Thursday October 14th, 2010
Dominique Strauss–Kahn, the head of the IMF, has says that currencies are becoming a "weapon" in global economic competition, and that a lack of cooperation on this threatens the recovery. In our lead article this week, we look at how the exchange–rate manipulation is compounding the problem of global trade imbalances. In Latin America, meanwhile, the policy agenda is shifting from crisis–management to poverty alleviation. We focus on how, with finance lacking, some innovative proposals have been proposed to tackle the problem.
Turning to Turkey, we announce a shift in our medium–term political forecast for the country. The ruling AKP, which recently scored a victory over its establishment opponents, is now expected to win a third consecutive term when voters next go the polls for a general election. From Risk Briefing, we feature a webcast with our Ireland analyst, Megan Greene, who argues that the escalating cost of propping up the banking sector is likely to force an EU bailout.
Industry Briefing looks at US biotech companies, which were badly hit by the recession as investors shied away from the risks of early–stage research and development. A new report finds that a quarter of them have closed since 2007. Finally, Executive Briefing asks whether it's better to "nickel–and–dime" customers by charging separately for extras, or to keep things simple by combining all of the charges into one total price
Robin Bew
Chief Economist
Follow him on Twitter @robinbew.
