By Kavaljit Singh | Briefing Paper # 24 | March 23, 2019
The financial transaction tax is an issue that never goes away from the public agenda completely. It keeps coming back to the policy and political discussions in different forms across the world. Currently, the idea of a financial transaction tax (FTT) is gaining in popularity within the Democratic Party of the United States as a policy tool to curb excessive speculation and high-frequency trading that destabilizes markets; and to generate a significant amount of revenue to finance social programs…
By Forum Against FTAs | Manifesto | March 19, 2019
Following is the text of a manifesto for trade justice released by Forum Against FTAs – a network of India’s civil society organisations, trade unions, farmers’ groups, and concerned citizens – on the eve of the 2019 general elections urging all political parties to take a people-centric approach on trade policy and to institutionalise transparency in the process of India’s trade negotiations:
India is a huge country with great development potential. However, for this potential to be realised, Indian people must gain…
At last, the Financial Stability Board has woken up to assess the potential financial stability risks emanating from leveraged loans that currently stand at more than $1.3tn (“Watchdog turns up heat on leveraged loan industry as high risk debt soars”, March 8). Since 2010, leveraged lending issuance has witnessed a rapid growth as yield-hungry investors rushed to grab the specialist loan vehicles — collateralised loan obligations.
What is worrisome is not merely the magnitude of outstanding debt, but the deteriorating…
By Oscar Ugarteche and Alfredo Ocampo | Guest Blog | February 28, 2019
The European economy is facing one of its greatest challenges in recent times. It ranges from slow economic growth, the Brexit, political crises and the emergence of right-wing populist forces, to a possible GDP slowdown contagion emanating from Germany. Some disagreements and uncertainty regarding Maastricht policies are adding to the risks for the economy of the old continent. International organizations have emphasized the need to generate certainty, boost the potential product and reinforce some fiscal aspects that will be…
By Oscar Ugarteche and Armando Negrete | Guest Blog | February 21, 2019
In mid-January 2018, the US president declared the trade war against China with the announcement of the tariff tax of 20% for imports of washing machines and 30% for solar panels. In March, he applied a tax on steel imports of 25% and aluminum of 10%. After that, since April, the US and China are engaged in the biggest trade war in history. With reprisals taken by China to each aggression. In December 2018, under the G20’s framework in…
