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Most recently posted material.

North Korea: Witness to Transformation Reading Tea Leaves: The Central Committee and Plenum and the Supreme People’s Assembly
Stephan Haggard and Luke Herman — April 5, 2013
The recent round of rhetorical escalation between North Korea, South Korea and the US crested just as two political gatherings were convening: a plenum of the Workers’ Party Central Committee and the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), the country’s legislature. Both are top-down bodies that are used n ...

RealTime Economic Issues Watch India's Disputed Ruling on Pharmaceuticals and Patents
Arvind Subramanian — April 4, 2013
On April 1, the Indian Supreme Court rejected the attempt by Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, to patent a new version of the leukemia drug Glivec. The latest verdict follows previous rulings that granted compulsory licenses to an Indian generic drug manufacturer for a kidney cancer dru ...

Peterson Perspectives Interview India Rejects a Cancer Drug Patent Protection
Arvind Subramanian — April 4, 2013
Arvind Subramanian says the Indian Supreme Court ruling was a careful balancing of interests and a judicious application of the rule of law.

China Economic Watch Rewriting History: A SAFE Revision Reveals a Different Picture of Balance of Payments and a Mixed Message for Foreign Firms
Ryan Rutkowski — April 4, 2013
Revisions to economic statistics are common and often do not have a dramatic impact on the overarching trends, other times they are significant enough for analysts to change their perspective on what is happening in a country. The most recent revision to balance of payment data released by China’s S ...

China Economic Watch Shadow Deposits in the United States and China
Nicholas Borst — April 4, 2013
Shadow banking is a topic that conjures up images of back alley dealings and hidden accounts. While this may be true for small segments of shadow banking systems, much of shadow banking is out in the open and easily recognizable. For ordinary investors, the most visible form of shadow banking is sha ...

Op-ed The IMF Shouldn't Abandon Austerity
Anders Aslund — April 3, 2013
For years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) helped to ensure global financial stability. Lately it has changed its mind on what used to be a core principle—and, strangely enough, it appears to have done so on the basis of a single far-from-convincing working paper.

RealTime Economic Issues Watch The Euro Crisis after Cyprus: What We Have Learned
Anders Aslund — April 3, 2013
Just as suddenly as it arose, the Cyprus financial crisis has passed by. The banks have opened and so has the stock market without undue panic. A few steps remain in the euro crisis, but this crisis is abating, and however messily Europe has handled it. Today, the questions are what we have learn ...

Policy Brief 13-9 Corporate Taxation and US MNCs: Ensuring a Competitive Economy [pdf]
Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Martin Vieiro — April 2, 2013
US corporate tax reform would make US multinational corporations stronger competitors in markets abroad and enable them to expand and invest more at home.

Peterson Perspectives Interview Italian Political Chaos: Situation Normal
Angel Ubide — April 2, 2013
Angel Ubide sees a technocratic government likely to rise again in Rome, fiscal consolidation to remain on track, and structural reforms to stay iffy.

Op-ed Questions for the World's Next Trade Chief
Robert B. Zoellick — April 2, 2013
Starting this month, the 159 economies of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will begin the selection of a new director-general (DG). Instead of the usual practice of a selection based on personality and nationality, the nine candidates for WTO chief need to answer questions of policy leadership.

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A country's current account balance increases between 60 and 100 cents for each dollar spent on currency intervention—a much larger effect than is widely assumed. Working Paper 13-2 by Joseph E. Gagnon.

Simon Johnson testifies that it is far more important to get the US economy back onto a sustainable growth path than to rapidly move toward an excessive and inappropriate degree of immediate austerity, which would only undermine US economic recovery and could destabilize financial markets. Joseph E. Gagnon testifies before the US House of Representatives that the United States needs more expansionary monetary policy.

US corporate tax reform would make US multinational corporations stronger competitors in markets abroad and enable them to expand and invest more at home. Policy Brief 13-9 by Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Martin Vieiro.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to play an indispensable role in stabilizing the world economy and financial system, but it will need assistance (particularly from the US Congress) if it is to continue to help troubled and strong countries alike. Policy Brief 13-7 by Edwin M. Truman. Listen to related interview: The IMF Needs Support from Congress

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could generate new US-EU initiatives to break the deadlock over the Doha Round negotiations and also spur new global trade reforms. In Policy Brief 13-8, Jeffrey J. Schott and Cathleen Cimino recommend how to craft a viable transatlantic partnership. Listen to related interviews: Prospects for a US-European Trade Deal Part I | Part II

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s announcement that Japan will seek membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) brings the negotiations a step closer to a large, 12-member trade agreement connecting countries that account for 38 percent of world GDP, explains Peter A. Petri.

New Books on TPP

 Understanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership

by Jeffrey J. Schott, Barbara Kotschwar, and Julia Muir

 The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Asia-Pacific Integration:

A Quantitative Assessment

by Peter A. Petri, Michael G. Plummer, and Fan Zhai

 See also the book release event.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports will deliver economic benefits to the US economy, but attentive regulators must prevent negative consequences, say Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Allie E. Bagnall, and Julia Muir. Policy Brief 13-6.

US business is failing to fully capitalize on India's growing economy and the problem will worsen without a deepening of US-India trade relations, Arvind Subramanian tells the House Ways and Means Committee.

Prime Minister David Cameron made a number of unfounded assertions in his speech on the British economy, write David Blanchflower and Adam S. Posen. The UK government needs to recognize that it is engaging in the same misguided economic policies as those plaguing the euro area, warns Posen.

Nicholas R. Lardy and Nicholas Borst present a blueprint for rebalancing the Chinese economy. Policy Brief 13-2.

For the United States, international economic strategy is the new foreign policy, writes Robert B. Zoellick.

New Book: Private Rights and Public Problems: The Global Economics of Intellectual Property in the 21st Century
by Keith E. Maskus

Peterson Perspectives Interviews

 India Rejects a Cancer Drug Patent Protection

with Arvind Subramanian

 Changes under China's New Leadership

Part I | Part II

with Nicholas R. Lardy