RealTime Economic Issues Watch

Quit Biting on Apple: Congress’s Misplaced Outrage over Corporate Taxes

Gary Clyde Hufbauer — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:51:39 +0000

Senators are chomping down hard on Apple’s tax returns, trying to paint the company as Peck’s Bad Boy of corporate taxation. The lawmakers’ appetite has been whetted by a congressional investigation showing that the company avoided billions in taxes by setting up a complex web of global subsidiaries, some of them with no employees but [...]

Effects of the Euro Crisis on Reserve Currency Holdings

Allie E. Bagnall — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:28:02 +0000

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released the latest update of its data on the Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER) at the end of March, with data through the end of 2012. From the end of 2010 through the end of 2012, the quantity share (adjusted for the effects of changes in exchange [...]

Is France a ‘Peripheral’ Country?

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard — Wed, 08 May 2013 23:08:25 +0000

A few weeks ago Reuters reported that the French finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici, fell asleep during the final late night negotiations over the Cypriot bank bailout on March 24. It apparently fell to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director, Christine Lagarde—a former French finance minister herself—to wake him up. No doubt the grueling round-the-clock [...]

Southern Europe’s Problem: Poor Education

Anders Aslund — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:27:07 +0000

A little noticed fact about the economic turmoil in southern Europe is that Portugal and Italy, two of the countries struggling the most, had minimal growth even during the seven good pre-crisis years of 2001–07.1 The most overlooked common problem of the four Southern European countries—Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece—is that they are all hampered [...]

Obama’s Trip to Mexico: Building on NAFTA to Broaden Trade with Asia

Barbara Kotschwar — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:17:32 +0000

President Obama’s fourth visit to Mexico since taking office in 2009 will also be his first under its new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office in December. While some of the discussion is certain to focus on the joint US-Mexican campaign against drug trafficking, that issue, as vital as it is, should not overlook [...]

Uncertain Prospects for Italy and Cyprus

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:13:42 +0000

Installation of a new government in Italy and the first effects of the newly approved bailout in Cyprus provide some modestly optimistic data points for an otherwise weak euro area outlook. For Italy, a Fresh Start, a Youthful Team, but No Guarantees of Success In Italy, Enrico Letta has taken office as the prime minister, [...]

Ukraine’s Banks Are in Turmoil

Anders Aslund — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 15:59:08 +0000

The Ukrainian banking system has gone through persistent convulsions in the last seven years. A wave of West European purchases of Ukrainian banks just before the crisis of 2008–09 has been largely reversed. Instead, Russian and Ukrainian state banks have expanded, as have banks owned by people close to President Viktor Yanukovych. In 2006–08, Ukrainian [...]

Putin Is Shocked by Falling Economic Growth, but We Should Not Be

Anders Aslund — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:52:28 +0000

Russia’s growth rate has fallen suddenly and sharply, and President Vladimir Putin has become publicly agitated in response. After a time of passivity in economic policy, significant changes are to be expected. The dominant concern relates to economic growth, which has almost ground to a halt. On April 22, Putin used these alarmist words at [...]

Europe’s Household Survey: Is German Wealth Really that Modest?

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:55:22 +0000

The European Central Bank’s first Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) for the euro area generated an unusual amount of attention and outrage earlier this month. Some controversy surrounded the timing of the release, which came after the German Bundesbank published part of the data in late March, at the time of the final negotiations [...]

Remain Calm: Europe Is Still on Track

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:09:47 +0000

European short-term economic growth prospects remain weak because of rampant fiscal consolidation, private sector deleveraging, and the temporary unsettling effects of structural reforms. But European leaders continue to take important and constructive decisions on bailouts and the banking union, suggesting that recovery will eventually get on track. At least three such decisions occurred at the [...]