Emerging-markets, EM, debt crises arrive every 15 or 20 years almost like clockwork. The first crisis in recent decades began in 1982, reached a crescendo in 1985 and was not resolved until late 1989. That crisis involved mostly Latin American borrowers such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile (the so-called “ABC” debtors) and Mexico. It was
A strange alliance between 70-something Democratic leaders and millennial voters is emerging. Many of the top candidates for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2020, including Bernie Sanders (actually a Socialist Party member running as a Democrat) and Elizabeth Warren, are openly espousing socialist policies including guaranteed basic income, government-guaranteed jobs, forgiveness of student loan
Policymakers and everyday citizens around the world breathed a sigh of relief last winter when tensions between the U.S. and North Korea were dialed down and a fruitful dialogue began. Now the Korean situation is headed for a summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12. That’s a huge improvement
Conventional wisdom says that when tensions rise and war threatens in the Middle East, oil prices have to skyrocket. We’re seeing a little bit of that right now. Iran is confronting Israel in Gaza and Saudi Arabia in Yemen even as the U.S. confronts Iran with economic sanctions. Things will likely get a lot worse
The state of play regarding President Trump’s decision to terminate the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with Iran and to reimpose sanctions is in a state of flux. Here’s a quick overview: The JCPOA was the 2015 deal among the U.S., U.K., France, China, Russia, Germany and Iran to limit Iran’s nuclear weapons program
We’ve all heard the “peak oil” story for years. That’s the theoretical point where all of the significant reserves of oil have been discovered, output is at a maximum and production then declines steadily year after year from that point. It turns out peak oil is a myth, at least so far. New oil is
Usually when a savvy investor like George Soros invests $35 million in your company, that’s considered a good thing and a vote of confidence. Not this time. Soros just purchased $35 million of Tesla bonds, according to this article. The bonds carry an attractive yield and are convertible into Tesla stock so it might be a
One of the most famous and humorous stories in the history of diplomacy involves a secret meeting in 1971 between President Nixon’s National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, and Premier Zhou Enlai, the number two Chinese Communist Party official after Mao Zedong. Kissinger asked Zhou to assess the impact of the 1789 French Revolution. Zhou replied,
