Recently published census data showing that the world’s most populous country is aging rapidly and becoming less fertile have alarmed the government. But further relaxing China’s family-planning policy may not have the desired effect, and could even prove counterproductive.
His first visit to Europe since taking office gives US President Joe Biden an opportunity to exorcise the toxic legacy of Donald Trump’s America First nationalism and isolationism. But will he succeed in promoting multilateral cooperation on global challenges while also forging a robust Western stance toward China?
Even as many rich countries free themselves from the pandemic’s grip, COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging in several regions, enabling dangerous new variants to emerge. Only universal immunization can end the cycle of misery – but achieving it will require more than a temporary waiver of vaccine manufacturers’ intellectual-property rights.
Despite a fragile cease-fire, the latest violent eruption of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has had predictably disastrous consequences for the enclave’s already desperate civilians, and has stoked extremism in Israel itself. For Israelis who assumed that Palestinian nationalism had been defeated, the explosion of tensions with the Jewish State’s Arab citizens augurs an unwelcome reckoning.
Informal workers comprise about 60% of the global labor force – and a much larger share in emerging and developing economies. Many of them have made essential contributions during the pandemic, but that is no guarantee of improved rights, benefits, and working conditions once the crisis is over.
Regulators in Europe, the United States, and China are vowing to impose tougher sanctions against internet giants in order to reduce their market dominance and political clout. But those placing their hope in antitrust law as a panacea are likely to be disappointed.
With inflation subdued for now, central banks are increasingly responding to public pressure to address inequality and climate change. But by venturing into new policy terrain and exposing themselves to accusations of mission creep, they may be jeopardizing their operational independence.
Among its many harmful effects, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing gender inequalities. If leaders are serious about “building back better” and promoting inclusive economies and societies, they must take concrete steps to empower women at home, at work, and in policymaking.
To help finance its massive post-pandemic infrastructure investment package, US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to increase corporate taxes and reduce the scope for profit-shifting by US-based multinationals. Although the proposed tax changes are likely to face opposition from congressional Republicans and big business, are any of the alternatives better?
After a gradual decade-long democratization process, Myanmar’s military seized power again in February and is waging a ruthless crackdown against unarmed civilian protesters. A major escalation of the ongoing turmoil – civil war is a growing possibility – would have implications far beyond the country’s borders.
As the world strives to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, economists’ efforts to devise strategies to generate inclusive and sustainable prosperity have taken on greater urgency. But those efforts will not succeed unless the profession itself becomes more inclusive – in terms of gender, ethnicity, national origin, and the intellectual assumptions and methods it employs.
Many fear that sharp differences in the speed of vaccine rollouts and the scale of stimulus measures will result in a K-shaped global economic recovery, with much of the developed world booming while poorer countries continue to struggle. But if policymakers are not careful, advanced economies also could experience highly uneven post-pandemic growth.
The European Union’s sluggish COVID-19 vaccination efforts are currently dominating the headlines and undermining confidence in the bloc. But, overall, rich countries remain well ahead of the developing world in the global scramble for supplies – and the longer this imbalance persists, the greater the risk that new coronavirus variants will emerge that can again threaten the world.
