...ach parity in literacy, in health, and in education with developed nations despite its comparatively abysmal gross domestic product per capita, thus defying all conventional wisdom stating that HDI scores will rise only after GDP increases. Political scientists, economists and sociologists alike call it the “Kerala phenomenon.” Most developing nations—Mexico, Brazil, China, Kenya, and a host of others—have taken the prevailing logic to heart, str...
It is difficult to doubt today that China will ascend the power hierarchy and rise as a global superpower within the next century. News headlines constantly remind us of China’s remarkable economic growth and increasing political clout. Particularly as the power of the United States appears to be waning, speculation of a Chinese 21st century runs rampant. Boasting a GDP growth rate of 9.6 percent and surpassing Japan as the world’s s...
...anying increase in the American DSR. A private company, if solvent, would never be unwilling to repay debt. However, sovereign nations, such as Greece most recently, have proved quite unwilling. With 20 percent more debt than GDP in 2009, Greece faced an unsustainable deficit. The value of its government bonds, even with additional insurance on them, was less than any other sovereign-issued bond. In terms of price, investor confidence in Greece’s...
...ve unemployment. To compound its unemployment crisis, Spain has to deal with unsustainable public debt. However, debt is a symptom of the crisis and not the cause. The Spanish government, until recently, had a lower debt- to- GDP ratio than Britain and the USA but was forced to borrow at much higher interest rates. The key difference is that Britain and the USA have their own currencies and central banks. Therefore, they cannot default on their...
...around 70 million party members, the CCP inevitably has some out there. But that leaves well over 1.2 billion people who are not party members, and many of them are already wishing for change—even in the face of double-digit GDP growth. If and when times get harder in China, the anger and resentment already felt by many Chinese towards their government can only increase. Short of armed repression, the CCP has few tricks up its sleeve to deal wit...
...forest, these people exerted minimal damage on their treasured source of life. Today, two-thirds of the DRC’s population still relies on the rainforest. With nearly seventy million people, vast natural resources, the lowest GDP per capita, and the second-lowest carbon emissions per capita, the Congo still remains the Heart of Darkness. For the past twenty years, the Congo basin has been plunged into conflict. Not a stranger to human tragedy – t...
...ining. Part of the reason for the scheme’s harshness is Cyprus’s reputation as a haven for money-laundering. Nearly 40% of all bank deposits in Cyprus are held by foreigners, and the vast majority of that are Russians. With a GDP of only $18 billion, Cyprus was Russia’s largest single source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2011, contributing around $14 billion, or just a quarter of FDI. Thus the scheme, which would exempt those with savings...
...ecautions is not only bad governance (donated mosquito nets, for example, often end up being sold in the black market) but also the unwillingness of the rich countries to live up to their promise of using 0.7 percent of their GDP in direct financial assistance to the developing world. The US spends under 0.2 percent of its GDP on aid to the developing world and actually rejects the claim that it ever promised to honor the 0.7 percent limit. Briti...
...the argument that less demand for UK exports is the only reason why the UK has fallen back into recession. This next chart reveals that construction (and not manufacturing) has been the laggard in the UK and is dragging down GDP growth. Germany was able to survive Merkel’s austerity measures because manufacturing comprises a significantly larger portion of its GDP than the UK. Unfortunately, in the UK, reduced transfer payments and higher taxes...
This past week, the now hydra-like Greek debt crisis reared yet another one of its re-growing heads. Anti-austerity protests returned to Athens as Greek ministers attempted to acquiesce to the demands of European Union leaders who thought that the problem had already been dealt with. The continuation of the Greek recession, now entering historic periods of length and severity at five years and a 16 percent decrease from pre-recession GDP, should...
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