Dana Mroueh, a small-business owner in Ivory Coast, was negotiating to introduce her organic chocolate bars into stores in New York and Washington when President Trump announced new tariffs on all U.S. imports last week. Ivory Coast is the world’s…
Tag: Economic Conditions and Trends
Is Trump Having a Liz Truss Moment?
A major Western leader announces an unorthodox economic policy, panicking the financial markets, driving down the country’s currency and fueling a blizzard of warnings about the dire long-term consequences. President Trump did all this with his across-the-board tariffs, announced last…
Why These Islanders Hunt Dolphins
The call of a conch shell roused the dolphin hunters from their beds. Under moonlight, the six men shuffled to the village church. There a priest led them in a whispered prayer, his voice barely audible over the sound of…
Trump Has Hinted at a Xi Visit. China Is Still Wondering What He Wants.
President Trump fueled new speculation this week about a meeting with China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, when he told reporters that Washington needed to be cleaned up to prepare for a summit between the two leaders in the “not too…
Why Germany Wants to Loosen Its Debt Brake
The German Parliament is set to vote on Tuesday on a plan to loosen government borrowing limits in order to spend heavily on defense and infrastructure, in an effort to offset America’s pivot away from Europe and to lift the…
Echoing a Roman Emperor, Croatia Tries to Cap Soaring Prices
In 301 AD, the Emperor Diocletian made a bold but ultimately unsuccessful bid to address the inflation that was rampaging across the eastern half of the divided Roman Empire. Prices of everything from purple thread and feathers to slaves and…
China Signals Confidence in Economy Despite Sluggish Growth and U.S. Trade War
China’s top leaders sought to project confidence in the country’s economy on Wednesday despite sluggish growth, an escalating trade war with the United States and growing geopolitical uncertainty caused by the Trump administration. The government set a bold target for…
Trump’s Latest Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China Could Be His Biggest Gamble
President Trump made one of the biggest gambles of his presidency Tuesday by initiating sweeping tariffs with no clear rationale on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, triggering a trade war that risks undermining the United States economy. His actions…
German Central Bank Loss Points to More Economic Woes for Germany
The president of Germany’s central bank, which on Tuesday reported an annual loss for the first time in more than 40 years, said that Germany faced another year of economic stagnation, more gloomy news for a country that is struggling…
Emboldened Kremlin Steps Up Efforts to Seize Businesses in Russia
After the fall of Communism, Russia ushered in capitalism by selling off billions of dollars in state assets. Now, 30 years later, the Russian government is stepping up a wartime campaign to do the opposite: seizing private businesses, this time…