former Deputy Director of the Policy and Review, International Monetary Fund
Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute studying the international economy; former Chief Emerging-Market Economist at Solomon Smith Barney, he previously held several positions at the International Monetary Fund (1972-1996), including Deputy Director of its Policy and Review Department
Part 2: Stocks Rally on Greek Bailout Package Stock markets around the world are breathing a sign of relief, but has Europe’s financial crisis now been resolved or only postponed? In Brussels yesterday, a 2-hour meeting of Europe’s finance ministers turned into an 11-hour marathon. The result was a one-trillion dollar agreement, arrived at in time for this morning’s opening of stock markets in Asia.
Part 2: Stocks Rally on Greek Bailout Package Stock markets around the world are breathing a sign of relief, but has Europe’s financial crisis now been resolved or only postponed? In Brussels yesterday, a 2-hour meeting of Europe’s finance ministers turned into an 11-hour marathon. The result was a one-trillion dollar agreement, arrived at in time for this morning’s opening of stock markets in Asia.
Is the US Becoming a Banana Republic? Argentina, Indonesia, Russia and other so-called “emerging economies” have followed a pattern that’s all too clear to officials of the International Monetary Fund. Entrenched financial elites take too many risks during good times, and when times go bad they can’t pay their debts. But they’ve accumulated so much influence that governments can’t call them to account and the rest of the country suffers.
Is the US Becoming a Banana Republic? An article in the Atlantic magazine is drawing a lot of attention from Wall Street to Washington. It's about cozy relations between financial and political institutions that make the US look like Argentina, Russia, Indonesia and other “emerging markets.” A former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund says Democrats and Republicans have enabled “financial oligarchs” to accumulate too much political power, so much that they can resist the reforms needed for economic recovery. Is it time for the government to wake up to reality?
Is the US Leading the Way to a Global Recession? The International Monetary Fund says America's financial crisis is so bad it will damage the rest of the world -- except for the Middle East and Asia. This as finance ministers from the major industrialized countries have gathered in Washington to figure out what to do. Not everybody's as pessimistic as the IMF , but nobody doubts that there's trouble ahead. Is the global economy faced with another Great Depression? How worried should Americans be? What should be done, and will there be winners as well as losers, both at home and abroad?
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
Replacing Obamacare: Now you see it… now you don’t As the Senate deliberates replacing Obmacare, health coverage for millions of people is at stake. There've been no public hearings, and a draft measure won't be made public. Is the House version so unpopular that that Senate is hiding a version that looks much the same?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?