Finance & Economics
Finance & Economics
Fair Observer's analysis of important economic and financial issues, events and trends in global markets and the world economy.
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360° Analysis / brazil / Middle Class / Social Welfare / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Change / AmericasBrazil, while quickly becoming an emerging economic power, is still struggling to improve the socioeconomic problems brought on from the legacy of its autocratic past. This is the third of four parts. Read part one here. Is the Nordic System the Answer? Finland and the Scandinavian nations — Sweden, Norway and Denmark — take a markedly different approach to advancing their national social and economic well-being. While basking in the Brazilian tradition that prides itself on the ouster of the Portuguese colonizers, I was surprised to see that nationals of Finland and the Scandinavia report a high degree of trust in their peers and government. Unlike South America’s...
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Arab Spring / Arab Uprisings / MENA / Unemployment / Youth / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / Global Change / Middle East / AfricaJobs and meaningful employment are demands highlighted by the Arab Uprisings that will not go away. Governments are struggling to recast technical and vocational training programs into effective vehicles for preparing market-ready youth. It is no coincidence that when the World Economic Forum was focusing on youth under-employment/unemployment at its annual conference in Davos, the Audit Court (Cours des Comptes) in Morocco was issuing a report criticizing the quality of the country’s vocational training system. There is a great deal of concern globally with devising effective mechanisms for meeting youth employment needs, and Jamie McAuliffe, president of Education for Employment...
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360° Analysis / brazil / Middle Class / Social Welfare / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Change / AmericasBrazil, while quickly becoming an emerging economic power, is still struggling to improve the socioeconomic problems brought on from the legacy of its autocratic past. This is the second of four parts. Read part one here. It’s the Politics, Stupid. Brazil’s intense class stratification results from her legacy of colonialism, the slave trade and autocratic rule under the auspices of a wealthy elite that controlled most of the nation’s resources. An environment of autocratic rule discouraged the impoverished from voicing their distress in meaningful ways or through public dissent. Brazil, while its dirty wars were not as dirty as some of its neighbors, still had...
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Adam Smith / American Economics Association / Anglo-American Tradition / Capitalism / David Ricardo / John K. Galbraith / John Keynes / John S. Mill / Karl Marx / Milton Friedman / Social Democracy / United States / Finance & Economics / Focus ArticleBy Bulent TemelSocial democracy promoted by the late Harvard political economist John K. Galbraith is the future of capitalism with its emphasis on equity and responsibility alongside prosperity. Social and economic ills of our time are predictable outcomes of the ideological dismissal of a functional theory of capitalism in the Anglo-American tradition: Social democracy. Those who went through the mills of mainstream economics education are familiar with names like Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John S. Mill, Karl Marx, John M. Keynes or Milton Friedman. Right alongside these great thinkers, however, there are numerous others who could not earn the celebrity status despite making as significant contributions...
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360° Analysis / brazil / Middle Class / Social Welfare / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Change / AmericasBrazil, while quickly becoming an emerging economic power, is still struggling to improve the socioeconomic problems brought on from the legacy of its autocratic past. This is the first of four parts. Brazil is widely known for her beautiful, multicultural heritage, and offers a variety of practically anything one can imagine. She is famous for her ethnic cuisine, her varieties of music, her parades and her rich dances. She is also admired for her landscape, her breathtaking beaches and especially for her gracious and hospitable people. She is a country that is rich in natural resources and has a variety of emergent industries (oil, agriculture, timber, and manufacturing) which are helping...
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Carbon Tax / climate change / Corporate Tax / United States / Finance & Economics / Focus Article / Environment & SustainabilityA carbon-for-corporate tax swap may be a recipe for environmental and economic improvement, but it isn’t a complete one. Lawmakers should consider other policy initiatives that could help protect low-income households, and potentially make a carbon-for-corporate tax swap a more balanced policy option. Two great tastes often taste great together. Chocolate and peanut butter. Oreos and milk. Popcorn and butter. Could the same be true of carbon taxes and corporate tax reform? Done right, each could be flavorful. But would they be even tastier together? My Tax Policy Center colleague Eric Toder and I explore that question in a new paper. We find that using a carbon tax to help pay for...
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360° Analysis / Asia-Pacific / China / Japan / United States / Finance & Economics / BRIC / Global Security / AsiaBy Online MBATensions have been brewing in Asia. This video looks at the potential of a war between China and Japan, and what the economic impact could be. Global economists are keeping their eyes glued to the Asia-Pacific region, where a bitter feud is brewing between two of the world’s most powerful nations over a small collectivity of islands in the East China Sea. The Chinese government argues that a treaty signed during the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) conferred ownership of the islands to China. Japan has long disputed these claims, and today argues that the islands are integral to its national identity. The argument came to a head last September, when a boycott of Japanese products...
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360° Analysis / budget deficit / debt crisis / Deflation / fiscal cliff / househould / Japan / monetary easing / Recession / Senkaku / Shinzo Abe / Tokyo / Finance & Economics / AsiaJapan has always been impressive, utilizing its innovations and technological developments to dominate in an information age. This is Part II of II in which the author is perusing Japan's prospects of increasing economic prosperity along with the need for urgent political and fiscal reform. The Japanese economy and the government have developed other areas of the state and this is indicative of sustainable national progress. By many measures, Japanese society, industry, and its total economy fended well over the “Lost Decades” and beyond. For instance, Japan’s standard of living increased and has become a benchmark in modern times comparable to that of the US. Japan...
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360° Analysis / African diaspora / Economic growth / global investment / Finance & Economics / AfricaBy Jake BrightWhile the rest of the world is still struggling from economic recession, many African economies are on the rise. Jake Bright examines what is driving the growth, what it means to Americans, and how Africa's diaspora is pulling it together. In corporate boardrooms and global investment seminars, more CEOs and business leaders are talking about Africa. That much was evident at a recent New York Stock Exchange investor conference, where, along with references to Africa as the “new Asia” or “home of the next Google,” there were forward outlooks by Wall Street analysts, representatives of the continent’s 29 stock exchanges, and presentations on Africa...