Category: Global Economy
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BRICS MSMEs: Borrow the Function, Question the Model
A small enterprise can carry the same label in two countries and inhabit entirely different economic worlds. One may supply precision components to an international manufacturer. Another may operate from a household workshop, depend on informal credit and struggle to secure payment. Calling both MSMEs creates an administrative category. It…
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BRICS and the Global Value Chain Paradox
More Trade, But Who Captures the Value? Why the future of BRICS will depend less on the volume of trade among its members and more on who controls technology, production, design and value addition. The Rise of BRICS: Economic Size Is Not Industrial Power The emergence of BRICS represents one…
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Biodiversity Is Wealth. Who Earns From It?
The forest and the balance sheet. A country may possess extraordinary biological wealth and still occupy the least rewarding position in global trade. Its farmers grow the plants, its communities preserve knowledge, and its collectors gather the materials. Yet the larger commercial rewards may emerge elsewhere—in laboratories, formulations, brands and…
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From Collateral to Cash Flow: Financing the Order, Not Just the Owner
An overseas buyer approves the sample. The price is agreed. The delivery date is fixed. Yet the Indian manufacturer hesitates to accept the order. Materials must be purchased, workers paid and production completed before the buyer releases payment. A commercial opportunity exists, but the money required to execute it does…
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The Middle East Economic Crisis: When Geography Becomes a Global Economic Liability
The present crisis, the next economic shock, and the possibility of a fundamentally different Middle East by 2035 A Region Rich in Wealth but Poor in Economic Security The Middle East is entering one of the most consequential economic periods in its modern history. A region that has supplied the…
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When the Origin of a Product Becomes as Valuable as the Product Itself
The End of the Anonymous Commodity For centuries, international trade operated on a relatively simple principle: buyers were primarily interested in what a product was, how much it cost, and whether it met the required quality standards. Where the raw materials originated, who processed them, how workers were treated, and…
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The Passport of the Product
The Next Global Trade Barrier May Not Be a Tariff, but the Absence of Information From the Movement of Goods to the Movement of Evidence For centuries, international trade was built around the physical movement of goods. Ships carried spices, textiles, metals and machinery across borders. Customs authorities examined their…
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The Compliance Export Industry
The Next Global Business May Not Be Manufacturing Products but Certifying Their Acceptability The Changing Economics of Global Trade For decades, international trade followed a relatively simple economic logic. Countries produced goods, competed on prices, improved quality and searched for overseas buyers. Governments negotiated tariffs, exporters managed logistics, and international…
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When exporting workers becomes easier than creating jobs at home
For decades, remittances have been treated as one of the quiet successes of globalisation. A worker leaves home, earns abroad and sends money back. The family gains income, the country receives foreign exchange and poverty often falls. Unlike foreign investment, remittances do not require governments to negotiate with multinational corporations.…
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The Economics of Permanent Defence Spending
When Security Becomes a Permanent Economic Sector From Peace Dividend to Security Dividend — For nearly three decades after the Cold War, much of the world behaved as though defence spending could gradually become less central to economic policy. Governments spoke about the peace dividend. Capital could move toward highways,…
