Economic growth in Africa has accelerated remarkably since the turn of the century, reflecting a rise in commodity prices as well as better macroeconomic policies, increased openness, and fewer conflicts.
Russia’s economic performance exceeded expectations in 2010, but inflation continues to worry policy makers. While they are attempting to curb rising prices, they are avoiding other necessary reforms for fear of inciting protests as elections approach.
After stagnating for decades, economic growth in Africa has accelerated, but maintaining this rapid growth is far from guaranteed. Policy makers must build on past successes and tackle tough reforms before the world’s poorest continent can make sustained economic progress.
Reform of the international monetary system tops France's agenda as chair of the G20 but a review of the system during the crisis suggests no major overhaul is needed. Instead, major economies must change their domestic policies to ensure that the system functions smoothly.
China’s growth in 2010 was impressive, but massive credit expansion has left the economy with a potentially dangerous liquidity overhang and its growth will likely slow in 2011. A host of other risks leave China’s longer-term future more uncertain.
While the obsession with global rebalancing stokes currency and protectionist tensions, it diverts attention from
what is really needed—reforms at home.
If asset prices and currency values overshoot and inflation surges, there is a risk that emerging markets will be hit with another potentially devastating financial crisis.
The increased use of intermediate inputs in world trade distorts bilateral trade balances, reduces the importance of exports as drivers of demand, and hides the true cost of protectionism.
China and India are poised to join the United States as the world’s largest economies by mid-century. As economic strength is translated into greater power and influence, will a tri-polar global system replace the unipolar status of the United States?
Despite the recent optimism in Europe, evidence that countries are dealing adequately with the underlying causes of the euro crisis remains scarce. For the European rescue to succeed, leaders must focus on structural problems, not just fiscal ones.
The transnational network of criminal activity and illicit trade is not only growing, but it is also becoming an even larger threat than it has been in the past.
The EU, which has worked for decades on North Africa’s development, must step up its efforts to bolster the region’s private sector and dismantle its own agricultural protectionism.
Despite its impressive list of attendees, the World Economic Forum—known simply as “Davos”—is neither as exclusive or conspiratorial as its critics claim nor as world-transforming as its supporters imagine.
Developing countries are emerging as the new engine of global growth, but this success has led to new challenges that policy makers must overcome if their countries are to continue driving the world economy forward.