Global Economy
Movie trailer: Godzilla
A new trailer for the Godzilla reboot has just emerged, and it looks pretty awesome:
Judging by the trailer, environmentalists should be ecstatic with this one. In fact, maybe…
Australia and the Indian elections: Economic considerations
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop with senior BJP member Arun Jaitley in New Delhi, 18 November 2013.
The largest peacetime operation in world history is underway, with 815 million…
Currency manipulation and quantitative easing: Rajan vs Bernanke
The long running international squabble about China's management (or 'manipulation') of its exchange rate, quiescent over the past couple of years, has sprung to life again.
The…
China's 'syngas': Bad economics, bad science and an environmental catastrophe
The apparent shift in the global energy market from coal to natural gas has shaken fossil fuel markets. As Australian resource exporters are keenly aware, this tilt has pushed…
The income inequality story: Reviewing Piketty's 'Capital in the Twenty-first Century'
Thomas Piketty's 700-page tome on world income distribution has landed with a resounding thud in the middle of the already noisy debate on income distribution, to unanimous praise…
G20 gives US an ultimatum on IMF reform: But is it a bluff?
The IMF/G20 meetings in Washington last week were not good for the US. And things may get worse.
Instead of focusing on the possibility of additional economic sanctions on Russia,…
Economic growth: IMF marks watershed moment for developing countries
GDP growth. (Source: IMF WEO Chapter 1.)
The latest IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) records a watershed moment for the global economy. In terms of purchasing power GDP, the…
IPCC and clean energy: Easy on the optimism
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report makes for gloomy reading. The world needs 'drastic changes' to reduce carbon emissions and prevent global temperature…
After six months, how is Australia's G20 presidency going?
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet (yet) again in Washington today under the chairmanship of Joe Hockey and Glenn Stevens. This meeting is not getting as much…
Trade focus disguises Abbott course-correction on Japan relationship
At first glance, there seems to be plenty of evidence from Tony Abbott's Tokyo visit that, for the Australian leader, the Japan relationship can't get close enough. The much…