Currency wars are back, though this time the goal is to steal inflation, not growth. Brazil Finance Minister Guido Mantegapopularized the term “currency war” in 2010 to describe policies employed at the time by major central banks to boost the competitiveness of their economies through weaker currencies. Now, many see lower exchange rates as a […]
World Bank Sees Record Demand for Political Risk Insurance
Investors’ demand for insurance against political risk is on track to match last year’s record as instability persists in the Middle East and disputes in Latin America erode confidence, the World Bank said. Investment insurance for developing economies by a group of the main public, private and multilateral providers reached $45 billion by mid-2013, according to the bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee […]
Iran Agrees to Deal With Powers to Curb Nuclear Work
Iran’s accord with world powers to limit its nuclear program in exchange for as much as $7 billion in relief from sanctions left Presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani the task of selling the deal to critics. By agreeing to curtail its nuclear activities, Iran won an easing of certain sanctions on oil, auto parts, gold and precious metals […]
Obama-Putin Rift Over Syria Widens as G-20 Summit Starts
“The diplomatic dialogue between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin has featured the U.S. president comparing Putin to a bored schoolboy and the Russian leader forcing an irritated Obama to wait a half-hour for a meeting. And that was before warships from the two nations drew near in the Eastern Mediterranean amid a widening rift over […]