COMMENTARY
Crude predictions: slipping and sliding over oil prices
Worldwide demand for oil is still fairly flat - so why are prices going up?
Crude predictions: slipping and sliding over oil prices By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Monday 18 May 2009
Worldwide demand for oil is still fairly flat - so why are prices going up?
Taking Iceland's economy out of the deep freeze By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Monday 27 April 2009
Iceland's new prime minister has been elected as the saviour of the tiny republic. Living up to that image is a huge proposition.
NATO at 60: looking forward or behind the times? By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Friday 03 April 2009
NATO's big birthday might be a good excuse for some transatlantic bonding. But the party-goers need to answer a crucial question: what's the organisation for?-
A New World Order… for some By Christopher MOORE (text)
Friday 03 April 2009
French President Nicolas Sarkozy says yesterday’s G20 summit in London marked the end of the “Anglo-Saxon” financial system. 
The G20 voices that will be heard By Douglas HERBERT (text)Thursday 02 April 2009
The G20 of rich and industrialised countries represents nine-tenths of the world's economy. But a sub-group of four fast-developing countries known as 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is flexing its financial muscle as never before.
GM and Chrysler: out of gas? By Douglas HERBERT (text)Monday 30 March 2009
GM and Chrysler have staved off collapse thanks to billions of dollars in government bailout cash. But with their future viability in doubt, Washington is unlikely to keep filling their tanks. Bankruptcy is on everyone's lips.
Clock starts ticking for Obama's greatest foreign policy challenge By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Friday 27 March 2009
Will US President Barack Obama's Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy work? The real question right now might be how long has he got?
Recession rage By Douglas HERBERT (text)Thursday 26 March 2009
French workers are increasingly angry about a crisis that they feel has been foisted on them by forces beyond their control. And according to a new poll, they lay the lion's share of the blame at the door of banks and politicians.
China's dollar jitters By Douglas HERBERT (text)Wednesday 25 March 2009
China holds the world's biggest hoard of dollar cash reserves — some $2 trillion. But it's worried that massive US stimulus spending could result in sky-high deficits that drag the dollar down, so it's looking for alternatives to the greenback.
Europe's rotating head goes into a spin By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Tuesday 24 March 2009
The Czech government has fallen almost halfway into its six-month presidency of the Europe Union. What does it mean for the future of the EU?
Geithner's toxic sales pitch By Douglas HERBERT (text)Monday 23 March 2009
Timothy Geithner's plan to convince private investors to purchase banks' "toxic" assets makes selling snake oil look easy. But he sees it as an effective way of restoring health to the sclerotic US banking system.
New Year, new dawn in Iran? By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Friday 20 March 2009
Historic, unprecedented: Obama's televised address to Iran's people and leaders might be both of those things. But is it enough to overturn nearly 30 years of fear and loathing between the US and Iran?
Is Geithner up to the job? By Douglas HERBERT (text)Wednesday 18 March 2009
The snowballing scandal over lavish bonuses at AIG is putting US President Barack Obama's financial-crisis management under close scrutiny. But it's his Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, who's really in the line of fire.
AIG on your face By Douglas HERBERT (text)Monday 16 March 2009
Fed chief Ben Bernanke says he's outraged at the sequence of events that led to the $170 billion bailout of AIG. But that's unlikely to placate American taxpayers' anger over where the money went.
Taking on the tax havens By Douglas HERBERT (text)Thursday 12 March 2009
Tax havens are coming under growing pressure to lift the veil on the banking secrecy that's a hallmark of their financial culture. Liechtenstein is the latest offshore centre that's loosening the rules in an effort to burnish its image.
Citigroup's Miracle Memo By Douglas HERBERT (text)Wednesday 11 March 2009
A memo to staff from Citigroup's chief executive, praising the bank's performance in the first two months of the year, sent Citi's and other banks' stocks surging. In today's febrile markets, investors cling to any hope of better days ahead.
Crisis castaways By Douglas HERBERT (text)Monday 09 March 2009
The World Bank says the global economy is headed for its first contraction since the 1940s. As the rich world combats a deepening recession, many poorer nations without the means to lauch their own stimulus are at a disadvantage.
UBS still under US scrutiny By James CreedonThursday 05 March 2009
The Swiss bank UBS named a new chairman Tuesday, as a row with US authorities over tax evasion intensifies.
Rebooting Russian relations with NATO By Owen FAIRCLOUGH (text)Thursday 05 March 2009
Reset, reboot - the US leadership seems to be adopting the language of IT technicians in its determination to reconcile East-West relations. But can computer-speak help write a new chapter for diplomacy?-
Areva says Siemens' venture with Rosatom breaches contract By James CREEDON (text)
Wednesday 04 March 2009
Germany's Siemens and Russia's state-owned atomic energy agency Rosatom announced a partnership deal Tuesday. Yet, Siemens's former French partner, Areva, says the deal breaches a contractual non-competition clause.
