Programs & Projects

Global Economic Futures

Global Economic Futures

Trade wars, populism, and geopolitics. The world is quickly becoming more fraught as complex forces threaten to disrupt and reshape the global economy in profound ways. In this context, the Lowy Institute launched the Global Economic Futures project aimed at better understanding this rapidly changing global economic landscape, where it might take us, and the key choices to be made.

The project examines the future shape of the global economy especially given rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies – the United States and China – and the possible implications for, and changing roles of, major regional economies, including Australia, India, Indonesia and others.

Experts
Latest publications
News and media
The useful myth of central bank independence
The useful myth of central bank independence
One of the sustaining myths of modern economics is that central banks are independent, able to pursue monetary policy free from the pressures of politics. This makes monetary…
The sudden interest in Modern Monetary Theory
The sudden interest in Modern Monetary Theory
The decade since the financial crisis of 2008 has been unkind to conventional economics. The gap between the observed facts and mainstream theory opened an opportunity for…
What might a US-China trade deal look like?
What might a US-China trade deal look like?
Perhaps they will, perhaps they won’t, but if China and the US do reach a trade agreement in coming weeks it will likely be very long. Meeting to seal the deal, President…
An orthodox economic take on climate change shocks
An orthodox economic take on climate change shocks
In a debate as politically fractious as climate change, it is useful to have credible voices joining the fray. On Tuesday night, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) waded into the…
Book review: Winners take all
Book review: Winners take all
Book Review: Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World, by Anand Giridharadas (Knopf Doubleday, 2018) Anand Giridharadas, TED talking-head, columnist,…
A Tobin tax: an idea whose time has come for Indonesia
A Tobin tax: an idea whose time has come for Indonesia
It is almost half-a-century since economist James Tobin proposed a small transaction tax to stabilise volatile global capital flows. Tobin’s proposal followed the breakdown of…
Is Australia wise to pick sides in US-China trade war?
Is Australia wise to pick sides in US-China trade war?
The US-China trade war is viewed by many as a dark cloud over the global economy. So why is Australia’s ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, seemingly urging Trump to go harder, and…
East Asia’s decoupling
Research Notes
East Asia’s decoupling
East Asia is no longer reliant on US or Western markets to fuel its growth, giving it more room to manage amid global trade tensions.
Why the gloom? Global economic prospects
Why the gloom? Global economic prospects
“Winter is coming” warned Indonesian President Joko Widodo in his address at the October meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group in Bali. He wasn’t talking…
Could Ivanka Trump become the next World Bank President?
Could Ivanka Trump become the next World Bank President?
Will Ivanka Trump become the next World Bank President? There is speculation that the President’s daughter is among the names thrown into the mix to replace the current president,…