Economic Growth

Americans have never felt at ease with empire, and with good reason. Running an empire often demands that we betray our republican ideals, at least for periods of time. It can also be costly in gold and in blood. So it was no surprise that after the fall of the Soviet Union, the American people leapt at the opportunity to lay down the imperial burdens we had carried since World War II. Politicians in both parties assured us that we could off-load our responsibilities onto a “global” market mechanism, overseen by a new institution created in 1995 called the World Trade Organization (WTO).

This past Sunday, the World Bank partnered with the government of Mexico to host “Financial Inclusion: from Principles to Action.” In addition to a high level opening plenary with H.R.H. Princess Maxima of the Netherlands and Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade, the event included sessions on financial inclusion, the role of the private sector, financial literacy and consumer protection.

Manufacturing matters. That is the rapidly emerging consensus in the United States, after a generation in which leading policymakers, economists and journalists dismissed the importance of the U.S.

The International Monetary Fund has been at the center of global financial stability since its creation after World War II. In the last year it has played a central role in reducing the risk of a European financial meltdown. At the fund’s spring meetings this week, the question of whether to bolster I.M.F. resources will dominate the agenda. Yet in reality the I.M.F. faces a much greater challenge that could render additional financing a sideshow: an erosion of market belief in I.M.F. financial analysis.

The International Monetary Fund has been at the center of global financial stability since its creation after World War II. In the last year it has played a central role in reducing the risk of a European financial meltdown. At the fund’s spring meetings this week, the question of whether to bolster I.M.F. resources will dominate the agenda. Yet in reality the I.M.F. faces a much greater challenge that could render additional financing a sideshow: an erosion of market belief in I.M.F. financial analysis.

In Private Empire Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is greater than that of the United States embassy. In Washington, ExxonMobil spends more money lobbying Congress and the White House than almost any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is a black box.

Washington, D.C. --  American policymakers are beginning to catch on: The domestic manufacturing industry is modernizing, and as a result transforming the economy.

This week, the Obama administration’s Justice Department struck a great legal blow against our open market for books, and indeed against open markets in America. Even though online retailer Amazon has captured more than 50 percent of many key book markets—like the one for e-books—antitrust enforcers brought suit not against this vast and swelling monopolist but against the publishers who are the victims of Amazon’s power.

Their supposed crime? To do what is most normal in any real market: insist on the right to price your own product.

The eurozone crisis has re-emerged with rising borrowing costs in Italy and Spain and increasing concerns about the prospects for growth.

Over the past year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has added four new target countries to its mandate: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. The development body founded in the aftermath of the 1989 European revolutions and the end of communism has been investing across eastern and central Europe and Central Asia and the Caucasus for two decades - with measures of success.