PM Boris Johnson (left) and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have come up with money to underwrite wages, rescue packages and meal vouchers during the pandemic.
Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/PA Images
Developing countries face greater risks raising money to deal with the pandemic. Zambia is now on the verge of being the first ‘COVID default’ and other developing countries could follow suit.
Who picks up the bill when customers can’t pay?
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Many Americans have been unable to pay their electric bills during the COVID-19 pandemic, racking up billions of dollars in delinquent bills. Where will the money come from?
Far from saving for a rainy day, governments are seriously indebting our children and future generations due to profligate overspending.
Ben Wicks/Unsplash
Canadian governments are failing to treat future citizens fairly by saddling them with huge debt. What policies should Canadian governments enact that offer greater fairness to future generations?
While those on the left, right and middle worry about the federal deficit, the real world that we live in is in trouble. The fiscal prudes are fretting about the wrong issues.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland responds to a question during a news conference on Parliament Hill in August 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
The speech from the throne is just around the corner. Will the Liberal government make broad and much-needed economic and social change amid the pandemic, or will it give in to the wealthy again?
South Africa’s finance minister Tito Mboweni says the IMF loan will limit the country’s economic vulnerabilities which have been exacerbated by COVID-19.
Gallo Images/Brenton Geach
The IMF loan does not impose any conditions over and above what is in South African law on how the funds can be used; it only seems to expect the country to implement policies already announced.
Haitian President Jean-Pierre Boyer receiving Charles X’s decree recognizing Haitian independence on July 11, 1825.
Bibliotheque Nationale de France
After enduring decades of exploitation at the hands of the French, Haiti somehow ended up paying reparations – to the tune of nearly $30 billion in today’s money.
Pressure is growing to include struggling Pacific nations in an Australia-New Zealand travel bubble, but economic diversity is what the region really needs.
People wearing protective masks form lines to receive free food from a food pantry run by the Council of Peoples Organization on May 8, 2020 in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
For economically strapped Americans, the financial fallout from the epidemic may be permanently embedded in their digital profiles, making it harder for them to regain their economic footing.
The UK must look now to a package of long-term measures that includes investment in industry and public services, increased unemployment benefits and universal basic income.
Stokvel members prefer to manage their affairs through non-state means.
Getty Images
Millions of South Africans exchange billions of rands annually but disputes involving these transactions hardly ever appear before the country’s courts.
A truck carries palm fruits on the road in Nagan Raya, Aceh Province.
cifor/flickr
The Indonesian government is still struggling to patch “infrastructure gaps”, The COVID-19 pandemic will make it even harder.
The Bank of Canada has agreed to buy some of the new debt that provinces are taking on to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. It’s time for the central bank to do even more.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
There are two key questions regarding Canada’s fiscal sustainability during the pandemic. Can we afford to provide short-term financial support to Canadians? And how quickly will our economy recover?
Guy Pearce stars as Scrooge, the merciless creditor.
(BBC)
Modern viewers: Scrooge doesn’t discuss what he’s learned or ask for redemption. He swiftly negates the life he would have led, had it not been for the ghostly interventions.
A main street of a poor neighbourhood in Cape Town during recent power cuts.
EPA/Nic Bothma
It’s not clear whether South Africa’s president can coordinate his ministers in a way that provides clarity about dealing with the country’s energy crisis.
Taking a loan has never been easier thanks to the proliferation of mobile lending platforms.
Rosenfeld Media/Wikimedia Commons
Several presidential hopefuls have offered proposals to close the racial wealth gap, from baby bonds to reparations. A simulation suggests policies short of direct aid to blacks won’t do the trick.