Today, Cyprus’s banks opened for the first time in more than 10 days, after Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades—without seeking approval from his parliament—agreed to bailout terms that will raid citizens’ bank accounts. Those banking in Cyprus should not get too excited about the banks reopening. Strict capital controls are in …
As Cypriots come to grips with this week’s agreement to bail out its banks, Russian policymakers need to think about why their citizens are involved in this crisis. Around 40 percent of Cyprus bank deposits belong to Russian individuals or businesses, and accounts with more than 100,000 euros now face …
The Cyprus bailout fiasco continues, elevating the four-year-old eurozone debt crisis to a new level of volatility and uncertainty. At the core of the debacle lies the tiny island’s outsized banking sector, which is over eight times the size of the economy. But the third-smallest European Union (EU) member has …
It was recently reported that the federal government is considering buying 400,000 tons of sugar to prop up prices for sugar producers. The government would then sell the sugar at a loss of 10 cents per pound, costing taxpayers $80 million. Conventional wisdom for investors is “buy low, sell high.” …
President Obama is in the Middle East this week, two years and three months after Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi unleashed the Arab Spring by protesting against his lack of economic freedom. Mohamed’s father died when he was three years old. When his stepfather became ill, Mohamed quit school to …
There is more the President could do during his Middle East trip to improve the stability in the region: He should promote economic freedom. The Middle East and North Africa are two regions where countries lack the institutions to protect private property rights. In his recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, …
As President Obama visits Israel, one of the biggest elephants in the room is the ongoing financial crisis just across the desert in Egypt. Since the Arab Spring uprising, Egypt’s economy has deteriorated. The country’s most immediate crisis is a foreign reserve shortage. Stocks of the country’s foreign currency reserves …
Representative Charles Rangel (D–NY) has a mixed record on trade freedom. And he voted “no” in October 2011 for the free trade agreement with Colombia, a trade agreement The Heritage Foundation supported. Now Rangel wants to free the way for trade with Cuba, a totalitarian dictatorship, and to back his …
This week, President Obama travels to the Middle East, including his first visit to Israel since becoming commander in chief. The trip comes at a challenging time of declining U.S. leadership abroad and waning economic freedom and prosperity at home, a regrettable combination that the President’s own policies have created. …
