French President Francois Hollande told reporters yesterday that Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group based in Nigeria, abducted a French family of seven, including four children, in northern Cameroon. Hollande noted the continuing role of France in the fight against Islamist radicals in Mali and said the French parents and …
The recently launched “Americas Barometer,” by Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), includes important insights about day-to-day corruption burdening citizens in every country in the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S. and Canada. According to a LAPOP poll, one in five people report that they had to pay at …
Newly installed Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is seeking to revamp Mexico’s economy, and one tool he has already pursued is labor reform. It is long overdue. According to the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, Mexico ranks below the world …
It has now been two months since Venezuela President Hugo Chavez departed Miraflores Palace (Venezuela’s White House) to undergo cancer surgery in Havana, Cuba. Very little is known about Chavez’s health. So far the only proof of life presented by senior officials are reported visits to the hospital where Chavez …
As wages in China rise with economic growth, some companies are beginning to look elsewhere for what was once China’s selling point: cheap labor. It just highlights the power that free trade provides—growing economies and raising living standards. Consider that wages in China are five times greater than they were …
On February 8, the government will release data on imports and exports for 2012. This annual release often ignites a misguided debate about trade deficits. A recent news report perpetuated a popular misstatement about how international trade works: Net imports suck cash out of the economy, subtracting from gross domestic …
Heirs to the ancient traders of the Silk Road, rejoice! If all goes according to plan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan will join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2013, connecting the lonely highlands and steppes of Central Asia with the markets of the 157 WTO members. The accession of these …
Mongolia continues to make strides toward economic freedom. The Economist recently predicted that Mongolia would have the second-fastest-growing economy in the world in 2013. Mongolia has been developing a modern and vibrant economy with a rapidly growing mining sector, which has generated double-digit growth rates for the country in recent …
