If the pragmatic James Carville gave us the slogan “It’s the economy, stupid,” we now have an ideologue’s response. Javier Milei, the self-described “anarcho-capitalist” President of Argentina, won the 2023 presidential election off the back of his rallying cry “Long live freedom, Goddamnit!” Just last month, Milei’s slogan, glistening and italicized, found itself engraved on […]
Tag: IMF
Argentina at a Crossroads
On October 22nd, voters flocked to the polls to elect the new president of Argentina, amongst intense political and economic strife. All three candidates offered different solutions to the same problem: how to fix the economy. By the end of the day, it became clear that the top two contenders, Sergio Massa and Javier Milei, […]
China’s Debt Conundrum
President Xi Jinping and the standing committee. Analyzing China’s perilous macroeconomic position. As Martin Wolf of the Financial Times recently wrote, to understand the Chinese economy Stein’s law must be kept in mind. The economic law, named after Herbert Stein, Chairman of the Council of Economic advisors under President Nixon simply states that if something […]
A Friendship Gone Astray
The Growing Divide in Chinese-African Relations In December 2015, President Xi Jinping was declaring Zimbabwe to be China’s “all-weather friend.” Less than a year later, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe was accusing the Chinese of undermining his nation’s economy and “taking advantage” of Zimbabwe’s women. This seemingly rapid transition in relations might appear to be unexpected, […]
We Need to Talk About Sovereign Debt
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, a key figure in sovereign debt restructuring. Featured image source: World Economic Forum. A brief summary of sovereign debt crises. Sovereign debt crises occur regularly and often violently. Take the example of the latest prominent debt crisis in Greece. Major markets in the US and in Europe were […]
The AIIB: China’s Economic Evolution
According to the International Monetary Foundation (IMF), the economies of the Asia-Pacific region are growing rapidly, and are expected to account for almost half of global GDP by 2030. However, sustainable, long-term economic growth requires a sound infrastructure network to facilitate the transportation of ideas and goods in the increasingly connected global economy, yet the […]
The Brave Reformer
BY GIACOMO TOGNINI Facing -2.1% GDP quarterly growth rate and 12.5% unemployment, Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s problems continue. His government recently passed a new budget that reduced fiscal austerity and increased state spending. His next target is Italy’s constitution, a document that established Italy’s bloated bureaucratic public sector which continues to drain resources from the […]