Wednesday-Night

May 16
Zimbabwe issues a Z$500m banknote, as inflation rockets to unbelievable highs
(The Economist) A BOTTLE of beer may cost half a billion dollars; by next week it could be a billion. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe reached a terrifying 355,000% in March, with prices doubling roughly once a week. It is probably much higher now. In a […]

In Kenya, fear lingers and many remain displaced
Some 10 weeks after Kenya reached a power-sharing deal aimed at ending the bloodshed and political stalemate that followed the country’s disputed election, many people who had been forced to abandon their homes amid the violence remain too afraid to return home, CNN reports. […]

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Haiti, among the countries hit hardest by the global food crisis, should return to more homegrown food staples such as corn, experts say. But in this analysis of why the Caribbean country’s food crisis runs so deep, the Los Angeles Times reports that local farmers see such a path […]

See also Tibet and The Olympic Protest Primer

May 11
Don’t coddle Beijing - it must account for its role Darfur: Roméo Dallaire
Many consider it taboo to speak of the genocide in Darfur and the upcoming Beijing Olympics in the same breath. I disagree entirely. I believe the two should be firmly linked in the public’s mind, […]

See also Global Monitoring Report 2008
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Foreign Policy May/June 2008
When China Met Africa (complete article available only to subscribers to FP)
It seemed a perfect match: A growing country looking for markets and influence meets a continent with plenty of resources but few investors. Now that China has moved in, though, its African partners are […]

World Bank IMF
IMF’s Global economic prospects for 2009 (.pdf)
April 11
Climate Change Rises On World Bank Agenda
(Reuters Planet Ark) WASHINGTON - Climate change is now one of the World Bank’s top concerns because of its expected impact on health and economic growth in developing countries, the bank’s lead environmental economist said.
Latin […]

April 11
Gwynne Dyer: Controversial flame has never burned brightly
(New Zealand Herald) What’s actually colliding here are two irreconcilable views of the world. For almost all Chinese, the turmoil in Tibet is a threat to national unity.
We were struck by the contrast of the two opinion pieces excerpted below (there will assuredly be many more) and, […]

This Wednesday, it is a somewhat random-access agenda. Despite (or perhaps because of) our careful monitoring of topics of interest, we find that many are in the category of “been there, done that” too recently and there is little obvious progress in the files. However, there are others that have been somewhat neglected in […]

We welcome two new faces this week, guest experts, who bring knowledge of at least three extremely pertinent topics to the table.
Danny van Gelder will introduce his cousin, Mark Kruger, an economist by training, who serves as Minister Counselor/Head of Section (Economics and Finance) of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing and key link between the […]

If there’s anything going on in the world besides Super Tuesday, it’s hard to discern it in the media, whether U.S. or foreign based. We cannot recollect such intense excitement over primaries and admit to obsessing about the latest pronouncement from Wolf, Brian, Charlie (Gibson or Rose), Tim, not to mention all those wonderful political […]