Despite recent slumps in economic growth (now at just over 5.4% compared to 10.3% in 2010), former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this year handed the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi a much more…
Bras and other everyday goods are hard to come by in Cuba.
Ed Yourdon
Cuba has imposed new limits on the amount of goods that travellers can bring into the country. The new measures will be unpopular with many involved in the trade from suppliers to customers, and at first…
With France remaining economically stagnant, Italy falling back into recession, and Greece and Portugal still struggling to stand on their feet, the international community often looks to Germany, not…
The Australian government hopes to finalise the Free Trade Agreement with China by the end of the year.
PARKER SONG / POOL/ AAP
This week treasurer Joe Hockey, and trade minister Andrew Robb have been in China for the inaugural Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. These talks are one part of the “Strategic Partnership…
There is scant evidence that ‘aid for trade’ programs have any impact on lifting the poorest people globally out of poverty.
EPA/Yahya Arhab
Even before assuming office, foreign minister Julie Bishop was clear on the Coalition’s approach to foreign aid: “aid for trade” was touted as the primary strategy of the Coalition’s aid program. Last…
The headline accomplishment of Vladimir Putin’s trip to China is hard to deny: a 30-year deal estimated to be worth US$400 billion for Russia to deliver gas to China. But it isn’t the unqualified win that…
Despite the positive spin that has accompanied negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), reaching an agreement that would satisfy all 12 partners was always going to be difficult. The TPP…
Things could get messy. Brexit is risky business.
Christopher_Hawkins
Congratulations to Iain Mansfield for winning the “Brexit” essay competition. He is an old friend. We have a high regard for him, and even commented on an early draft of the paper. But we think his analysis…
Tony Abbott will ink a free trade agreement with South Korea on his upcoming visit there as bilateral ties between the two nations continue to expand.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Australia and South Korea are separated by geography, history and culture, but have much in common. They are democracies; their economies are open to the world; and they are allies of the United States…
A collaboration between historians, text mining, and information visualisation researchers has thrown up new insight into the hunger for sugar, coffee and rubber in the 19th century, as well as how fat…
When the EU-US summit kicks off in Brussels this week, the prospects of a new trade deal will be jostling for attention with events in Ukraine. The long-term implications might even be more far reaching…
The resurfacing of the idea of developing northern Australia is akin to making a sequel for an old cinema classic. It evokes familiarity and the repackaging of tested and yet-to-be tested concepts. It…
No water elsewhere could hit food and consumer good supplies here.
John Giles/PA
Following the wettest winter for 250 years, it would seem fair to assume that drought-induced food shortages are unlikely to be a problem for Britain. But in the near future we may find that water is a…
New rules on hoarding will help fight hunger in India.
rajkumar1220
The recent World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Bali concluded on Saturday morning with an agreement on what is being termed the “Bali package”. So it seems there is still life in the WTO yet. Director…
Indonesia has a population ten times as big as that of Australia, but its per capita income is only one-tenth of Australia’s, so what’s really at risk if the trade relationship between the two countries…
By allowing ISDS clauses in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Australia could be opening the door to more legal challenges from corporations.
mattyp_/Flickr
The leaking of a key Trans-Pacific Partnership document by Wikileaks this week suggests Australia may side with the US on some key issues including the insertion of an Investor-State Dispute Settlement…
Australian companies have done little to expand overseas, preferring the lucrative home market.
AAP/Damian Shaw
Australia’s major banking, retail and manufacturing brands are often regarded as less interested in the aggressive overseas expansion being pursued by market leaders in other countries. Some have tried…
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is in the spotlight again.
jontintinjordan/Flickr
In a move that has drawn criticism from Chinese authorities, the Abbott government is upholding a ban on Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from tendering for the National Broadband Network, after…
The Australian Coalition arrangement is set apart from coalitions elsewhere by its ongoing nature, even in opposition, and the fact that the parties go into elections with a common election platform.
AAP
Much has been made of the ‘unusual’ nature of the minority Labor government over the past three years and there has been a sense that Australia is better off without it; that we need a return to the stability…