Trends & Forecasts

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) was passed by Congress in 2000. It was intended to boost the global competitiveness of sub-Saharan African nations by giving them duty-free access to the U.S. market for all goods covered under the Generalized System of Preferences, plus an additional 4,000 items. Fifteen years later, however, we haven’t […]

All eyes are on Cuba as an investment opportunity for U.S. companies. And with travel and trade restrictions relaxing this year the question becomes — is Cuba Ready? For each potential deal, a number of factors and risks need to be assessed. But as the small island nation strives to join the world trade community, […]

A new federal initiative is underway to leverage government data to help improve decision-making throughout the economy, and to facilitate the release of more information to the public. “As ‘America’s Data Agency,’ we are working to unleash more of the Commerce Department’s data to strengthen our nation’s economic growth,” says U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny […]

The Panama Canal expansion project, which was initially scheduled to be completed in 2014, 100 years after its first opening, has been delayed for a number of reasons. Nevertheless, on December 31 last year the Panama Canal Authority said its new locks are expected to be tested at the end of 2015 and be ready?

Manny Mencia, senior vice president for international trade and development at Enterprise Florida, is the guiding force behind one of America’s leading trade, export development, and foreign direct investment organizations. Mencia attributes much of Florida’s international success over the past two decades to the state’s decision to privatize its economic development activities.

Nearly four years after NATO-backed rebels toppled the former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi, the North African country has plunged into chaotic unrest. The failure of last year’s election to achieve political unity in Libya was most evident when Fajr Libya or “Libya Dawn” — a diverse coalition of armed groups that includes an array of […]

For the first time in recorded history, many European countries, plus Japan, have experienced negative interest rates. Government bond yields on short-term debt, as well as debt up to 10-year maturity, have turned negative in many countries, including Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan. More than 25 percent of European sovereign bonds […]

A snap election held in late January produced a decisive victory for Syriza. This leftist party pledged to force the IMF, the EU, and the European Central Bank — the so-called “troika” — to renegotiate the terms of agreements made by previous governments to obtain emergency loans totaling $280 billion, and gave its blessing to […]

As expected, the dramatic drop in crude oil prices is having a deep impact on the American Oil industry. As prices for Brent Crude dropped to $44.13 on January 13th, daily industry reports began to reveal the bleak picture for producers and related companies. Despite prices seeming to recover and level off around the $60 […]

President Nicolás Maduro’s desperate effort to sustain the socialist framework he inherited from the late Hugo Chávez in 2013 is careening toward failure. A steep fall in global prices for oil, the main source of the government’s income, has exposed fully the systemic weaknesses caused by years of economic mismanagement.

President Dilma Rousseff won a runoff election held in late October with 51.6 percent, after failing to win an outright majority at a first-round of voting earlier in the month. The PT-led coalition retained its majorities in both congressional chambers at legislative elections held simultaneously with the first round of presidential voting. And the trimming […]

Most economists agree that free trade works better than restricted trade to increase the size of the economic pie. By enlarging markets to span national borders, free trade increases the pool of potential producers, consumers, partners, and investors, which permits greater specialization and economies of scale — both essential ingredients of per capita economic growth.

Security will remain high on the Saudi agenda amid concerns over the rise of ISIL, a Sunni jihadist group that has gained control over large sections of Syria and Iraq. ISIL militants overwhelmed Iraqi military forces following the launch of major offensive in June. And while the advance was largely halted with the help of […]

In 1701, Jethro Tull invented the seed drill, a machine that changed the world. By mechanizing the work of laborers, he was a major influence on the agricultural revolution. Displaced from the fields by machines, people flocked to growing cities where the industrial revolution, which was only just beginning, gave them work in newly built […]

The curious drop in gasoline prices, which recently dipped below $3 for the first time since December 2010, may be welcome by consumers. But the accompanying dive in crude oil prices has some U.S. producers concerned. Though typical economic stressors of higher supplies and weaker global demand are in play, the current slump is indicative […]

In his new book, Markets over Mao: The Rise of Private Business in China, Nicholas R. Lardy, one of the world’s leading China experts and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, makes a strong case that the market — not the state — has been the key factor in the country’s...

The manufacturing industry undergoes continual changes and cycles of expansion and contraction. Currently in the midst of a growth cycle in most regions of the world, the industry is showing major productivity gains with the introduction of new methods and technologies. These technologies create challenges as well as opportunities for increasing market share. Here are […]

In this age of technology, progressive manufacturers are buying into the concept and seizing the benefits derived from the connected enterprise. These benefits include more control of costs, improved operations and better customer satisfaction. Here are a few ways manufacturers can achieve these goals using the Internet, and how some manufacturers are already making the […]

Animal spirits is a phrase coined by economist John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s in reference to risk taking, which is an essential part of any economic and financial system. Choosing which risks to take and which to avoid determines the fate of economies, companies and investors. In the 1930s, there was obviously a reluctance […]

Various international organizations, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), United Nations and the Organization for Co-operation and Development (OECD) are sounding the alarm over what appears to be a sharp increase in protectionism around the world. These rising barriers to trade result, in part, in less global business, slower economic growth, and poor job gains...