By Myriam Vander Stichele | Guest Blog | March 20, 2020
Now that the financial markets are in turmoil, authorities are providing ever more robust measures and extra capital. But the panic in the financial markets is very much of its own making. The financial industry succeeded for years in fiercely opposing intervention and regulation that would have prevented the current financial distress. Authorities now have to face the resulting weak regulatory framework and restrict the viral excesses of the financial industry’s behavior. Rather than fleeing and waiting on the…
By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 33 | March 19, 2020
The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) is rapidly spreading around the world. The first case of coronavirus was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, but now it has spread to every continent except Antarctica. As of 18 March, 211,200 people have been infected, and at least 8,822 have died across six continents.
At the time of writing, there are no signs of coronavirus abating outside China. The virus, recognized as a pandemic by the World Health…
By Kavaljit Singh | Commentary | February 28, 2020
Last week, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, announced that the IMF is rethinking and updating its policy advice to emerging markets with an improved new integrated policy framework. In an op-ed piece in Financial Times (February 19), she wrote: “We are rethinking and updating our advice to member countries. Our goal is to provide country-specific advice on the appropriate mix of policies needed to preserve growth and financial stability. Our new “integrated policy…
By Kavaljit Singh | Letter (FT) | January 23, 2020
Martin Wolf rightly points out that the US-China trade deal is a partial and defective truce (January 22). The deal not only keeps in place the bulk of tariffs that were imposed on each other’s products during the trade war but repackages many commitments already made by China unilaterally or at international forums towards establishing a more market-based economy. Nevertheless, the trade deal raises two critical issues.
First, can China force its domestic companies (mostly privately owned) to…
By Biswajit Dhar | Briefing Paper # 32 | January 21, 2020
On March 22, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the “Presidential Memorandum Targeting China’s Economic Aggression” signalling the beginning of a trade war between the two largest economies. President Trump initiated this action in exercise of the powers granted to his administration under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The Section 301 allows the Trade administration to initiate action against any country, which, in its view, violates intellectual property rights (IPRs) belonging to American firms. But,…
