Economics & Business Archive

While foreign investors might be feeling a lot of uncertainty about Bolivia’s resource sector policy, one thing is perfectly clear: Bolivian President Evo Morales is firmly in control of any foreign-funded project seeking to develop the country’s natural resource wealth. And when partnerships with foreign investors turn sour, he has not hesitated to seize the underlying assets. That has occurred with surprising frequency this year. In the past four months, Bolivia has nationalized a Canadian company’s silver mine, a tin and zinc mine operated by the Swiss commodities giant Glencore and a Spanish electric grid operation. To say nothing of […]

With peril looming on both countries’ economic horizons, Sudan and South Sudan brokered a milestone oil-transit agreement over the weekend to the effusive praise of the international community. The deal represents a breakthrough after months of heightened tensions. South Sudan shut down oil production eight months ago over transit cost disagreements. Juba also accused the Khartoum government of siphoning southern oil and confiscating shipments in lieu of unpaid transit fees. In April, the two historical adversaries neared the brink of full-scale border war after South Sudan temporarily seized Sudan’s primary oil production site in Heglig. “Now was the time to […]

Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series examining the crisis of the global middle class. Part I examined the challenges facing the global middle class and the implications for international politics. Part II examines ways to strengthen the global middle class and avoid the potential dangers of economic polarization. The damage done to the global middle class, while significant, is not irreparable. The solutions are as varied as the countries themselves, but they all share several key features that influence whether a consumer-driven economy will flourish or not. First and foremost is access to capital for small […]

Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series examining the crisis of the global middle class. Part I will examine the challenges facing the global middle class and the implications for international politics. Part II will examine ways to strengthen the global middle class and avoid the potential dangers of economic polarization. When Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire outside a local government office in December 2010, his desperate act set off an unexpected yet wide-ranging chain reaction throughout the region. Demonstrations that broke out in his small town spread all the way to […]

According to UNICEF, some 700,000 children in Bolivia work — a third of the total child-age population — earning far less than adults. The young workers have now formed a union, UNATSBO, to fight for fairer pay and official recognition. Video News by NewsLook

On Tuesday, Venezuela was formally admitted as the fifth full member of Mercosur, the South American trading bloc that was founded in 1991 by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. While the accession of Venezuela, which has one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, will improve regional economic integration, it is also likely to deepen divisions among the group’s members. Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Trend Lines that Venezuela’s admission to Mercosur was long overdue, having been held up in recent years by the Paraguayan legislature for reasons that were also […]

Officials in India are working to identify what caused the electrical grid failures that led to two massive blackouts Monday and Tuesday. Two experts who spoke with Trend Lines emphasized that the grid failures should also be seen as an opportunity for the country to figure out how to invest and innovate in the power sector so that it can meet the growing needs of the population. “The underlying issue is that there is not enough generation supply to meet the load demand,” said Anjan Bose, a professor in the College of Engineering & Architecture at Washington State University. And […]