International Trade

February 12, 2017

A World Trade Snapshot

Asked to name top state imports, we might say cars. For Wisconsin though the right answer is sweaters. A second surprise? Medicine is #1 on Washington D.C.’s import list. The Ins […]

September 14, 2015

Part 2: How the Middle Income Trap Could Catch China

While some high middle income economies have slowed down and then accelerated again, using World Bank criteria, China's economic growth is tough to predict.

September 13, 2015

Part 1: The Trap That China Wants to Avoid

Currently slowing down, China's economic growth might be challenged by the middle income trap that has caught Brazil but not Taiwan or Malaysia.

September 1, 2015

What Our Food Says About Us

Because middling food like hamburgers is consumed by most people in the affluent West, what we eat does not necessarily reflect inequality or social status.

August 25, 2015

Using a Fat Tail to Describe Stock Market Risk

When the unexpected occurs and changes our view of stock market risk, we call it a black swan or fat tail because it is far from the mean of a bell curve.

July 24, 2015

The Real Eurozone Problem

Although people in the eurozone want a single currency and their leaders want unity, monetary union problems create political distrust and disunity.

June 5, 2015

A Poaching Problem that Regulation Hasn’t Solved

The market solutions and regulatory approaches used to solve the problem of elephant poaching have not worked for wildlife conservation in Africa.

April 22, 2015

Four Ways to Understand Greek Debt

An historical perspective and a look at what is owed, to whom and when provides insight about the culture and complexities of Greek sovereign debt.

March 27, 2015

The Dangerous Side of Economics

Because he revised his country's inaccurate deficit and received Eurostat approval, Greece's chief statistician might be prosecuted for "breach of faith."