Economy

Latin American Economies in a fast, desceding spiral

A report of the International Monetary Fund in which the organization collects its global projections includes a world map that it uses to represent the evolution of the real economy in emerging markets. In its map, the IMF paints Latin America whole pink and red. It is not a good sign because the activity in the region slowed down significantly at the start of 2019, to the point that ...Read full article...

Contagion during Financial Crises increases in emerging economies

The chances of contagion between countries are high. In addition, after the crisis of 2007-2009, there has been no progress in the ability to control financial shocks. Speculation continues to run rampant and indebtedness continues to grow as a percentage of GDP. Trade skirmishes, the deceleration of economies and the evolution of the interest rate curve are focusing our attention. Financial stability conditions, however, have gone to the background, ...Read full article...

When should you teach finances to your child?

Experts say financial education should begin at school. Children entrepreneurs who manage their finances. That sounds like an antithesis to little ones who prepare the VAT invoices, make the declaration of the income of their weekly wages and their expenses in sweets and look for the best mortgage for their tree houses. Joining childhood with business and finance may sound weird but there are more and more educational centers ...Read full article...

US tariffs hit almost 100% of all Chinese exports

Everything that China exports to the United States is subject to a tax. American president, Donald Trump, raised a commercial wall to goods that come from Beijing. After the last 10% tax announced last week and which will enter into force next September, 96.7% of all Chinese exports suffers a tariff barrier, according to the calculations of the Peterson Institute For International Economics (PIIE). This is the highest point ...Read full article...

Is youth unemployment really about lack of opportunity?

Day after day more experts confirm that unemployment has a lot to do with lack of skilled labour, and less with lack of job opportunities. The labor market in Latin America is paradoxical: while youth unemployment is rising -it is three times higher than the average rate-, 40% of companies have vacancies that they cannot cover because they do not find profiles with the necessary skillset. More than half ...Read full article...

Ludicrous claim: Eat 40% less meat to fight “global warming”

The great global increase in the consumption of foods based on animal meat is unnecessary and insane, says a new report. A study by the World Studies Institute, a Washington-based organization, says that by 2050, people can only eat 1.5 hamburgers a week and will have to accept eating genetically modified products, which according to the study, improve productivity. All this, says the study, must guarantee the feeding of ...Read full article...

Should Labour Income be Redistributed?

Who is more productive, someone who works or someone who does not work? Who should get paid for their time and labor, people who work or people who do not work? Who should get paid more, people who work more or who have more merit because of their intellect and contributions to a company or society, or someone who works less and simply does a series of tasks to ...Read full article...

Is work dignifying, even at an early age?

Happiness is the result of effort. The absence of effort generates complacency, compliance and frustration. This reality is more palpable today more than ever before. People want instant gratification, which as a sugar rush, goes up and down in a flash, and in turn generates dissatisfaction. Keeping in mind that hard work is what produces fulfillment and true happiness, one could argue that one of the best ways to ...Read full article...

Is global trade moving back to bilateralism?

The WTO, the UN, the WHO, the World Bank, the European Union, NAFTA, CAFTA. All of these acronyms and names are well-known worldwide. What is not known about them is that the organizations behind those names were created with the single purpose of consolidating a centralized global power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats. As these organizations became stronger in the world of politics, national sovereignty shrank rapidly. Countries ...Read full article...

Prosperity is not enough for the media and the Democrats

The man who was going to destroy the economy and bring war upon America has shown how speaking straightforwardly and negotiating from a position of strength yields very positive results. Donald Trump has been accused of being arrogant, homophobic, a traitor, and all kinds of other things. He is seen by the leftist media and politicians as a destroyer, a nemesis because he ignores climate change and is even ...Read full article...

Compound Individual, Public and Corporate debt total 225% of global GDP

John Maynard Keynes once said, “if I owe you a pound, I have a problem; but if I owe you a million, the problem is yours.” Keynes’ reasoning seems to be the guide being followed by global corporations. When the global debt bomb explodes, corporations, including banks, will not have enough cash in hand to pay back investments. The previous description regarding the future of the global debt problem ...Read full article...

US Financial War on Venezuela

US plot makes it impossible for Venezuela to pay its foreign debt. Sanctions prevent the government from accessing its state-owned CITGO refiner. ichael Hudson explained that Washington “treat(s) Venezuela as an extension of the US economy, running a trade surplus in oil to spend in the United States or transfer its savings to US banks.” Sanctions prevent Maduro’s government “from gaining access to its US bank deposits,” including ...Read full article...

Does Wall Street Finance the Battle against Neoliberalism?

Today, I read an interesting article referring to Mexico on how neoliberal economists through the application of “strong IMF economic medicine” contributed to “wreaking havoc” on the global poor while “protecting the financial elites”. And then I arrived at the foot of the article published by Alternet: “This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute”. The Independent Media Institute, a tax-exempt charitable foundation supported by ...Read full article...

The business of ‘curing’ cancer is booming

Mergers and acquisitions concentrate the power of pharmaceutical companies and their monopoly on new treatments. The fight against cancer has become the main business area of pharmaceutical companies, which in 2017 earned more than 96 billion euros with the sale of supposed cancer treatments. The rush to offer the newest ‘miraculous’ solution to treat cancer also prompted companies to look for profitable mergers and acquisitions to dominate the market. ...Read full article...

Costa Rica’s Fiscal Death Trap

By Sofía Guillén Economist In July, Labor Unions in Costa Rica presented the President a proposal for an alternative fiscal reform. The first contact was held at the Presidential House. I was there and helped build the delivered text. They were initiatives to start the dialogue. The proposal had 2 parts: PART 1. Changes on tax evasion and tax fraud, suggestions to fight corruption, tax reform that would help ...Read full article...