They Warned Us of America Turning Into a Zombie Firm—Now, We’re Closer Than Ever
With rock-bottom low interest rates, we’re making money cheap, and this tsunami of debt is changing the structure of the entire economy.
by David Grasso, Hannah BuczekAd veteran Martin Sorrell told an online Techonomy roundtable that the economy will be back by end of year, Trump will be reelected, and that few non-digital vestiges will be left in society and business once COVID gets through with us.
by David KirkpatrickGovernments increasingly recognize that economies can reach their full potential only with the full participation of both women and men. To help countries achieve this goal, the World Bank Group is focusing on four key areas in particular.
by David MalpassThe United States’ federal budget deficit is currently projected to explode, increasing the federal debt to unprecedentedly high levels. A very gradual fiscal consolidation, with federal spending as a share of GDP declining slightly each year, would both raise economic growth and create a more resilient economy.
by John B. TaylorThe recent push by big business in favor of a more socially and environmentally conscious corporate-governance model is not just empty rhetoric. With the public losing trust in business and markets, it is now in everyone’s interest to reform the system so that it delivers prosperity for the many, rather than the few.
by Laura Tyson, Lenny MendoncaIt doesn’t take much to spark corrections in vulnerable economies and markets, and big shocks to highly vulnerable systems are a recipe for crisis. That’s why the vulnerability of today’s global economy—reflected in real economies, financial asset prices and misguided monetary policy—needs to be taken seriously.
by Stephen S. RoachAlthough there is increasing support for the idea that central banks should actively contribute to the fight against climate change, monetary policymakers have no mandate to do so, and for good reason. Tackling climate change is—and must remain—the responsibility of elected governments and parliaments.
by Otmar IssingNow that the old rules governing macroeconomic cycles no longer seem to apply, it remains to be seen what might cause the next recession in the United States. But if recent history is our guide, the biggest threat stems not from the U.S. Federal Reserve or any one sector of the economy, but rather from the White House.
by Raghuram G. RajanThe 2008 financial crisis, together with failed efforts to combat climate change and sharply rising inequality, has frayed the neoliberal consensus that has prevailed in the United States and much of the West for more than two generations. Three issues must be considered in weighing what comes next.
by Simon Johnson