| Resolving the chaos in Iraq: Some students have their say
The United States-led invasion of Iraq has had devastating consequences for both countries. According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the war may now have cost over 600,000 Iraqis their lives. Nearly 3,000 American troops have died and the US continues to spend massive sums on the war. The need for new approaches in Iraq has become more urgent than ever. Changes are needed within the country itself and abroad, and Iraq needs the help of the international community more than ever. We three students - one Moroccan, one Egyptian and one American - present our "common sense" proposal for the future of Iraq.The major problems facing Iraq today are as much economic as they are military. The power and sewage systems in Baghdad have been an embarrassment for years - after all, they worked under Saddam Hussein, but crumbled in American hands, largely due to a ferocious insurgency the US was not prepared for.
Between Insurrection And Reaction: Evo Morales' Pursuit Of 'Normal ...
Many progressive overseas academics, politicians, journalists and commentators have glowingly characterized the Evo Morales regime as 'radical', 'revolutionary' and part of an 'anti-imperialist bloc'. Academics as diverse as Noam Chomsky, Ignacio Ramonet, Emir Sader, Heinz Dietrich, Marta Hanecker and Immanuel Wallerstein have described Evo Morales as part of a new leftist wave sweeping Latin America. What is striking about these academic celebrants of President Morales, is the total absence of any empirical analysis of his recent political trajectory and the socio-economic and public policies implemented during his first 15 months in office. A first approximation toward an understanding of the Morales regime is to briefly recount the role of Morales and his MAS Party in the period preceding his election and the relationship between the dynamic social movements to socio-political change… This historical perspective serves to provoke the basis for outlining the theoretical-practical conceptions of Morales-Linera Garcia(Vice-President)which guides their strategy and program of governance.
Dollar, Stocks And Treasuries Look For More Volatility From New ...
As predicted in Thursday's Cross Markets Data Reaction report, the existing home sales report for February was met with some level of skepticism. Though the indicator hit the wires with quite the surprise, traders in both the Treasury and equities markets moved their respective asset little considering the reports divergence with predictions. According to the National Association of Realtors survey, the number of existing home sales in February jumped 3.9 percent to a 6.69 million pace. In historical terms, this was the biggest boost in sales in three years and the fastest pace in seven months. At the same time, last month's improvement was not merely a natural rebound from a sharp January contract; rather it followed another significant rise. What does that mean for the market-moving potential of Monday's new home sales indicator from the Commerce Department? Looking back at the previous release on February 28th, it is hard to judge the effect the housing number had on the market.
2p won't buy Brown a ticket to No 10
We really should have seen it coming. Those of us who have watched and charted the progress of Gordon Brown's political philosophy could easily have predicted it. The 2p tax cut, the centrepiece of this Chancellor's last Budget, which has shaken the pieces in the kaleidoscope of British politics and thrown a different coloured prism across our view of the political parties, was always an inevitable next step for Mr Brown to take. The clues were all there. Gordon Brown has laid them himself over the past few years, during which acute observers will recall that he has consistently sought to reclaim the considerable reputation of the philosopher Adam Smith - Margaret Thatcher's favourite economist - as a bulwark for his "New Labour" economics. It is, of course, a wonderfully appropriate claim for him to make, not only because of their shared enthusiasm for prudence and a strong sense of the importance of what Smith called "moral sentiments", but only because of the pleasing symmetry provided by their shared home town of Kirkcaldy in Fife.
US Dollar, Equities And Treasury Markets Screen ISM Services For ...
After two disappointing days of economic data, US market participants will now be turning their attention (and hopes for volatility) to Wednesday morning's ISM non-manufacturing report. In its previous reading, the service-sector activity gauge slipped to its lowest level in nearly four years. Officially, the market will be working off of a consensus for a 55.0 print for the March number, versus the lowly 54.3 reading the month before. However, there are questions as to whether this cautiously bullish outlook aligns itself to the conditions for the month or if the indicator will even rouse a response for the market. For expectations, there are a number of concerns that have eroded the validity of the official forecast. From Monday's disappointing manufacturing report, the employment and prices paid components could easily lead to similar results from the equivalent sub-gauges in the service survey.
Ukraine's economy and its political crisis
MOSCOW. (Vyacheslav Vashanov for RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, has managed to stabilize the economic situation in the country in a short period of time. Thanks to the government's efforts, Ukraine's GDP grew by 6.7% in 2006. Budget revenues in the first quarter of 2007 increased by 36% compared with the same period last year. Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mykola Azarov and Economic Minister Anatoly Kinakh have said there were no signs of social or economic instability in the country, so there was no reason to dissolve parliament. The government fully controls the exchange rate and prices. Inflation was 0.7% in March and 1.8% in the first quarter of the year. Preliminary government statistics confirm that the economy has been growing rapidly.
Anatomy of a hump
IF YOU were to draw the path of inflation in the typical big, rich economy over the past half century, your picture would look much like a dromedary's back: a low flat line in the 1960s; a knobbly hump of high and volatile price rises in the 1970s; dramatic disinflation in the 1980s; and low, stable inflation rates since. Japan and Germany, which were quicker to quell inflation, are well-known exceptions. But for the rest, the shape and timing of the Great Inflation bulge look remarkably similar. This is a bulge that today's central bankers are anxious not to repeat. So it is no surprise that several governors from America's Federal Reserve are attending a conference on March 9th to discuss a new report* on the Great Inflation, written by a weighty group of macroeconomists from academia and Wall Street.
|
