Tunisia’s uprising—as well as the possibility that such unrest will spread to other countries, such as Egypt—has focused international attention on the issues of social inclusion and economic development in the region. Much of the work required to address these issues must be done by the North African countries themselves, but the EU can make a difference by developing North Africa’s private sector and accelerating the dismantling of its own agricultural protectionism.
Developing countries are emerging as the new engine of global growth, but this success has led to new challenges that policy makers must overcome if their countries are to continue driving the world economy forward.
Food prices have been fluctuating wildly, hurting both consumers and producers. Several causes are clear and policy makers are taking note, but more must be done to help ensure long-term food price stability.
Deficit countries are neglecting the needed—and more difficult—reforms at home and fueling protectionist sentiment abroad with their focus on external trade imbalances and their calls for major surplus economies to increase demand.
Beijing's efforts to control inflation and prevent overheating have been largely successful. With growth likely moderating to 7–8 percent in the years ahead, officials are now turning their attention to domestic rebalancing.
With inflation rising, trade balances falling, and economic growth slowing, the outlook for Russia's economy is bleak. Official plans for strict budget tightening will only add to the troubles.
The relative calm in Europe signals a pause in—not an end to—the debt crisis. Though policy makers have taken encouraging initial steps to close budget deficits and restore competitiveness, much more remains to be done.
The time for top-down political reform has come and gone in Egypt. In its place the world is seeing bottom-up change, with all its inherent risks.
Michele Dunne
In spite of China’s high growth rates, the country still faces a number of economic challenges, from trade tensions with the West to reducing income inequality domestically.
Yukon Huang,
Paul Haenle
Although the wave of protests in Tunisia was set off by economic complaints, the true threat to stability in the Arab world is poor governance.
Marwan Muasher
The North Caucasus has a long history of conflict with the Russian state and it will take years, if not decades, for the region to become stable and economically viable enough to undermine radicalization among its marginalized inhabitants.
Thomas de Waal
