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The Illinois pensions’ predicament

Lawmakers in the US state of Illinois have a difficult choice in trying to fix the nation’s worst-funded pension scheme. They can adopt a plan that saves a lot of money or one that might get through the courts Read more

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Back to basics on aid

The international aid community seems to have lost sight of some basic principles. They need to be less wedded to New Public Management reforms and must look for a country-led approach Read more

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Spanish audit: shock of the new

It’s time that public sector audit bodies in Spain caught up with much of the developed world and made use of social networking to disseminate their reports and opinions Read more

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US economy: wake-up call for Washington

The US is becoming less competitive partly because it refuses to address mounting debt problems. Federal policymakers in Washington DC have to make some tough choices to put the nation’s finances in order and improve economic prospects Read more

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Why Japan’s Abenomics won’t work

Japan’s prime minister is doomed to fail in his attempt to achieve an inflation rate of 2%. He is focusing too much on quantitative easing and needs to adopt a gold-price target Read more

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Global governance: clash of the titans

Global economic governance is being severely tested, resulting in tensions between organisations with competing mandates. A case in point is the lack of sufficiently robust formal structures between the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for managing the eurozone debt crisis Read more

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Earth to Washington: repeal the sequester

The good news is that US economic growth is up a bit. The bad news is that it will not last, especially once the full impact of federal budget cuts make themselves felt Read more

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European austerity: Turn or Tina?

Despite the overwhelming weight of evidence, European policy makers continue to trot out Margaret Thatcher’s line that ‘there is no alternative’ to austerity. They should think again Read more

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An anti-euro game changer?

Germany’s new populist, anti-euro party, Alternative fur Deutschland, is already growing significantly and could potentially be a game-changer in German and European politics Read more

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There’s more to life than growth

Policymakers need to end their narrow fixation with GDP and growth. Germany is the latest country to embrace new ways of measuring and improving economic and social wellbeing  Read more

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