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Free Trade: If it Works Here, It Will Work Anywhere
Written by Josh Grundleger
Most Americans have, for generations, never truly questioned the basic system that allows goods and services to flow across state borders, unencumbered by tariffs, taxes, or other measures that would protect local industries from rivals in other states. And yet, many criticize international free trade agreements for their supposed pernicious results. Why the hypocrisy?
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La doble moral en el gasto público colombiano
Written by Amaya Querejazu
Abstract: It is hard to tell if government spending cuts and austerity measures are good or bad to deal with deficits and financial crisis. In Colombia, the tendency to reduce public spending has affected sensitive sectors like education and health. This is far from being unnoticed, there have been lots […]
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Austerity blues? Not In Nigeria!
Written by Chioma Agwuegbo
Nigeria has come a long way from 1974 when General Gowon said that the problem was not money itself but rather how to spend it. Sadly, the way since then has been been all downhill. Back then we spent more on capital projects and infrastructure than on recurrent spending. These […]
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Uganda: Cut Public Administration Costs NOW!
Written by Mubatsi
Ever since the negative effects of the global economic crisis began to show in 2009, countries have nearly focused on patching budget deficits and reducing debt to retain “economic health”. But recently European Union leaders have begun to acknowledge that speedy spending cuts could not be the magic solution for […]
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Lessons of austerity from the Latin American debt crisis
Written by Luis Felipe Morgado
What is the difference between austerity policies and the politics of austerity? At a time when Europe is pondering how to deal with its debt crisis problem, we look back at the experience of Latin America during the 1980s Latin American debt crisis. Understanding what happened then, and recognizing the advances in economics and government, may yield some lessons for Europe.
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Austerity: it’s all a matter of “when”
Written by Luciano Sobral
The choice between austerity and more spending looks like an intergenerational dilemma, and a good test to the ability of the humankind to think beyond a couple of years.