Macroeconomy & Globalization

Central bank heads were once a predictable and conservative lot. Now they’re swooping in, buying huge amounts of securities and rolling out unorthodox policies to avert danger.

Table Of Contents

Newsmakers | United Nations
When the United Nations Global Compact was launched 15 years ago at the New York Stock Exchange, Lise Kingo was entrenched on the corporate responsibility frontline in Europe.
 

“An economic windfall.” That’s how the World Bank’s chief economist for the Middle East and North Africa, Shantayanan Devarajan, characterized the boost to the Iranian economy from the lifting of sanctions in the wake of the nuclear deal struck with the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Regional Report | As relations between Cuba and the United States get friendlier, the economic outlook of the island is also improving.

Banks are rolling out digital products at a dizzying pace—and in the process, reinventing the industry.

China’s rattling of sabers may be causing tension in Taiwan, but the country’s currency is on the rise.

Wedged between Brazil and Argentina—two neighbors with serious economic problems—Uruguay is an attractive foreign direct investment alternative in Latin America.

Trends | Sovereign Funds & Trade
This summer US Congress passed a law giving president Barack Obama the authority to “fast-track” free-trade pacts such as the multinational Trans-Pacific Partnership (or TPP), which covers around 40% of trade in American goods and 60% of trade in Asian goods.

CEE Regional Report
The unorthodox policies of prime minister Viktor Orbán may be controversial, but they’ve helped kick-start the country’s economy. Most of the other CEE nations are also mounting turnarounds..

The recent devaluation of the renminbi by Chinese authorities is yet more proof that currency markets do not go on vacation in August.

Tariffs on hundreds of information technology (IT) goods—201, to be precise—will be slashed starting next year as a result of a sweeping agreement in July by member nations of the World Trade Organization.

Capital Markets | Foreign Exchange
The surging dollar, falling euro and plunging emerging-markets currencies had a record $32 billion negative impact on the earnings of companies in North America and Europe in the first quarter, according to Scottsdale, Arizona‒based FiREapps, which helps corporations measure and manage foreign exchange exposure.

Introduction
Regional wealth funds, free-trade zones and the Saudi Stock Exchange are expected to boost GCC economic growth and spur development—even if oil doesn’t cooperate.

Country Report | Nigeria
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, but the recent slump in oil prices has halved government revenues. The new Buhari government must now ensure the country’s economic roller coaster ride does not grind to a complete halt.

Global Finance talked with Peter Blair Henry, dean of New York University’s Stern School of Business, about the urgency of bold reform and global trade to help developing nations.

Newsmakers | Turkey
It has been said that ultimately all political careers end in failure, but until June 7, few observers were expecting this maxim to be true, quite yet, of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Newsmakers | Ukraine
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have run high since late 2013, when Russia resisted Ukrainian efforts to move out of the Russian sphere of influence and toward the West.

Scotland still brings in more foreign direct investment than many larger countries. Last year it again headed the list of top UK destinations outside London.

Newsmakers | Mexico
In June, Jaime Rodríguez Calderón became the first independent candidate to be elected a state governor in Mexico, winning office in Nuevo León.