As US markets were closed to mark the Labor Day holiday, the dollar index surged to a new three-decade high. This is a reminder that the dollar is a relative, rather than an absolute, price — that is, it measures the value of the dollar relative to other currencies. But this also signals that…

I have never taken up the opportunity to attend the Davos meeting and I will pass again this year. That, however, does not mean that I do not follow its evolution and outcomes. I am certainly interested in what could emerge from a meeting that brings together so many leaders of governments, civil…

Last week’s economic and Covid-related news may well resurrect a risk narrative that makes policy makers and virtually all financial markets particularly anxious: US stagflation, that awful combination of rising inflation and declining growth. How this risk plays out in the next few months,…

The Group of 20 meeting of high-level policy makers in Rome this weekend provides a timely opportunity to assess progress on the four broad policy responses that I have argued repeatedly are vital for the global economy. They hold the key to maintaining a strong and durable recovery that is also…

The highly anticipated US jobs report for August should make us feel sorry for those having to navigate through the flood of economic data, be they analysts or, more importantly, policy makers. With another set of data subject to divergent interpretations, the post-pandemic economic landscape…

The surge in the Covid-19 delta variant worldwide is raising concerns about the robustness of what has already been an uneven and uncertain global economic recovery. The extent of this worry speaks to medical and economic policy issues, dealing both with factors that we seem to know a lot about and…

For reasons largely outside its control, the Federal Reserve is now being widely blamed for fueling financial market instability and risking derailment of the U.S. economy. This is quite a contrast from just a few month ago, when it was still being feted by many for its role as an active and…