Economy & Business

LGBTI leaders speak out on COVID, US-Europe relations, and the fight for equality

By Larry Luxner

As the world marks Pride Month, three prominent out LGBTI European leaders discussed their countries’ fight against coronavirus, ongoing disagreements between Europe and the United States, and the continuing fight for LGBTI equality.

Private lenders need to step up on African debt relief

By Jeremy Mark and Vasuki Shastry

While policymakers have called for a moratorium on developing countries’ debt payments, bankers and bondholders have raised the alarm about how such action would decimate their bottom lines. There will need to be another approach.

Assessing Indian digital trade policies: Will they support a $5 trillion economy?

By Mark Linscott

Trade policy has come to the fore as a growing number of countries restrict exports of critical medical supplies to ensure sufficient availability for patients in-country. In this crisis, international collaboration to keep trade flowing has been limited and has not prevented many countries from imposing new trade restrictions.

Ukrainian business leaders advocated better economic policy and rule of law: A report card

By Anders Åslund

During his presidency, President Zelenskyy promised to bring major reform to Ukraine. One year on, what reforms have been achieved, and what obstacles remain for Ukraine?

NAFTA’s successor is about to take effect. Here’s why it will be good for North America—and bad for the WTO

By Hung Tran

While the USMCA preserves free-trade flows among the three member countries, its use by the United States as a template for future trade negotiations, starting with the EU and the United Kingdom, would have a far-reaching effect on future developments of world trade.

Event recap: Governing North American trade during a pandemic: Knowns and unknowns for USMCA implementation

By Alfredo Graffe

On June 25, 2020, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center in partnership with the Monterrey Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico (AmCham Monterrey) held a public conversation on the implementation of the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA), that will come into force on July 1. The event featured H.E. Graciela Márquez Colín, […]

The Sudan Partnership Conference: A turning point for Sudan?

The world came to Berlin yesterday (at least virtually) as part of a United Nations, European Union, and German government-sponsored “Partners Forum for Sudan.” By all accounts, it was a triumph, and potentially a turning point, for the fragile transitional civilian government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, pulling in an announced $1.8 billion in assistance to Sudan.

Fireside Chat with Dr. David Bray and Lucy Turnbull, AO

By Atlantic Council

Dr. David Bray, Director of the GeoTech Center, recently joined Lucy Turnbull, AO, former Lord Mayor of Sydney Australia and GeoTech Fellow, on an episode of the Public Sector Network fireside chat series. These two GeoTech experts discussed the ways in which technology and data will shape societies around the world in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, both leaders commented on how previous pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish Flu triggered waves of change throughout global society, in part brought to fruition by evolving technologies. In the same way, we must anticipate a similar period of turbulence in the coming years, considering what pivot point of history that COVID might form.

Can Pakistan handle the double crisis of COVID-19 and a struggling economy?

By South Asia Center

While critics argue that the 2020-2021 budget released by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration will result in a greater deficit and allocates excessive funding to the defense sector, supporters have defended the budget and praised its introduction of the rationalization of custom duties as well as the advance ruling system, which would ease trade and minimize costs associated with cross border trade—a domain that Pakistan has historically struggled to contend in.