Despite large-scale political upheavals around the world, and escalating tensions in many regions, the global economy performed well in 2017, and will enter the new year with a momentum not seen in years. But as some of our top economics commentaries from 2017 point out, there are still risks on the horizon.
In many ways, 2017 was a watershed year for the global economy. Stock markets reached all-time highs. Macroeconomic indicators in key countries improved throughout the year. And, despite catastrophic natural disasters, nuclear saber-rattling on the Korean Peninsula, escalating power politics between oil producers in the Middle East, worries about Chinese debt, and the slow-motion collapse of Venezuela, the global economic recovery continued to gain steam.
In the compilation below, we have selected some of Project Syndicate’s most-read commentaries on economics in 2017. Taken together, they offer a message of caution, and point to risks on the horizon. Will the bull run of 2017 last, or will the looming specter of protectionism, long-awaited adjustments in monetary policy, and other factors change the economic story? To answer those and similar questions about the global economy in the year ahead, one could do worse than to revisit some of the most insightful analysis of the year now ending.
Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and Martin Guzman of Columbia University Business School, writing before Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico this fall, warned that proposals to address the US commonwealth’s unsustainable debt will make a bad problem even worse.
In many ways, 2017 was a watershed year for the global economy. Stock markets reached all-time highs. Macroeconomic indicators in key countries improved throughout the year. And, despite catastrophic natural disasters, nuclear saber-rattling on the Korean Peninsula, escalating power politics between oil producers in the Middle East, worries about Chinese debt, and the slow-motion collapse of Venezuela, the global economic recovery continued to gain steam.
In the compilation below, we have selected some of Project Syndicate’s most-read commentaries on economics in 2017. Taken together, they offer a message of caution, and point to risks on the horizon. Will the bull run of 2017 last, or will the looming specter of protectionism, long-awaited adjustments in monetary policy, and other factors change the economic story? To answer those and similar questions about the global economy in the year ahead, one could do worse than to revisit some of the most insightful analysis of the year now ending.
From Bad to Worse for Puerto Rico
Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz and Martin Guzman of Columbia University Business School, writing before Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico this fall, warned that proposals to address the US commonwealth’s unsustainable debt will make a bad problem even worse.