Country And Regional Studies

China's economic march into Pakistan
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is nothing short of a 'fate changer', said Pakistani Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the man behind the historic project. The excitement…
Is the Great Moderation over?
In what appeared to be a case of spectacularly bad timing, the Bank of England held a conference in September 2007 on 'sources of macroeconomic stability'. You see, from the…
Are China's shadow banks going to bring the economy down?
There has been much fretting about China's growth over the past five years. One special focus for hand-wringing has been the Chinese financial system and its non-banking component…
UK budget: A test for 'expansionary austerity'
The 2008 global financial crisis provided a rare test-bed for macroeconomics — an opportunity to sort out some old controversies. One issue dominated the debate during the…
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the rise of regionalism
Should Australia join the Chinese-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)? As often happens in international affairs, the answer is not found in the technical pros…
Giganto-capitalism: China takes another wrong turn
15 years ago, Beijing made an important strategic decision about its sprawling aviation manufacturing monopoly, AVIC. Dissatisfied with AVIC's slothfulness, and keen to promote…
Ukraine: IMF sent in where others fear to tread
This week the IMF Executive Board will consider a proposal to provide Ukraine with a US$17.5 billion Extended Fund Facility. The IMF Managing Director explains that this program …
India's budget: Will subsidies fall as predicted?
The new Indian Government brought down its first full-year budget last weekend. It has been keenly anticipated. Business Standard claimed: 'The market is expecting the Union…
China's transport infrastructure shows vast improvement during Chunyun
Chunyun, the annual spring festival holiday in China, is often described as the world's largest human migration. Over one billion trips are made in a 10-day period. The family…
Quantitative easing was not a 'beggar-thy-neighbour' policy
It seems my colleague Stephen Grenville is somewhat sceptical of quantitative easing (QE). He says 'QE might have been an admirable second-best policy, but it was still "beggar…