Canada is currently experiencing anemic economic growth, meaning there is a slowdown in the total production of goods and services per capita. The real GDP growth forecast for 2024 is 0.7 per cent. Despite this, American economist Tyler Cowen recently wrote that Canadians have nothing to worry about when it comes to the economy. While […]
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 […]
Tinubu inherits Nigeria’s high debt – an economist analyses what this means for the country’s future
As the 16th president of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherits an economy that is grappling with inflation, chronic unemployment, extreme poverty, crumbling infrastructure and insecurity. Nigeria’s debt profile stands out among these problems like a sore thumb. The country’s external debt stock – what it owes non-residents – was US$41.69 billion in 2022. Multilateral lenders […]
The Federal Reserve and the art of navigating a soft landing … when economic data sends mixed signals
With inflation easing and the U.S. economy cooling, is the Federal Reserve done raising interest rates? After all, gently bringing down the trajectory of prices without crashing the economy was the central bank’s objective when it began jacking up rates over a year ago. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of an economy’s output, expanded […]
changing how we measure progress is key to tackling a world in crisis – three leading experts
It’s an odd quirk of history that, on the first day of his ill-fated presidential campaign in March 1968, Robert F Kennedy chose to talk to his audience about the limitations of gross domestic product* (GDP) – the world’s headline indicator of economic progress. It seems stranger still that, despite the power of that iconic […]