Debt forgiveness is not exclusively reserved for developing nations: this article discusses whether Greece should leave the Euro. It mentions the fact the Germany and other EU nations have avoided outright debt forgiveness because the terms are conditional, and Greece is not willing to commit itself to the policies it is required to introduce in return for debt relief.

This article is very interesting with regards to one of this week's topics: import substitution. The concept of import substitution is often applied to LEDC's, reducing their dependancy on foreign imports and improving domestic output. However, this article is about Russia, who is adopting import substitution in response to deteriorating political relations with other nations. The Ministry of Industry and Trade wishes to minimise dependancy on imports from abroad, conjointly limiting the manipulating power of foreign nations.

This is an interesting article that exposes some African clients involved in the HSBC Swiss leaks. It is a striking real life example of how inequal distribution of income is still an issue; Eritrea, ranked 182nd out of 187 in the HDI report has the client banking the most substantial sum of all Africans considered.

The UN has made the intentional decision to transform the current economic development model, one that has been followed for 150 years, or since the industrial revolution. Particular attention will be attributed to the issue of climate change.

This article is about one of the less mainstream currencies that exist: Bitcoin. This is an online currency that has genuine potential, but, as the article explains, one of the biggest obstacles to mainstream adoption for bitcoin is its price volatility. The unpredictable price volatility means that for the vast majority of people, the currency is impossible to use as it would be too risky. The payments that ARE made with Bitcoin are immediately converted into real currencies, defeating the point of Bitcoin.

This article is about how some of the 6 largest banks have been fined £2.6 billion for manipulating exchange rates for a number of years. The case is a good indication of the importance of exchange rates and that well-known and supposedly well-respected banks are willing to take the risk of committing this crime.

The US and Japan are considering closing a deal on dairy industry liberalisation by imposing tariffs on for example skim milk powder and butter. These tariffs, which are supposedly introduced to 'protect Japanese agriculture' make trade impossible, which is in turn hurting countries heavily dependent on the dairy industry, like New Zealand.

There is currently a stalemate between Washington and Tokyo: the US is urging Japan to lower tariffs on agricultural imports. Japan claims it must protect some sensitive agricultural products but the tariffs are kept high to protect politically important farmers.

This is a very interesting article because it presents a well-known health care reform in the context of a supply-side policy. The article is about how Republicans have been blaming Obamacare for having negative supply-side effects on the economy and the labour force by reserving budgets for subsidising the system.