Prince Michael of Liechtenstein
Typical economic cycles last about seven years. Since the 2008 financial crisis, we have seen continuous growth in the global economy, and more is expected. The International Monetary Fund forecasts global growth of 3.9 percent for this year and next. We would like to believe that these are realistic predictions and not wishful thinking. The […]
The Munich Security Conference (MSC) stands among the world’s oldest and most important fora for security discussion, with the attendance of top-level decision makers from key countries around the globe, nongovernment organizations, industry, academia and media. The latest edition of the MSC was gloomy, mirroring the current international situation. The February 2018 conference, named “To […]
Statistics is a wonderful tool to support hypotheses. Data can be selectively arranged, given “weights” or cleverly suppressed depending on a desirable outcome. Of late, the case of excessive and rising inequality has become a mantra in economics, media, academia and politics. It is backed up with statistics and presented as one of the major […]
Under the Antideficiency Act of 1884, the federal government of the United States may incur obligations or make expenditures authorized by appropriations. When budgetary limits are exceeded, new funds can only be provided by an act of Congress. When no agreement on new appropriations is reached between Congress and the White House, the government must […]
The talks between Germany’s Christian Democrats (the CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (the SPD) have ended in an agreement that will create a coalition of the biggest losers of last September’s federal elections. The parties’ rank-and-file members must still approve the deal. For Chancellor Angela Merkel and SPD leader Martin Schulz, the coalition is the only […]