A cocoa pricing agreement designed to protect farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana from destitution is being circumvented by multinationals, the main buyers of cocoa beans. Cocoa is the plant from which chocolate is made. Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana together account for 65% of global cocoa production, but farmers in these two countries earn less […]
Jobs are up, wages less so – and lower purchasing power could still lead the US into a recession
Don’t be overly fooled by seemingly rosy jobs data heading into the Labor Day weekend. Yes, the U.S. economy added 187,000 jobs in August 2023 – faster than the revised 157,000 increase for July and above most analysts’ expectations for the month. And yes, gains were seen across most industries, with health care and social […]
Ghana’s domestic debt restructuring has stalled: four reasons why
Ghana is facing multiple financial and economic challenges and has requested a US$3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help it restore macroeconomic stability. This will include bringing public debt down to more manageable levels from the currently estimated 105% of GDP to 55% in present value terms by 2028. IMF assistance, […]
the state of the economy, the Indigenous ‘Voice’ and whether the first parliamentary week saw better standards
University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discusses the week in politics with University of Canberra Associate Professor Caroline Fisher. This week saw parliament meet for the first time since the election. Michelle and Caroline talk about Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ sombre report on the economy, and the early flurry of legislation. They also examine whether […]
New Brexit deal will be better for Northern Ireland’s economy than the protocol, research suggests
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has said Northern Ireland will be “the world’s most exciting economic zone” due to its access to the EU single market under the latest post-Brexit trading deal between the EU and UK. The details of the Windsor framework are still being pored over by politicians and business leaders across the […]
mending fences and building bridges in the face of growing China presence
In the last 20 years or so Africa has been an intermittent strategic interest for the US. Successive US presidents have attached contrasting levels of importance to the continent. This has been clear from their policies and strategic engagement. But with the rise of China as a strategic competitor in Africa the focus on US-Africa […]
the pros and cons of borrowing abroad versus at home
A government which decides to borrow – either because it has programmed a budget deficit or needs to refinance maturing debts – faces two, non-mutually exclusive possibilities: borrow domestically in the local currency or borrow externally in a foreign currency. Developed countries borrow predominantly at home and in their currencies. This is because they have […]
the business benefits of hiring people with intellectual disability
There are many reasons to employ people living with intellectual disability. Most obvious is that it’s the right thing to do – it helps promote social justice, diversity, corporate social responsibility, and equal opportunity. Even so, data released in 2020 (the latest available) show just 53.4% of people with disability are in the labour force, […]
Fed rate hikes, recession fears and political backlash leave ESG investors at a crossroads
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again on May 3, 2023, by a quarter point, making it the Fed’s 10th rate hike since March 2022 in an ongoing fight to tame inflation. These rate hikes have been reverberating through the economy, raising prospects of a recession amid heightened concerns about the fragile state of banks. […]
A hawkish Fed signals further rate hikes and sees a slowing economy – but not recession
The U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark interest rate by a further three-quarters of a percentage point on July 27, 2022. The jump was expected by most economists, although some had thought the central bank would go further in its attempts to put the brakes on soaring inflation and impose a full point increase. The […]