free markets
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Opinion: A possible scenario for Hong Kong
The turmoil in Hong Kong does not pose a direct threat to the power and survival of the party-state in China. Beijing must be frustrated by the Hong Kong government’s inability to pacify the protesters and has issued some dire warnings to them. Using the Hong Kong garrison of the People’s Liberation Army or armed police from the mainland, however, to “restore public order” in the Special Administrative Region does not appear to be in the cards, though it is a likely scenario if violence escalates.
A choice for economies: Freedom or socialism
Some say the global economy is slowing down due to Brexit and the U.S.-China trade dispute – but these developments are not the real dangers. Far more insidious is the trend toward increased government influence in economies and large public debts. Yet, even many economists have adopted the notion that ...
Planning the economy
Political interventions rather than markets are causing economic crises in the world. Misguided attempts to centrally plan and manage the complex transactions of millions of different players are bound to produce unexpected results. In 2007-2008, politically inspired intervention in the housing market in the United States caused an international financial ...
Opinion: How Brazil’s new man got there
Jair Bolsonaro, a retired Army captain and outspoken conservative, clinched the top job in Latin America’s biggest nation by targeting the electorate’s justifiable fears, his opponents’ weaknesses and Brazil’s real need for economic reforms. The new cabinet puts academics, political luminaries and former military officers in key positions. President Bolsonaro ...
2018 European perspectives
Today’s ruling elites of Europe have renounced its new political movements as “nationalist” and “populist,” and accuse some member states of no longer following democratic principles. In reality, though, it is Brussels’ overreaching ambitions that bring up the specter of autocratic rule in Europe.
