Major changes in oil production have transformed the US from a major importer to a major producer and sometime exporter of oil. The market power of OPEC and its non-member collaborators has been weakened (Libya and Nigeria have been exempted from current quotas). In addition to new sources of oil production, we are now hearing […]
photo: Alexandra Zakharova American colonists resented the British Navigation Acts. Colonists smuggled, protested, and eventually revolted against the restrictions on trade. John Hancock, the most prominent signer of the Declaration of Independence, became one of the richest men in the Colonies by smuggling (John Hancock-Heritage). However, in 2017 in the independent United States of America, […]
photo: jiejun tan Widespread scalping is a sign of poor revenue management by event organizers Reselling of concert and event tickets at a price above their face value, also known as scalping, has been a recurring topic of discussion by the general public as well as among economists. Several artists such as Adele have been fighting […]
photo: Gage Skidmore Trump Trade Doctrine Donald Trump campaigned against bad trade deals, and he promised to negotiate “better deals”. The exact meaning of a better trade deal for America was revealed in a document, “Scoring the Trump Economic Plan”, written by advisors Peter Navarro and Wilbur Ross. Navarro will head the new White House National […]
In a paper on tax policy, leverage and macroeconomic stability published on 10 November, the IMF staff address the issue of excessive leverage or the so-called “debt bias” that poses risks for financial and macroeconomic stability. The “debt bias” has been largely created by more favorable tax treatment of debt relatively to equity. In most […]
The massive migration from Mexico to the United States that began in the 1980s and ended in 2007 was one of the largest in history (Hanson and McIntosh). Nine years after the mass migration, the issue remains politically sensitive, and Donald Trump’s advocacy of building a Wall along the southern border contributed to his winning […]
photo: Rich Girard Migration is a sensitive issue today in many countries. In the UK people who voted for Brexit cited lack of control of the border as the most important issue that influenced their vote. In other parts of the EU, many countries imposed border barriers against non-EU migrants, in spite of their promises to […]
photo: L.C. Nøttaasen The Saudi Arabian economy has been jolted by a severe oil shock. Crude oil that sold for over $100 per barrel in 2014 sold for only $26 per barrel in February 2016. The price rose to $50 by June 2016, but it remains half of what it was two years ago. As an […]
photo: Nicolas Raymond The economy of Russia contracted by almost 4% last year and is expected to decline further this year, according to the IMF (Economist 2016a). Russia being a resource driven economy and one of the top oil exporters globally, a large part of the downturn can certainly be explained by the collapse in oil […]
The European Union is facing the largest migration crisis since the aftermath of World War II. Wars in Syria and Iraq are the immediate sources of displaced people seeking peace and prosperity in Europe. The large volume of migrants in a short period exceeds the ability and willingness of Europeans to process and accept migrants. […]