Latest Articles about Economics
Belarus Devalues Its Currency
On January 2 residents of Belarus learned that the national currency—the Belarusian ruble (known locally as the zaichik or hare)—had been devalued by 20.5 percent against the US dollar, falling from around 2,200 to 2,650. In November and December the administration of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka... MORE
Chinese Inroads in DR Congo: A Chinese “Marshall Plan” or Business?
Since achieving independence five decades ago The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been ravaged by a dictatorship, war and political strife. Although large in territory and rich in mineral and other precious raw materials, the DRC is a failed state that has been seemingly... MORE
Economic Crisis to Affect Turkish Defense Sector
Turkey’s top procurement officials have claimed that the current global economic crisis would not have an impact on Turkey’s relatively lucrative defense industry, but both Western and Turkish defense industrialists have forecast that the Turkish defense industry sector will feel the effects of the economic... MORE
Russia’s Slow Start into a Post-Prosperity Year
The extra-long Christmas-New Year-Rozhdestvo (Orthodox Christmas) celebrations in Russia have been muted this season, and unmistakable anxiety stands in stark contrast to the exuberance that greeted the arrival of the year 2008. Just two weeks before that “best-year-ever start,” President Vladimir Putin had announced the... MORE
The Ascent and Plateau of China’s Urban Centers
Urbanization in China has an obvious economic but also a profound social and political significance for the authorities in Beijing. It can not be simply understood as a concomitant output of China's industrialization, nor does it only refer to the changes in a population's geographic... MORE
China’s Poor, Young and Restless
The "Economic Blue Paper," a report published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on December 2 (China Brief, December 8), stated there will be 6.1 million college graduates entering the job market in 2009, among those graduates some 30 percent to 40 percent—approximately... MORE
Hard Times for Ukrainian Banks, Central Bank Chairman Under Fire
Ukraine’s banking system is teetering on the brink of disaster. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $16.4-billion loan (see EDM, November 12) has probably come too late either to restore trust in banks or to prevent the national currency, the hryvnya, from a free fall. Most... MORE
The Turkey-IMF Stand-By Accord: a Never-Ending Symphony?
The Turkish government’s handling of the economic crisis continues to draw criticism. Business leaders and investors have been insisting that urgent measures are needed to protect the economy. An expert from Moody’s maintained that without a new IMF program, Turkey could face recession in one... MORE
Competing Forecasts Cloud China’s Economic Conference
The annual Central Economic Work Conference organized by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will convene on December 8-10 in Beijing. Senior economic planners were in Beijing last week to attend a preliminary meeting that laid out an agenda for the discussion... MORE
Ukraine Recognizes Gas Debt, May Face Higher Price
Gazprom has threatened to more than double the gas price in 2009 if Ukraine fails to pay its debt for previous purchases by January 1. Ukraine’s energy inefficient industry might not survive such an increase amid the global economic crisis. Moreover, RosUkrEnergo may be retained... MORE