With an annual GDP growth rate of 5.8 percent over the past two decades, reaching 6.1 percent in 2011-12, India has become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. But is also witnessing an unprecedented demand for energy and a growing deficit in power supply. Government’s efforts to tackle energy poverty are having a big impact, but is it enough?
BARCELONA | By Joan Esteban | This essay deals with trends in economic theory over the past few decades. It is unabashedly subjective and partial. It does not attempt to provide an exhaustive panoramic view of current research in economics. Rather, I have chosen to focus on some of the recent developments that have tried to relax the highly restrictive assumptions under which General Equilibrium Theory (GE) had been built over the second half of the twentieth century.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | America’s economy is recovering at a slow but firm pace: mortgages, the car industry, consumption, all show better figures than last year. However, the last jobs report brings a huge problem on the table: teen unemployment is still too high. More than 10 million youth are unable to find full-time work, and that’s a ticking bomb, experts warn.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Thinking of moving abroad? You might consider that Denmark, Norway and Switzerland are the most satisfied countries, according to the World Happiness Report 2013. However, Europe has a gloomy side called austerity: rankings for Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain have dramatically plummeted because of the impact of the euro zone crisis.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Barack Obama will give six interviews to U.S. media this Monday to build public support about an intervention in Syria. The White House is using its lobbying skills to make a case for an action that for some analysts could compromise the last good economic data.
WASHINGTON | By PABLO PARDO | With Barack Obama’s popularity decline, those who are taking the lead are prosecutors. The Justice Department is using techniques that had usually been the domain of criminal investigations to pursue crimes on Wall Street.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | With the Syrian crisis dominating the G20 summit agenda, investors are expectant about the coming events and looking for the best plan. For many analysts oil is a better bet than sovereign bonds, since crude oil prices could jump more than 20 percent if a U.S. military strike drags other countries into the Syrian conflict.
BEIJING | By Andy Xie via Caixin Magazine | India and China, the elephant and the dragon, are entering a new chapter, and the main question they both face is whether they will reform before a crisis or after.
MADRID | By Luis Martí | Spaniards are not slim quite yet. Or that’s how the IMF’s last report sees it. While admitting that reforms have gone quite far, the IMF wants wage earners to run an extra mile. But there are a few reasons why the institution’s proposal doesn’t make the cut.
MADRID | By A.A. | Saint Petersburg, G20 summit. Forget fiscal havens and banking regulation: the only relevant issue seems to be the eventual operation in Syria. Should it take place before Saturday, many would regret it. The only positive collateral effect in the author’s view is that it would help Istambul to host the 2020 Olympic Games.