All eyes are on Greece this weekend for the second legislative election in five weeks. This is no ordinary election: the global implications of the outcome might be significant. Griffith University lecturer…
The positivity off the weekend’s news that Spain’s banks will receive rescue loans of up to 100 billion euros from eurozone finance ministers appears short-lived. Despite it being well-received in Asian…
The recent economic forecasts of the IMF and OECD about prospects for economic growth remind me of an aphorism about the economist who drowned while crossing a river he estimated that was, on average…
On 29 March, the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – will meet in New Delhi for their fourth annual summit. Representing 40% of the global population, 25% of global GDP, and…
Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
Greece is rescued, for now…maybe. Perhaps it’s time to move on to the next basket case. So, which of the PIIGS is the next Greece? For the moment, Portugal looks to be the front-runner. The country’s public-debt-to-GDP…
As the Commissioners of the Fair Work Act Review work their way through the mountain of submissions, one of the most critical aspects they will be called on to consider is the relationship between labour…
When World Bank President Robert Zoellick announced his resignation last week, a surprising number of names emerged as contenders for the Bank’s top job. Zoellick’s resignation doesn’t come into effect…
Few countries have been left unscathed by the global financial crisis and it seems that they are all situated in the southern hemisphere. Brazil and Australia are some of them. Recently, their economies…
When it comes to finding ways out of the European sovereign debt crisis, views appear to range widely. At last week’s World Economic Forum Martin Wolf, chief economic commentator for the Financial Times…
Will Greece default and exit the Eurozone? The best-case scenario is a managed, orderly, partial default with the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a fund created in 2010 to manage Eurozone…
Global markets have tumbled again this week, following the downgrading of Italy’s debt rating and a series of negative comments from leaders of the world’s financial institutions. International Monetary…
Since news of the controversial rape case involving Dominique Strauss-Kahn (quickly dubbed “Affaire DSK”) broke in May, the focus of the French media and French political class has been firmly fixed on…
Quelle surprise. French finance minister Christine Lagarde has been announced as the new managing director of the IMF, succeeding the beleaguered Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Like Strauss-Khan (known as ‘DSK…
The International Monetary Fund executive board will complete interviews of the two leading candidates to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn this week, with the aim of picking a new managing director by June…
A poll of international investors last month found that 85% expect Greece to default on its debt this year. As market expectations go, that is very high. Moody’s has since downgraded Greece’s already abysmal…
Speculation last week that Paul Keating and Peter Costello could nominate for the top job at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was a mere distraction, but the hoopla did manage to highlight a crucial…