Tag Archives: Economics

US Get’s Tough On Foreign Policy, Pres. Obama Stands Russia President Vladimir Putin Up, Conservatives Agree… Sort Of

Posted on by

“I think Obama sticking it to Putin is a global world media event. It’s the first time anybody’s nailed Putin in a long while and I think it changes the game.”

– Larry Kudlow

President Obama recently opted out of a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin on the heels of Russia granting whistle blower Eric Snowden asylum for one year. The move to cancel the meeting between the two heads of state is a sign that the US has lost patience with the politics of the Russian president and that the US is through playing nice. In spite of opting out of the meeting, Pres. Obama will still attend the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg in early September where all eyes will be on the two presidents to see if any deal(s) can be reached to reduce the tensions and restore relations.

Side note:

Between 2009 to 2011, the U.S. had an unprecedented advance in economic cooperation between the two countries with exports to Russia rising 57 percent and total U.S.-Russia trade increasing to over 80 percent. U.S. companies reported numerous major business deals in Russia in 2012, including the ExxonMobil-Rosneft deal in May for exploration in the Arctic shelf, Boeing’s $15 billion in aircraft sales in Russia over the past five years, and Ex-Im Bank’s June MOU signing with Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, to support up to $1 billion in exports to Russia.

In December 2011, culminating 18 years of hard work and dedication, Russia was invited to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), a major accomplishment that will bring the world’s largest economy outside the WTO into the organization and bind it to a set of rules governing trade, as well as a dispute-resolution mechanism to enforce those rules (1).

1. Dept, US State. “U.S. Relations With Russia.” U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 Aug. 2013. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3183.htm>.

Report: Global Economic Prospects – June 2013

Posted on by

Expect slow growth in high income countries and slow growth in developing countries.

Key risks include:

  1. Quantitative easing: The massive surge of capital outflows to emerging and other developing economies is having a major impact. Corporations with sound credit ratings, attracted by the low borrowing costs, have taken on more debt, thus increasing their exposure to foreign exchange. As a result, their vulnerability to future interest rate changes in the developed world and the overall exchange rate volatility will increase.
  2. Commodity prices:
    1. Industrial commodity prices are easing due to new supply, however;
    2. Rising global food demand will push up prices 10 to 40 per cent over the coming decade.
    3. Growth in food production has slowed over the past decade even as rising incomes in developing countries boosted consumption
    4. Higher prices will have their biggest impact in developing countries.
  3. Higher interest rates are a cause for concern for developing countries.
  4. Downgraded prospect for growth in Europe.