-
Who are the winners and losers in Africa’s Continental Free Trade area?
Wednesday 17th of October 2018
In March this year, the leaders of 44 African countries endorsed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Since then more countries, including South Africa, have joined in.
-
An economist explains why trade deficits aren’t a bad thing
Tuesday 16th of October 2018
Most Americans seem to think international trade deficits are a bad thing.
-
Can investments be too efficient?
Monday 15th of October 2018
In 1831, when Charles Darwin boarded The Beagle for its five-year voyage of exploration, ships navigated with the help of chronometers, which showed the precise time at a reference location. That time, when compared to the local solar noon, could be used to determine current longitude. To ensure precision – the motion of the waves affected timekeeping – a ship needed at least three chronometers. The Beagle had 22.
-
Innovation and production in the global economy: The consequences of recent shocks
Monday 15th of October 2018
The last several years have been marked by the abrupt end of decades of gradual liberalisation of restrictions on the movement of goods, people, and firms. In the US, the new administration has imposed tariffs on Chinese goods and taken steps to make it more expensive for US firms to expand overseas. In the UK, the decision to leave the EU is likely to have widespread implications for the economic structure of Europe and has induced multinational firms to rethink their global production strategies. Growing scepticism in many other countries also suggests that harder borders may be erected to make trade and foreign investment more difficult.
-
US trade sanctions could hasten the dollar’s demise as the main global currency
Friday 12th of October 2018
Having unilaterally reimposed sanctions on Iran, US President Donald Trump’s administration is threatening to penalize companies doing business with the Islamic Republic by denying them access to US banks. But that could hasten the dollar’s demise as the main global currency.
-
Asia and Europe can both gain from better trade links. But they need to cooperate, not compete
Thursday 11th of October 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
-
These are the winners and losers in the new NAFTA
Thursday 4th of October 2018
NAFTA is out but the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) is in.
-
These are some initial reactions to the new US-Mexico-Canada trade deal
Tuesday 2nd of October 2018
Early reviews of President Donald Trump’s new trade pact with Mexico and Canada are positive but cautious.
-
China to cut import tariffs on metals and textile products
Monday 1st of October 2018
China will cut import tariffs on textile products and metals, including steel products, to 8.4 percent from 11.5 percent, effective Nov. 1, the finance ministry said on Sunday.
-
5 ways investors can address the climate challenge
Thursday 20th of September 2018
This year’s Climate Week turns the spotlight on an important question in the fight against climate change: who will pay for it?
-
When it comes to tariffs and trade, we shouldn’t forget the role of companies
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Are tariffs the only way to stop outsourcing? This perspective has been widely debated as the U.S. engages in trade wars with China, Mexico and Canada, but it ignores many of the realities of how companies actually make sourcing decisions – and the ways they naturally consider national interests when making them, writes Wharton operations, information and decisions professor Morris A. Cohen in this opinion piece.
-
US-China trade war: top quotes from the World Economic Forum in China
Thursday 20th of September 2018
Trade was top of the agenda at our Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, as news broke of a further escalation in the tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies, the US and China.
-
8 ways blockchain can be an environmental game-changer
Wednesday 19th of September 2018
Blockchain hype peaked in the media in 2017 when “cryptomania” hit the trading markets. More recently, attention has turned to how it will be regulated, while in a survey released this month more than four out of five executives (84%) reported their organisations had blockchain initiatives underway – dominated by financial services.
-
5 biggest risks to the global economy today
Tuesday 18th of September 2018
Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, triggering the most significant global financial crisis since the great depression. Lehman’s collapse was not triggered in a day but over a much longer period, with assets of US$680 billion (£518 billion) supported by only US$22.5 billion of capital by the time it went under. As the subprime mortgage crisis began to eat up financial institutions, this once invincible bank was suddenly no more.
-
Don’t understand the US-China trade war? This metaphor could help
Tuesday 18th of September 2018
US President Donald Trump has slapped 10% tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, intensifying a trade war that has sent shockwaves through the global economy.
-
Five trends shaping the future of e-commerce in China
Monday 17th of September 2018
China leads the world in e-commerce. More than 40% of the world’s e-commerce transactions currently take place in China, up from only 1% about a decade ago.
-
Machine learning is tearing down language barriers. What does this mean for trade?
Sunday 16th of September 2018
We all know what “intelligence” means and what “artificial” means; yet, put them together into “artificial intelligence” and we get confusion, trepidation or maybe even laughter. The phrase “artificial intelligence” may not ring the same bells for everyone. One form of artificial intelligence that should be ringing everyone’s bells is called machine learning. Machine learning is transforming our world faster than most realize; in particular, it is transforming trade.
-
Global trade is broken. Here are five ways to rebuild it
Wednesday 12th of September 2018
Tension, angst and mistrust pervade today’s global trade landscape. The multilateral trading system that has governed the international flow of commerce over the past 70 years is being tested in ways that threaten its relevance and continued existence. Most striking of all, the United States, the traditional guardian of the system, is the one shaking things up. Through raising tariffs, blocking the appointment of new judges on the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) appellate body and asking countries to “manage” trade by buying more and exporting less, the Trump administration has made it clear it’s not business as usual.
-
Indonesia’s president says he is an Avenger superhero fighting trade wars
Wednesday 12th of September 2018
Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, turned to the language of comic books to describe the threats the world faces today.
-
3 things the G20 can do to save the World Trade Organization
Tuesday 11th of September 2018
This week, trade and investment ministers from the G20 will gather at Mar del Plata in Argentina for the first time since the tariff dispute started in the spring of 2018.
-
The story of Viet Nam’s economic miracle
Tuesday 11th of September 2018
Walking around in Ha Noi, Viet Nam’s capital, you can feel boundless energy everywhere. People whiz by on scooters, buy and sell everything from phones to food in the countless small shops, and run to and fro to get to school or work. Viet Nam is young, growing, and anything feels possible.
-
Amazon becomes the second US company to achieve a $1 trillion valuation
Wednesday 5th of September 2018
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) on Tuesday briefly joined Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to become the second $1 trillion publicly listed U.S. company after its stock price more than doubled in a year as it grew rapidly in retail and cloud computing.
-
3 myths about China’s investment in Africa and why they need to be dispelled
Tuesday 4th of September 2018
This article is part of the World Economic Forum’s Geostrategy platform
-
When a T-shirt is $2 or $200, how can we ensure trade is fair?
Friday 31st of August 2018
We hear a lot about trade disruptors, from China to the world’s disruptor-in-chief, Donald Trump. But one concept is steadily upending supply chains and has the potential to transform trade. That concept is transparency.
-
The history of bitcoin, told through 5 different groups
Friday 31st of August 2018
The recent fluctuations in Bitcoin’s value are just the latest in a series of spectacular peaks and troughs since it was created in 2009. (Though its price has been falling recently, it remains five times higher than last April, before the latest major peak began.)