Governments in the United States, Britain and Japan moved quickly following the Sept. 11 attacks to combat the recession that all three governments now recognize. Unfortunately, when faced with an economic hole in the form of a recession, they appear to be digging deeper.

Emerging markets are suffering from the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attack and the U.S. recession, but of all emerging market regions, the one with the greatest long-term problems may be Latin America.

In spite of the $15 billion cash and guarantee package from the U.S. government, it is clear that the airline industry was already in serious trouble before Sept. 11, and may not quickly emerge.

“Lo, all our pomp of yesterday, Is one with Nineveh and Tyre” wrote Kipling in his 1897 “Recessional.” Clearly, thank goodness, this is not true of the United States following Tuesday’s terrorist outrage. But is it true of America’s cities?

The current mantra among economists, generally of the optimistic persuasion, is that the U.S. economy will continue growing because consumer spending is strong and that consumer spending will hold up because of the strong housing market, fueled by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s seven interest rate cuts since January.

The Panics of 1893 and 1907 were succeeded by the slump of 1920-21, which was succeeded by the Depression of 1929-32, which was eventually succeeded by the recessions of 1957-58 and later.

As the British Conservative (Tory) Party leadership race nears closure amid gleeful media predictions of a Tory wipeout at the next general election, due in 2005-06, it’s worth looking at what the economic background to that election is likely to be, since it can determine whether the Tory leadership is worth fighting for.

Wall Street now realizes that during 2001 we are likely to see four successive quarters of declining earnings for the companies that make up the Standard and Poors 500 Index, but the Street is still putting the blame primarily on New Economy and tech companies, whose downturn in both earnings and stock prices have been […]

Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi produced a budget last week that cut $24 billion, or about 0.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product, from Japan’s public spending, which he believes, against much “expert” and media opposition, is the solution to Japan’s recession.

The publication of a very interesting new book, Gordon Chang’s “The Coming Collapse of China” (which I shall review tomorrow) has combined interestingly with a sharp downturn in the Shanghai stock market.