Global Economy

Credit rating agencies must do better
Standard and Poors' credit ratings. (Wikipedia.) Foreign investors learn about the Australian economy from a variety of sources, but the credit rating agencies (CRAs) have a…
G20: The case for an inclusive growth target
Earlier this year Treasurer Joe Hockey negotiated a significant commitment among G20 Finance Ministers to aim for an additional 2% of global growth over the next five years. As…
From the comments thread: Green energy
Two reader comments I'd like to flag in response to my piece highlighting new research by the Brookings Institution's Charles Frank, written up in The Economist, which suggests…
The limits of Indonesia's anti-corruption campaign
'Fight corruption!' A Corruption Eradication Commission event in Bandung in 2009. (Flickr/Ikhlasul Amal.) Indonesia's reputation for corruption in not in doubt: it comes 114th…
Time to put security issues on G20 agenda
Given developments in the Ukraine and tensions elsewhere in the world, the time has come to put security and geo-political issues directly on the agenda for the meeting of G20…
China: Climate wrecker or climate leader?
Lisa Williams is author of the new Lowy Institute Analysis, China's Climate Change Policies: Actors and Drivers. The views expressed here are her own and do not reflect the views…
The long term damage of the global financial crisis
One of the messages of John Edwards' Beyond the Boom is that Australia sailed through the 2008 crisis unscathed. As a result, Australia's GDP in 2013 was 16% higher than in 2007,…
Will Putin go to the Brisbane G20 Summit?
One consequence of the tragedy over MH17, apparently at the hands of Russian-backed separatists, is that it raises the question of whether President Putin should attend the…
Australia's carbon price repeal: The global context
With the repeal today of Australia's two-year-old carbon pricing scheme, the Abbott Government has formalised Australia's transition from climate laggard to climate wrecker. But…
Dubai seeks world aviation dominance
One of the first posts I ever wrote on The Interpreter in late 2007 was about Dubai's evolution towards becoming 'the centre of the world'. That is, a global aviation hub…