Economics & Business Archive

The rise of a global middle class has been one of globalization’s great victories, but the surge in income and consumption in the developing world may be more of a temporary anomaly than a long-term trajectory. Some developing countries have ridden a commodities super-cycle to middle-class status, but most never made it or were far too late with the investments that might have converted the boon into more sustainable growth paths. Commodities are cyclical, and the global middle class may prove to be so as well. From 2001 to 2011, there was an unprecedented surge in the number of people […]

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Czech Republic, where he signed more than 30 deals worth nearly $4 billion. In an email interview, Richard Turcsanyi, the deputy director of the Institute for Asian Studies, Bratislava, discussed Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe. WPR: How extensive is Chinese investment in Central and Eastern Europe, and what factors are driving China’s investment strategy there? Richard Turcsanyi: To begin with, it is extremely difficult to establish unequivocally the amount of investments from one country in another’s economy. Various statistical sources notoriously show differences. Putting together the numbers from a range […]

Large street protests across France in the past week against proposed labor reforms are the latest sign of the trouble President Francois Hollande finds himself in at home. The demonstrations came on the heels of Hollande’s retreat from another controversial and unpopular measure, pushed after the terrorist attacks in Paris last November, to strip dual nationals convicted of terrorism of their French citizenship. As he enters the final year of his term, Hollande is in the weakest position by far of any president in the history of France’s Fifth Republic. His poll numbers for job approval have been negative since […]

AMSTERDAM—In the hours that followed the explosive revelations known as the Panama Papers, reverberations from the giant data drop were felt around the globe. After all, the 11.5 million documents from the Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca, leaked anonymously to International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, implicate rich and powerful people from practically every country on Earth as holders of offshore shell companies that are often used for tax evasion purposes. But while the power from the leaks to discredit prominent individuals extended across practically every nation and every system of government, reaction to the revelations was far from uniform. The differences […]

Last month, authorities arrested Zambian opposition leader Erick Chanda after he accused President Edgar Lungu of using public funds on a vacation. In an email interview, Nick Branson, a senior researcher at Africa Research Institute in London, discussed politics and the state of the opposition in Zambia. WPR: What is President Edgar Lungu’s record so far in office, and how popular are he and the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) ahead of August presidential and parliamentary elections? Nick Branson: Lungu has admittedly only been in power for a little over 14 months, having been elected in January 2015 to serve the […]

In late March, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan both deployed military forces to the undemarcated Chalasart area of their border after Kyrgyz authorities refused Uzbek workers access to a water reservoir located in Kyrgyz territory. In an email interview, Józef Lang, research fellow at the Center for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, Poland, discusses Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan relations. WPR: What is the recent trajectory of Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan relations, and what are the major drivers of tension? Józef Lang: Relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have traditionally been hostile, and the level of distrust between Tashkent and Bishkek remains high despite their common participation in various initiatives and […]

Donald Trump’s foreign policy vision, which he articulated in recent interviews with The New York Times and The Washington Post, has been greeted by many international affairs pundits with horror, derision and disdain. One thing it should not be, however, is dismissed. To be sure, Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, expresses his views in a provocative and confrontational manner. The views themselves certainly stand in stark contrast to current U.S. foreign policy orthodoxy, a product of more than 70 years of evolution since World War II. Nevertheless, though iconoclastic, they are not quite as unprecedented as many […]

On April 1, a new civilian government in Myanmar, headed by the long-time opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), assumed power after more than a half-century of military rule. The NLD’s victory in last year’s elections was touted as an historic feat, and the party has signaled that it will undertake significant political, economic and social changes in the coming years. But it is likely to face major challenges as it seeks to implement them, especially from an army that is still a potent political force. Since coming to power following an opening under the ruling junta in 2011, the […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss the changing definition of official development assistance, Burkina Faso’s security threats, and hawks and doves in the U.S. presidential campaign. For the Report, Bertil Lintner joins us to talk about the current situation in Laos in the run-up to U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to the communist Asian country in September. Listen:Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant articles on WPR: New Aid Rules Are an Opportunity to Bridge Security-Development Divide After Attacks, Burkina Faso Walks Fine Line Between Security and Liberty In U.S. Presidential Campaign, […]