Corruption is a major problem for most emerging markets, and in truth, quite a few developed states. Time and time again in BMI’s analysis on emerging markets, my colleagues and I have written on how governments need to crack down on corruption, if they want to attract greater foreign investment and prosper. However, this is [Read more...]

Technological advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have resulted in booming gas production from shale deposits in the US.

US gas reserves, once thought due to run out in 30 years, now look sufficient to meet 100 years of demand. While this is good news for the US, as it reduces gas import [Read more...]

Anyone following the US ‘War on Terror’ will probably be aware that America is increasingly using drones – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – to carry out airstrikes. They may also be aware that remote-controlled robots are being used for the purposes of bomb disposal in places such as Iraq. The growing use of unmanned platforms [Read more...]

The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Communism in Europe was probably inevitable, given the inability of the Communist system to compete economically with the West. We now hear that communism was ‘unsustainable’ and I largely agree, but at the same time I don’t think it was inevitable that the Berlin Wall [Read more...]

US President Barack Obama is certainly a surprise choice for winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, not least because he has been in office for only ten months. Without wanting to be drawn into any US partisan debates, I think it is fair to say that during this period, it is questionable if he has [Read more...]

The North Korean nuclear crisis has been going on for so long now, and has become so repetitive, that like various US high-suspense TV dramas such as ‘24’ and ‘Lost’, it is losing its ability to shock. The cast of characters changes slightly, but the themes and events are fairly constant. (The only real shock [Read more...]

Asia’s economies are set to slow sharply in 2009, and this could lead to serious job losses, with potential political and social consequences. Although unemployment in Asia is lower than in most developed states, this comparison is not so relevant, since Asia has become accustomed to its own lower benchmarks.

Here are my thoughts on [Read more...]