Success or failure? Wolfensohn's reforms at the World Bank
Wilks, A. (Bretton Woods Project) Apr 2001
The World Bank is again trumpeting the changes it has made during Wolfensohn's Presidency. But recent Bank documents reveal that many problems remain.
A Climate Policy That Works
Reilly, W.A. (New York Times) Apr 1st, 2001
The Levitating Dollar
Krugman, P. (New York Times) Apr 1st, 2001
Comment: A strong argument for why the dollar is overvalued in light of the current outlook for the global economy.
Suddenly, Critics Are Taking Aim at Greenspan
The New York Times Apr 2nd, 2001
World Is Teetering on Edge of Recession as Global Growth Slows
Bloomberg Apr 2nd, 2001
The Third Wave
Toffler Associates 2001
Jordan Gets It
Friedman, T. (New York Times) 3rd April, 2001
Belgian Law on Socially Responsible Production Irks Developing Countries at WTO
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 5, Number 12
Nightmare on Wall St. - Tightfisted Consumers
The New York Times Apr 3rd, 2001
ECB Sticks to `Wait-and-See' Policy, Damps Early Rate Cut Hope
Bloomberg Apr 4th, 2001
Moral Equivalence or Golden Rule?
Wanniski, J. (Polyconomics) Apr 5th, 2001
Eichel Urges Central Banks to Note Slowing Economies
Bloomberg Apr 5th, 2001
Trade Barriers
The Economist Apr 5th, 2001
Fed's Parry Says U.S. Isn't in Recession, Growth to Pick Up by Year's End
Bloomberg Apr 6th, 2001
Japan Sets Deadline for Banks to Write Off Bad Loans, to Set Up Stock Fund
Bloomberg Apr 6th, 2001
Asean Finance Ministers to Discuss Currency Swap Arrangement, Weak Yen
Bloomberg Apr 7th, 2001
Trichet Says ECB's Policy Is 'Robust' Growth Through Price Stability
Bloomberg Apr 7th, 2001
Asean Finance Ministers Worry About Weaker Yen
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 8th, 2001
A Computer Would Do Better Than the Fed
Rodgers, T.J. (New York Times) Apr 9th, 2001
America Is Borrowing Trouble
Modigliani, F. & R. Solow (New York Times) Apr 9th, 2001
Comment: An excellent counterargument against a push for cutting taxes without concern for the trade deficit, based on looking at the international dimension.
U.S.: E-Commerce Is Key to Free Trade in Latin America
ACM TechNews April 9th, 2001
The Moral Hazard Bubble
Bartley, R.L. (Wall Street Journal) Apr 9th, 2001
A Universal Library
Grossman, L.K. & N.N. Minow (New York Times) April 11th, 2001
U.S., Japan Economic Woes to Cut Global Growth to 2.2%, World Bank Says
Bloomberg April 10th, 2001
Free Trade Area of the Americas Update
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 5, Number 13
US Claims that Columbia, Mexico, South Africa and Taiwan Violate Telecoms Agreements
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 5, Number 13
Bush Seeking to Modify Pact on Trade With Jordan
The New York Times Apr 11th, 2001
Malaysia Is in Another Foreign-Exchange Pickle
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 11th, 2001
ECB Keeps Benchmark Rate at 4.75 percent
Bloomberg Apr 11th, 2001
U.S. and Europeans Agree on Deal to End Banana Trade War
New York Times Apr 12th, 2001
What Duisenberg and Mahathir Have in Common
Pesek Jr., W. (Bloomberg) Apr 12th, 2001
Greening the globe
The Economist Apr 13th, 2001
Steadfast or stubborn?
The Economist Apr 13th, 2001
Lives Held Cheap in Bangladesh Sweatshops
The New York Times Apr 15th, 2001
Freeing trade in the Americas
The Economist Apr 16th, 2001
China's Currency to Remain Stable This Year, Paper Says
Bloomberg Apr 16th, 2001
Strong Dollar, Weak Yen - Get Used to It
Pesek Jr., W. (Bloomberg) Apr 16th, 2001
Comment: A cogent argument that "[i]n the age of globalization, capital flows brought in by a firm currency are often more important than the increased trade afforded by a weaker one".
Cisco Issues a Warning on Its Sales and Earnings
The New York Times Apr 17th, 2001
The Alternative to Talking
The Wall Street Journal Apr 17th, 2001
America is Borrowing Trouble
Wanniski, J. Apr 17th, 2001
Comment: A rejoinder to the article above by Modigliani and Solow (Apr 9th, 2001) about how supply-side policies will ensure capital inflows to the U.S. and hence erase the trade deficit.
Euro, Little Changed, May Fall vs Dollar on ECB Rate Concern
Bloomberg Apr 17th, 2001
Testing time for the markets
The Economist Apr 17th, 2001
Chip of Fools
Krugman, P. (New York Times) Apr 18th, 2001
Bush Says He'll Press Effort for Hemisphere Trade Pact
The New York Times Apr 18th, 2001
Drugs, patents and poor people
The Economist Apr 18th, 2001
Dollar Falls vs Euro as Surprise Fed Cut Signals Growth Concern
Bloomberg Apr 18th, 2001
Argentina's Cavallo Makes Peso More Complicated
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 18th, 2001
EC and US Agree to End Eight-Year Banana War; Ecuador Threatens WTO Action
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 5, Number 14
Alan Greenspan's Surprise Move
The New York Times Apr 19th, 2001
Stagnation Summit
The Wall Street Journal Apr 19th, 2001
Currency Affairs
The Economist Apr 19th, 2001
Defensive Drug Industry Fuels Fight Over Patents
The New York Times Apr 20th, 2001
The Summit of the Americas
The New York Times Apr 20th, 2001
South Africa's AIDS Victory
The New York Times Apr 20th, 2001
A Foreseeable End to the Fed's Magic
Grant, J. (New York Times) Apr 20th, 2001
Japan Swears Off Habit of Manipulating the Yen
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 20th, 2001
Japan's Ministry of Finance has suddenly made a conversion to free-market religion for the yen. Alas, it originates more from political expediency than from endorsement of basic economic principles.
Freeing trade in the Americas
The Economist Apr 20th, 2001
The price of Africa's cheap drugs
The Economist Apr 20th, 2001
On Native Land, a Fear of Free Trade
Hornung, R. (New York Times) Apr 21st, 2001
Hearts and Heads
Krugman, P. (New York Times) Apr 21st, 2001
Bush Links Trade With Democracy at Quebec Talks
The New York Times Apr 21st, 2001
Dialling Up Trouble
The Economist Apr 23rd, 2001
Mobile-telephone operators are in big trouble. Some equipment suppliers are stumbling too. Mergers and takeovers beckon throughout the industry.
Is it Europe's turn now?
The Economist Apr 23rd, 2001
When the European Central Bank meets on April 26th, it will face increasing pressure to follow the American lead and cut interest rates, a move it has vigorously resisted so far. How far is this because of economic divergence within the euro area?
Getting America moving again
The Economist Apr 23rd, 2001
The surprise cut in American interest rates on April 18th underlined the Federal Reserve's determination to avoid recession in the world's largest economy. But will the Fed's newly aggressive strategy work? And what are the long-term implications for monetary and fiscal policy?
Talks Tie Trade in the Americas to Democracy
The New York Times Apr 23rd, 2001
Thirty-four leaders of the Western Hemisphere closed a summit meeting by reinforcing their commitment to a vast Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Interest Rate Futures Signal That Traders Are Worried the Fed Did Too Much
Bloomberg Apr 23rd, 2001
The Federal Reserve will be done cutting rates this summer and may have to turn its attention to inflation, and the possibility of raising rates, next year.
Labor Standards Clash With Global Reality
The New York Times Apr 24th, 2001
The Gap's efforts to improve the conditions of a garment factory in El Salvador demonstrate the limits to good intentions when first-world appetites collide with third-world realities.
The Selling of Free Trade
The New York Times Apr 24th, 2001
After agreeing to create a free-trade area for the Americas, many nations must strive to turn that laudable abstraction into a concrete deal.
Protesting for Whom?
Friedman, T. (New York Times) Apr 24th, 2001
Africans will tell you that their problem with globalization is not that they are getting too much of it, but too little.
UN Report Sees Economic Slowdown Lasting Longer Than Predicted
Bloomberg 24th Apr, 2001
The global economic slowdown will last longer than most forecasts predict, in part because of decreasing hope that the European Union will drive the recovery, a United Nations report says.
EU to Cut Growth Forecast, Unlikely to Prompt an Interest-Rate Reduction
Bloomberg 24th Apr, 2001
The European Commission will cut its forecast for economic growth in Europe tomorrow, though the increased pessimism is unlikely to prompt the European Central Bank to reduce interest rates, analysts said.
Hemispheric Leaders Agree to Americas Free Trade by 2005
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 5, Number 15
UNCTAD Report Warns on Global Economic Slowdown
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest Vol. 5, Number 15
Time for Europe to Lead
Atkinson, C. (New York Times) Apr 25th, 2001
The main risk for Europe now, as for the world economy as a whole, is too little growth, not too much inflation.
Cavallo's crisis
The Economist Apr 25th, 2001
Political confusion, mounting economic woes and waning confidence threaten to push Argentina into a debt default. Unless Domingo Cavallo, the economy minister, can pull the country back from the brink, the consequences for all Latin America will be dire.
Argentine Currency's Night of the Long Knives
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 25th, 2001
Depending on how you look at things, former Argentine President Carlos Menem is either the champion of his country's common man or guilty of attempted murder of its foreign-exchange regime. I speak of his extraordinary warning last weekend to his countrymen, "If you have a peso in your pocket convert it to a dollar as fast as you can."
Little Bonhomie Expected at Weekend G-7 Meeting
Baum, C. (Bloomberg) Apr 25th, 2001
April means only one thing to the party planners and caterers in the nation's capital: the spring meetings of the Group of Seven industrialized nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The Life and Times of a Commodity Currency: William Pesek Jr.
Pesek, W. (Bloomberg) April 24, 2001
Worst In Show. This was the dubious title won by currencies of commodity-exporting nations in the first quarter.
New World Bank/WHO trust fund for health: risks of misuse
Bretton Woods Project Apr 26th, 2001
Italy and UK are taking the lead among G7 partners to set up a global trust fund of $1 billion to provide cheaper drugs for poor countries.
European Central Bank Holds Key Rate at 4.75% as Inflation Refuses to Slow
Bloomberg Apr 26th, 2001
The European Central Bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 4.75 percent as inflation in the dozen countries that share the euro shows no sign of receding in the next few months
Slowing
The Economist Apr 27th, 2001
The world economy faces an uncertain future, according to the latest assessment from the International Monetary Fund. The one certainty is that 2001 will be a more difficult year for most countries than previously expected.
Standing firm
The Economist Apr 27th, 2001
In the face of growing international pressure, the European Central Bank once again left interest rates unchanged at its regular meeting on April 26th. Is the bank's stubbornness harming the world economy?
Asia Times Apr 27th, 2001
Law of the jungle costs cyberspace dearly
It's a jungle out there - a cyberjungle in which Asian companies are estimated to write off as much as US$500 million a year from illegal computer access or the intentional defacement of content. However, writes Alan Boyd, average corporations spend more on cleaning services for their offices than they do on IT security systems. Asia needs to wake up to the fact that countries where legal protections are inadequate will become increasingly less able to compete in the New Economy.
In defense of loans to emerging countries
Asia Times Apr 27th, 2001
A new report has warned that donor countries will be making a major mistake if they halt loans by the World Bank to emerging market economies such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Thailand. This marks another turn in an ongoing debate launched in 1999 when a US Congressional commission called for a five-year phase-out of such loans. It was rejected by then US president Bill Clinton, though the administration of George W Bush is thought to be much more keen after openly criticizing Russian and Indonesian bailouts.
Finance Chiefs Cheer Economy
The Washington Post Apr 28th, 2001
Finance ministers and central bankers from the leading industrial countries yesterday declared that the outlook for the world economy is fundamentally "sound", brushing aside concerns that economic activity may be slowing too much, too fast.
Rich Nations Consider Fund of Billions to Fight AIDS
The New York Times Apr 28th, 2001
At a meeting of finance ministers in Washington, the United States warned that a multibillion dollar global program to fight AIDS may fail without careful tailoring.
IMF Endorses Crisis-Prevention Program
The Washington Post Apr 29th, 2001
The International Monetary Fund, prodded by the Bush administration, endorsed a program Sunday to establish better procedures to prevent a repeat of the 1997-1998 Asian currency crisis that plunged two-fifths of the world into recession.
Global Inflation-Indexed Bonds Look Tempting
Pesek, W. (Bloomberg) Apr 28th, 2001
Global growth is slowing. Commodity prices are sliding. Interest rates are falling and stock markets are struggling around the world. Given all this gloom, higher inflation would seem to be the last risk on the radar screens of policy makers and investors.
World Financial Officials Pledge to Work to Block New Crises
The New York Times Apr 30th, 2001
Leaders of the International Monetary Fund pledged to devote themselves to preventing financial crises around the world to avoid more huge bailouts.
Mayhem in May
The Economist Apr 30th, 2001
After recent mass demonstrations in Quebec, anti-globalisation protestors will be out in force again for May Day. The movement may be incoherent, and often clownish, but it is increasingly influential. And globalisation's best critics are raising important issues.
There's No Black Magic to Interest-Rate Moves: Caroline Baum
Baum, C. (Bloomberg) Apr 30th, 2001
Any discussion of the effectiveness of interest rates inevitably breaks down into two opposing camps: they work; they don't work.
Argentina's Bond Swap Deal Is Smoke and Mirrors
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 29th, 2001
Argentina's battered financial markets have turned bullish on a plan to swap short-term government debt for long-term obligations. By stretching out the maturities on its debts, Argentina is playing for time it hopes to use to forestall what may be an inevitable sovereign debt default.
Three European Central Bankers Dig in Their Heels
DeRosa, D. (Bloomberg) Apr 30th, 2001
French, German and Dutch officials of the European Central Bank yesterday reiterated their narrow view that the sole focus of monetary policy ought to be that of maintaining price stability inside the euro-zone countries. According to them, the ECB is not interested in using monetary policy to modulate economic growth, period, end of story.
Optimistic Forecasts Fuel Wireless Hype
ComputerWorld 30th Apr, 2001
Critics say researchers pull mobile e-commerce numbers 'out of thin air'.