Many investors have held out hope that a rapid growth in manufacturing would speed the world economy out of its slump. Recent economic data has dashed these hopes. Global manufacturing has halted, and it appears that the West cannot rely on booming demand from Asia to dig it out of the crisis. The FT writes: […]

Solyndra filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. It was supposed to be one of President Obama’s “showcase” cleantech companies. The Washington Post has the story. Solyndra, a California solar panel maker…shut down Wednesday, leaving 1,100 people out of work and taxpayers obligated for $535 million in federal loans.Energy Department officials said that less expensive solar panels made […]

Turkey’s “no problems with neighbors” foreign policy looks more and more like a hope rather than plan.  Problems with Iraq, problems with Syria, and now problems with Israel have gotten serious. From today’s NYT: Turkey said on Friday that it was downgrading its diplomatic and military ties with Israel and expelling its ambassador in a display […]

The economic news this morning is even grimmer than usual.  In Europe, the talks on restructuring Greece’s debt have broken down; officials from the lending agencies have flown home from Athens, cancelling scheduled talks and warning the Greeks that they may lose the next $11 billion of bailout money unless Greece both makes some fresh […]

Ethanol, especially in its purest Brazilian sugarcane form, was supposed to be the route to clean fuel and energy independence. Not so fast. The Financial Times reports that market pressures in Brazil, the 2nd largest producer of biofuels after the U.S., are pushing the price of ethanol above that of gasoline: In short, drivers generally […]

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reneged on his promise to the ECB to implement a full austerity budget. The Financial Times reports: Silvio Berlusconi’s decision to backtrack on his emergency austerity budget and scrap a proposed tax on the wealthy has triggered a popular outcry while risking market confusion and fresh confrontation with the European […]

George Magnus, a senior economic advisor at UBS, has an article in Foreign Policy that connects the Arab Spring, the global financial crisis, and China’s coming economic troubles in an enlightening article. Where his argument is most interesting is in his outlook for China. Magnus writes: China’s capitalist model has delivered unprecedented economic success over […]

Move aside Big Mac Index; the Twinkie is the culinary economic indicator of the day. According to the Wall Street Journal, Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of the Twinkie, is again in financial trouble. The WSJ reports: Hostess Brands Inc. […] [having] emerged from bankruptcy protection two years ago, has once again hired restructuring advisers […]

Professor Mead is in the UK this weekend, so blogging will be turned down slightly over the next couple days. Stay tuned for posts when he returns.

In American politics, the immigration question looms large and has tremendous power over the shape of a debate or the fate of a candidate. But migration issues are hardly a uniquely American concern — the spread of instantaneous communications has made people more aware of the relative disparities between rich and poor countries.If anything, the […]