Global Economy
House of cards: Will Congress fast-track Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a house of cards. The blockbuster trade agreement, spanning the Pacific Rim and covering a score of topics, is the subject of intense…
APEC in Beijing: Too many trade initiatives and too little progress
The APEC Leaders' Meeting underway in Beijing seems to be finessing the various conflicting and overlapping trade initiatives and avoiding serious damage. But it is not resolving…
China plans a global bullet-train dynasty
It is often observed in China that, the worse the economy, the more active the nation's railway building becomes.
A flurry of new high speed rail (HSR) announcements, domestic and…
Will the G20 address inequality at the Brisbane summit?
Of the 60-plus official meetings that have taken place under Australia's 2014 G20 presidency, a grand total of one has managed to produce a final communiqué or meeting report that…
Congress, midterms and the TPP
US mid-terms elections will take place on 4 November, with polls suggesting the Republicans will re-take control of the Senate. President Obama's next steps on the Trans Pacific…
China's coal addiction
A recent paper in Nature says that 'no other country is investing so much money or generating so much renewable energy' as China. 'Its build-up of renewable energy systems at…
Why Larry Summers might be wrong about China's growth
Forecasts of China's growth always attract interest, even when they are a year old. Larry Summers and Lant Prichett are getting another good run with the paper they published last…
G20 links: Tax mandates, WTO, protests in Brisbane, climate change and more
The Lowy Institute's G20 Studies Centre will present a weekly selection of links in the lead-up to the Brisbane G20 Leaders’ Summit on 15-16 November.
European Commission…
Reports
G20 Monitor: The G20’s growth agenda
This issue of the G20 Monitor provides a guide to the policies that G20 members will have to tackle to achieve the G20’s 2 per cent growth target, drawing on the recommendations…
The WTO is in big trouble
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, says the institution has descended into 'paralysis'.
Director-General of the World Trade…