narrowly approved reporting rules intended to curb corruption in resource extraction and to combat human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, also called the “conflict minerals provision,” requires that companies determine the origin of the metals they use and disclose whether they contain minerals from conflict zones, including the DRC and neighboring African countries.* “The SEC’s ruling is one more important piece of the puzzle to resolving the conflict in eastern Congo,” Sasha Lezhnev, senior policy analyst at the Washington-based human rights organization Enough, told […]

When world leaders converge on Tehran next week to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, they will give the Iranian regime a desperately needed opportunity to display competence and confidence, and not a moment too soon. Expect bluster and grandstanding from Iran’s leaders, with a message aimed not only at the international community but also at a restless domestic audience. Behind the over-the-to taunts and frequent bravado, the reality is that the Islamic Republic is being squeezed on all sides. As if Iran’s leaders didn’t have enough on their hands with economic sanctions, talk of war and a besieged […]

Prime Minister Dean Barrow of Belize is pushing international creditors to agree to a debt restructuring after his government missed a payment this week. In an email interview, Heather Berkman, an analyst at Eurasia Group’s Latin America practice, where she takes the lead on the Caribbean, Central America and Colombia, discussed Belize’s debt problems. WPR: What are the scope and causes of Belize’s current economic difficulties? Heather Berkman: There are a number of factors contributing to Belize’s current financial predicament. First, the economy has struggled to rebound since the global downturn in 2009, and recorded only 2 percent growth in […]

Police in Greece conducted a massive immigration operation earlier this month that resulted in thousands of arrests. In an email interview, Gabriella Lazaridis, a senior lecturer in the department of politics and international relations at the University of Leicester, discussed Greece’s immigration crackdown. WPR: What is the current situation in terms of trends in legal and illegal immigration to Greece as well as Greek immigration policy? Gabriella Lazaridis: Since the beginning of the 1990s, Greece has changed from an emigration to an immigration country. In the first quarter of 2012, some 64 percent of all irregular migrants in the European […]

Following a series of activist protests, tensions are once again rising in East Asia over the ownership of a small, uninhabited archipelago that lies between Taiwan and Japan. The specifics of this recent episode highlight the depth of nationalist sentiments held among the peoples of China, Japan and even Taiwan when it comes to matters of national territory. This is not merely a dispute over fishing grounds and potential oil and gas deposits; it is a matter of historical grievances and national pride. On Aug. 15, the anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II, a group of activists […]

BEIJING — For China, diversification away from the dollar is a strategic priority that implies more than simply adjusting the currency composition of its foreign reserves. It also involves a wide range of measures aimed at side-stepping the U.S. currency and promoting the use of renminbi (RMB) in trade and investment. Nowhere is this shift more strategically significant than in commodities markets, where Beijing is building out the physical and financial infrastructure required to establish the RMB as the dominant currency for commodities in Asia. China’s efforts to diversify away from the dollar have been multifaceted. It is buying proportionately […]

South Korea unveils a new monument on a disputed Pacific island amid rising tensions with Japan. World News Videos by NewsLook

Regulators in Australia gave approval last month to the $30 billion Browse gas export project in the state of Western Australia. In an email interview, Vlado Vivoda, a research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, discussed Australia’s energy security. WPR: What is the breakdown of Australia’s energy consumption, in terms of fuel types and sources, and is there any policy strategy to shift the balance? Vlado Vivoda: Australia is mainly reliant on fossil fuels, which make up 96 percent of its primary energy demand. The largest source of energy is coal, with 40 percent, followed by oil, […]

South America’s history throughout the 1980s and 1990s is littered with the names of now-defunct currencies, such as the Argentine austral and the Brazilian cruzeiro. Now, an old vulnerability is re-emerging as an economic and political Achilles’ heel for several South American governments: exchange rates. Some are clamping down on citizens’ purchases of U.S. dollars, in attempts to prop up local money and stem capital flight. Others are promoting central bank dollar purchases and sales, or deploying derivatives contracts, to manage volatile exchange rates. Whether deployed to defend currencies, such as the Argentine peso and Venezuelan bolívar, or smooth the […]

After a visit to Beijing earlier this week by Chang Song Taek, a high-ranking North Korean official seen as a key influence on his nephew and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, China and North Korea announced that they had signed a number of agreements to enhance economic cooperation. According to the BBC, the two countries signed deals on the development of two special economic zones as well as on electricity supply and agricultural cooperation. For Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, the deals reflect the fact that China […]

For the first time in several decades, Iraq reclaimed its place as the second-largest OPEC oil producer in July. Iraq produced more than 3 million barrels per day (bpd) over the month, surpassing Iran, whose production fell to 2.9 million bpd. The development resulted from a combination of Iraq’s gradually increasing oil output and Iran’s decreasing production due to the growing impact of international sanctions on Iran’s energy production sector. During the past five years, Iran’s oil production has decreased by about 1 million bpd due to various multinational and unilateral sanctions on its commercial activities. Meanwhile, Iraq’s output has […]

Japan-South Korea relations appear to have reached their nadir with the unprecedented visit of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to the disputed Dokdo islets last week. Lee’s visit represents a dramatic escalation in the territorial dispute with Japan, which also claims sovereignty over the atoll, known in Japan as Takeshima. The visit marks the first time a South Korean head of state has made an official visit, a redline that had not been breached up until this point in order to avoid provoking a diplomatic crisis with Japan. Lee toured the atoll’s largest island, met with coast guard officials stationed […]

Japan announces that it will take South Korea to court to settle a dispute over an island chain believed to sit atop billions of dollars worth of natural gas. World News Videos by NewsLook

Recent high-level visits by Russian officials to Islamabad and an upcoming trip by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first-ever by a Russian head of state since Pakistan’s independence, are highlighting Russia’s efforts to bolster strategic ties with the South Asian country. While looking to secure its near abroad in advance of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2014, Russia is also moving to deepen its geo-economic ties with South Asia as a whole, with Pakistan serving as a gateway for energy trade to the entire subcontinent. For Pakistan, Russia can not only help the civilian government in Islamabad […]

Several European Union countries recently asked the European Commission to consider sanctions against Iceland for allegedly exceeding its fishing quota for mackerel. In an email interview, Eirikur Bergmann, an associate professor of political science at Bifrost University in Iceland, discussed the mackerel dispute between the EU and Iceland. WPR: What is the background of the current fishing dispute between Iceland and the European Union? Eirikur Bergmann: Backed by France, Portugal, Ireland and Spain, the European Union is considering sanctions against Iceland and the Faroe Islands for overfishing of mackerel, a pelagic fish stock in the North Atlantic. Mackerel has an […]

Nearly two weeks of continuous rain have caused floods to sweep through Manila as well as nearby areas, killing at least 23 people so far and affecting nearly 2 million. The deadly floods in the Philippine capital are the latest in a series of flooding-related disasters to strike the region. Last month, the heaviest rainfall to hit Beijing, China, in six decades forced the evacuation of 650,000 people from their homes, while three months of heavy rains in Bangkok, Thailand, last year claimed at least 500 lives. According to Edward Blakely, honorary professor of urban policy at the University of […]