Dominik A. Leusder is an economist and writer based in London.
Last week, China responded to new US tariffs with a ban on exporting rare earth minerals. While both countries’ leaders engage in great power rivalry, they risk imperiling the green transition, which will rely on the trade of technology between nations.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell has finally signaled the beginning of the end of high interest rates. But keeping rates higher for longer might have done unnecessary damage domestically and abroad, including to the all-important energy transition.
Donald Trump’s embrace of cryptocurrency, which is dominated by the most reactionary and stupid representatives of the tech industry, has made it a partisan issue. But it might turn out to be a misstep.
Neoliberalism is embedded in the European Union’s DNA. But for the continent’s left, there are few good alternatives.
Developing countries are undergoing an unprecedented combination of currency crises, debt, famine, and political unrest — and the US decision to raise interest rates risks adding fuel to the fire. A stable system of global economic governance is needed.
The latest Western sanctions mean “total economic and financial war on Russia,” according to a European finance minister. There’s little reason to hope this will stop Putin’s war — but it will bring a longer-term attrition that mainly hurts ordinary Russians.
Last week, the Bank of England decided to raise interest rates again in an attempt to curb rising inflation. The move will likely increase household debt and unemployment, worsening people’s living conditions.
Angela Merkel’s 16-year German chancellorship has finally come to an end. Though she presented herself as the sensible and stabilizing force in Europe, her tenure was characterized by economic neglect, obstruction, and brutal austerity.
Whatever its shortcomings, Thomas Piketty’s latest book, Capital and Ideology, is a serious attempt to map our social world without resorting to easy abstractions.