Deregulating the oil sector — II
The two biggest risks are demand-supply manipulation, creating shortages and manipulate prices. Shortages can be countrywide by importing or procuring less or in inner locations. In OECD countries, there is…
How to avert economic collapse
The worst kept secret about the present economic crisis is that it has resulted from our rulers having saddled the people with a huge debt while harvesting its proceeds to…
Contempt for the constitution
Formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) by the Supreme Court in the PanamaGate case became a cause for PML (N) party stalwarts to celebrate "victory" and start distributing sweets,…
Emerging market turmoil may bring FX controls back on radar
The coronavirus pandemic and oil price collapse have made emerging markets a lightning rod for volatile capital flows, raising the question whether currency controls might creep back on the radar…
High on CPI but not completely clean
Deadly drugs are produced clandestinely in many parts of the world because they are in great demand in the rich countries. Similarly, corruption is thriving unabated universally including in developing…
Digital passes fail to banish airline fears over airport chaos
While politicians hail digital health passes as the solution to aviation’s Covid-19 crisis, airline bosses are still having sleepless nights about clogged up airports as they worry how to deal…
Business group urges Biden to lift Europe travel ban, revive economies
The Biden administration is under pressure from a major business group and diplomats to scrap a travel ban on Europeans, as investment from the continent in the United States plunged…
Helping pandemic-hit developing countries
To help developing countries grappling with the Covid-19 crisis, official donors increased foreign aid to an all-time high of $161.2 billion in 2020, up 3.5% in real terms from 2019,…
Expensive alternatives
“Finally! Bill Gates and Elon Musk Agree on Something” the headline says. I wonder what they might agree on? Could it be that neoliberal capitalism is the greatest system ever…
Big British local authority pensions step up hedge fund bets
From Essex binmen to Liverpool councillors, government pension schemes in England and Wales are investing more in hedge funds whose bets, sometimes dictated by algorithms, have included exotic holdings such…
