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Updated: December 19, 2008
A bailout of Detroit's automakers would likely bring moves against the United States in the World Trade Organization and has reignited an old debate about the viability of government-directed industrial policy.
See more in Financial Crises, Industrial Policy
November 13, 2008
This weekend's summit of leading world economies won't match the scope of the Bretton Woods conference, to which it has been compared. But it could send important signals at a time of global economic distress.
See more in Financial Crises, International Organizations
November 6, 2008
As the effects of the financial crisis stretch beyond America and Europe, the world's emerging markets start to wobble and analysts wonder just how hard China, India, and other major developing nations will be hit.
See more in Economic Development, Emerging Markets, International Finance
Updated: December 5, 2008
A compilation of CFR.org's resources on globalization trends and trade policy.
See more in Trade, Global Governance
Updated: December 5, 2008
CFR.org provides a collection of resources on financial policy.
See more in United States, Economics, International Finance
October 30, 2008
The unfolding financial crisis and credit crunch creates new political and economic challenges on greenhouse gas reductions schemes. Some experts fear a retreat on climate policy, while others stress that opportunities for green investments still exist.
See more in Climate Change, Energy
October 29, 2008
A surge in the U.S. dollar and Japanese yen comes as investors pull money from commodities and emerging markets. The trend, and particularly the spike in the yen, poses another problem for financial markets.
See more in United States, International Finance
October 28, 2008
With oil prices falling, some experts believe Iran's rising influence in the Middle East may be curbed. Others caution not to expect Tehran to change course anytime soon.
See more in Iran, Economic Development
October 27, 2008
The financial meltdown of 2008 has thrown the liberal economic model into question. Debate among international policymakers could result in regulatory tweaks or efforts to scuttle free-market orthodoxy altogether.
See more in Business & Foreign Policy, Economic Development, International Finance
October 24, 2008
Pakistan's troubles with terrorism, rivalry with India, and touchy ties with Washington pose longterm challenges, but lately the government's main mission has been to keep the Pakistani economy afloat amid the global financial meltdown.
See more in Pakistan, Economics
October 21, 2008
Many countries are reducing or ending fuel subsidies in the face of high fuel costs and the spreading financial crisis. Though the cuts may prove unpopular, some experts say they could help ease global oil demand.
See more in Africa, Pakistan, Economic Development, Energy/Environment, Climate Change, Energy Security
October 21, 2008
U.S. financial regulators could draw some lessons from Japan's experience of the 1990s, when the implosion of a real estate bubble led to a systemic crisis in the country's banking sector.
See more in United States, Japan, Economics, International Finance
October 15, 2008
The impact of U.S. economic woes on foreign policy and national security programs is not yet clear, but sectors from defense to development aid are bracing for tighter budgets.
See more in United States, International Finance, Foreign Aid
October 6, 2008
With financial firestorms erupting left and right in Europe, the global credit crisis takes a new dimension. Analysts say it might be time for coordinated interest rate cuts.
See more in Europe/Russia, Western Europe, France, Germany, U.K., EU, Economics, Corporate Governance, International Finance
October 2, 2008
U.S. financial woes have thrown global markets into turmoil, undermining Western European banks, sending oil prices plummeting, and bringing harrowing losses to some developing economy stock indices.
See more in United States, Emerging Markets, International Finance
September 26, 2008
A financial crisis in the final stages of the U.S. presidential race, rather than sidelining foreign policy, could demonstrate how it intersects with U.S. domestic concerns.
See more in United States, Business & Foreign Policy, International Finance
September 25, 2008
The global financial crisis has taken a particularly harsh toll on Russia, where the leading stock index has lost more than half its value since July. Moscow has devised a bailout package, but analysts say more pain could be on the way, particularly if oil prices keep falling.
See more in Russian Fed., Economics
September 17, 2008
With Wall Street careening from one crisis to the next, financial institutions focus on drawing a line to stanch the bleeding. A broader debate over systemic medicine has also kicked into gear, with talk of major reforms in store for the financial sector.
See more in United States, Economics
September 15, 2008
The U.S. Treasury's refusal to save Lehman Brothers suggests its willingness to assume risk to protect private institutions may be at an end. If so, what are the broader implications for global markets and the U.S. economy?
See more in Europe/Russia, International Finance
September 1, 2008
U.S. economic concerns are a constant refrain on the presidential campaign trail. It's not yet clear how the candidates' divergent positions on energy and trade will connect with voters.
See more in United States, Economics, U.S. Election 2008
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In Money, Markets, and Sovereignty, the authors present a fascinating intellectual history of monetary nationalism from the ancient world to the present and explore why, in its modern incarnation, it represents the single greatest threat to globalization.
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
In Regional Monetary Integration, Peter B. Kenen poses an important question: Should various country groups follow the lead of the European Monetary Union and form similar full-fledged monetary unions?
In contrast to conventional wisdom, the growth in government spending and heightened regulation during the Great Depression may have done much to slow economic recovery.
In this report, Benn Steil shows that the financial crisis is the inevitable bust of a classic credit boom, and explains how monetary, taxation, and home ownership promotion policy combined with other feaures of the financial system to fuel an unsustainable buildup in debt. He recommends significant reforms to reverse the debt financing bias and make the system more resilient to falls in asset prices.
In order for policymakers to tackle today’s global economic crisis, this report argues, they must go beyond bailouts and stimulus packages and focus on one of the crisis's root causes: imbalances between savings and investment in major countries.
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