Essays & News

  As South Africa adapts to the new reality of a 30 percent tariff imposed on a range of goods by the administration of United States President Donald Trump, questions have emerged about whether Pretoria has taken all necessary steps to safeguard its economy against this challenge. The coalition government, led by the African National […]

  Recent developments in politics, economics and social cohesion are troubling for Europe. France is on the brink of bankruptcy, with deficits still around 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Other countries – including Germany – are not much better off when one considers not only the official debt but also implicit debt. Implicit […]

  In July, JPMorgan Chase announced its decision to start imposing fees on fintech companies for access to customers’ bank account data. The largest lender in the United States sent out pricing sheets to data aggregators (intermediaries linking banks with fintech platforms), detailing new fees that vary by use case. Payment-focused startups will likely incur higher charges, […]

  Over the past two decades, the European Union has experienced deindustrialization (a reduction in industrial capacity), partly due to the shift of manufacturing overseas, which has created strategic vulnerabilities. This issue is particularly pronounced in essential sectors such as batteries, semiconductors, renewable energy, aerospace and defense. The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine […]

  The 30th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30) will be held this November in Belem, Brazil. The global climate summit will review progress and possibly intensify efforts to address climate change. While the detailed agenda has not yet been released, three issues are […]