Among the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries hit hard by the impact of COVID-19, water and food security are important drivers of economic growth and social development. These countries are at a crossroads and urgent action needs to be taken to avoid an impending crisis.
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Mean global temperatures have risen by 1.2°C over the preindustrial average and already there is mounting evidence that the environmental impact is accelerating. Severe weather events have become more frequent, with increasingly destructive wildfires, prolonged droughts, thinning Arctic ice, vanishing glaciers, bleaching coral reefs, shrinking biodiversity, and acidifying oceans.
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Recent statements from the U.S. Federal Reserve may seem puzzling to some and downright annoying to others. What comes through rather clearly, however, is that the Fed is not quite sure how to handle the economic recovery. And it is not alone.
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It is no secret that the West is exceedingly uncomfortable with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (the BRI) and its role in building infrastructure in developing countries, and for good reasons. The terms of these investments by China’s parastatal banks are opaque and recent research reveals that contracts include non-disclosure covenants to keep them so.
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The latest barrage of punditry deals with inflation in the United States and calls by some to get out ahead of it and adjust monetary and fiscal policies. By way of background, it is worth recalling that the American economy is coming out of the worst decline in GDP in over a century and that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing and necessary lockdowns have scarred the economy.
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