Economics & Business Archive

Almost every week of late, it seems something new, startling and historically unusual is happening in U.S. trade policy. President Donald Trump’s actions are undermining the credibility of American negotiators, increasing uncertainty for traders and investors, domestic and foreign, and potentially threatening to throw the economy into recession. This is all happening in part because Trump refuses to acknowledge that Americans pay the tariffs he likes so much, and also because he still doesn’t understand how global supply chains work. With so many head-spinning developments this spring, it can help to step back and take stock of where things stand, […]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of anongoing seriesabout education policy in various countries around the world. Thousands of teachers went on strike and marched for better working conditions in Morocco in recent months. The waves of demonstrations, which occasionally turned violent as police used water cannons to disperse the protesters, have since subsided as teachers have returned to classes. But there is potential for further unrest if the government doesn’t meet the teachers’ key demand: being accorded full civil servant status. In an email interview with WPR, Aboubakr Jamai, dean of the School of Business and International Relations at […]

SEOUL—Most of the time, the existential issue of North Korea dominates dialogue between South Korea and its major allies and neighbors. But as I found out on a recent trip to Seoul, this fast-changing and dynamic society is beginning to see climate and environmental hazards as real priorities, too. As South Korea establishes its place as a G-20 developed economy and looks for ways to take on more responsibility in global governance, the tough tradeoffs between its economic growth and its adaptation to climate realities are becoming clearer. South Korean leaders are beginning to recognize that they need to do […]

Amid the escalating U.S.-China trade war, concerns over the security implications of competitive Chinese technology like Huawei’s 5G network, and unresolved negotiations with Beijing over the theft of intellectual property, another tech policy question persists in Washington, although it is somewhat overlooked. How should the United States manage exports of artificial intelligence technologies? It has widespread ramifications for global research, innovation and commerce—and no easy answer. In November, the U.S. Commerce Department proposed a new rule on export controls for “emerging technologies that are essential to the national security of the United States.” Biotechnology, advanced computing technology and additive manufacturing—in […]

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series about education policy in various countries around the world. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Brazil last week to protest President Jair Bolsonaro’s drastic cuts to the country’s education system. The demonstrations were organized in response to the government’s plan to slash discretionary budgets for federal universities by 30 percent. Officials say the cuts are necessary to rein in excessive public spending, but opponents see them as part of a longer-term ideological assault on higher education in Brazil. In an email interview with WPR, Justin Axel-Berg, […]

The Trump administration twice approved the transfer of nuclear technical expertise to Saudi Arabia after last year’s murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to new revelations this week. The disclosures have fueled frustrations in Congress over the administration’s apparent eagerness to aid Riyadh and its nuclear ambitions, including repeatedly ignoring and blindsiding lawmakers. The new details only add to questions about the White House’s motivations and the implications of a nuclear Saudi Arabia for the Middle East and U.S. national security. In a statement released Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia disclosed the timing of the two “Part […]

Many people in the United Kingdom’s coastal fishing communities supported the “Leave” campaign during the 2016 Brexit referendum, since they consider European Union rules that allow other member states’ fishing boats to trawl British waters to be unfair. Now, British politicians committed to Brexit will have to make good on their promises to “take back control” of the U.K.’s rich fisheries. But that will prove difficult and may not even be in the best interest of British fishing communities, says Ben Drakeford, a senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. who specializes in fisheries economics. In an […]

After my first book came out in 2004, I received a surprise phone call from an assistant to former United States Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, asking if I would meet with him to talk about Africa. Sitting together in his executive’s office at Citibank’s headquarters in Manhattan, he averred that if Al Gore were to win that year’s presidential election, he could return to a leading position in government, and he wanted to know if there was one initiative Washington could take to engage with Africa, what would I suggest? This was a tall order, not least because I had […]

President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown that when it comes to foreign policy, he prefers bullying over supporting widely held norms. He has embraced dictators while trashing American allies and alliances. He ignores or undermines international institutions that the United States helped to create. And on the trade front, he has slapped tariffs on close allies and partners while invoking vague claims about national security. The latest move came last week, when Trump again threatened trade sanctions against Mexico, a major trading partner, over a humanitarian crisis at the southern border that he helped create. The families escaping violence and […]

Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. PUCALLPA, Peru—Delfin Tutucima Rios’ journey as a healer began about two decades ago, when he himself fell ill. He was 30 years old at the time, working as a teacher in this city on the Ucayali River in eastern Peru, when he was afflicted by a malady that doctors could not diagnose. His liver swelled, and his arms and legs became bloated. Doctors later told him he had cancer. Eventually he was […]

France is stepping up its naval activities in the Asia-Pacific. Last month, the French navy conducted joint exercises with the United States, Australian and Indian navies, just weeks after a separate naval drill with India that involved two aircraft carriers. In April, the French frigate Vendemiaire made a rare passage through the strategically important Taiwan Strait. Some observers fear that these maneuvers could heighten tensions with Beijing, but so far, both France and China have worked to prevent that from happening, says Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. In an email interview […]