Former U.S. President Richard Nixon once famously told the young Donald Rumsfeld that "people don't give one damn about Latin America now." But in fact, Obama's trip south is important for long-term U.S. interests, and long overdue.

The most realistic scenario for global growth is painful, even if we avoid a double dip. US growth in the second half of this year and into 2011 will feel like a recession, write Ian Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini.

Reuters details the austerity measures adopted by European governments in efforts to stave off the spread of the Greek debt crisis.

Correspondent Kira Kay reports on a Canadian hunt for "rare earth" minerals, elements mined almost exclusively in China, that are key to emerging green technologies, cell phones, engines and other high-tech devices despite their short supply.

The Greek crisis puts the currency's very survival at risk. Europe must now take long overdue action, says Joseph Stiglitz.

In this online publication, The Economist looks at Greece's request for aid from the euro zone and the IMF, concluding that it will likely only provide temporary relief. 

Newly developed long historical time series on public debt, along with modern data on external debts, allow a deeper analysis of the cycles underlying serial debt and banking crises. The evidence confirms a strong link between banking crises and sovereign default across the economic history of great many countries, advanced and emerging alike

According to Desmond Lachman of the American Enterprise Institute, Greece is approaching the final stages of its currency arrangement. There is every prospect that within two to three years, after much official money is thrown its way, Greece's euro membership will end with a bang.

Ben Casselman and Guy Chazan report on offshore drilling by big oil companies that is made possible by their technological and financial advantages.

The European Commission Directorate-General for Research examines the factors and tensions shaping the international environment, and its transition towards a multi-polar world governance, and towards a new "socio-ecological" production model that Europe will help to promote.

The L'Aquila summit showed just how irrelevant the G-8 has become, as emerging economies demand more and more of a say at the negotiating table. But the new focus on common survival means that Western values such as human rights and democracy are being neglected.

Rana Foroohar writes that the G8, although a relic of a time past and in need of renovation, is still a worthwhile institution.

James Traub examines how vital the G8 and other post-World War II international institutions are today, and which aspects of the G8 are most in need of reform.

Robert D. Kaplan argues that Pakistan's political stability depends partly on the development of its strategic Gwadar port.

Amartya Sen pontificates on what form a system of "new capitalism" would take.

Economist James Hamilton explores similarities and differences between the run-up of oil prices in 2007-08 and earlier oil price shocks, looking at what caused the price increase and what effects it had on the economy.

Martin Wolf discusses how the financial crisis will affect the legitimacy of the market and capitalism in general.

Almost all of the G-20 countries have announced some type of fiscal stimulus plan to get their economies back on track, but how strong are the plans and what measures are included? Eswar Prasad and Isaac Sorkin analyze the G-20 stimulus plans in detail in new research.

The Economist argues that the U.S. must lead in vigorously opposing the rising spectre of economic nationalism.

The World Economic Forum examines the global risks that will need to be managed in 2008.