This article talks about India and its current account deficit. Import substitution is a good way to reduce current account deficit by reducing the import expenditure.

This article talks about the sad outlook of eurozone. Eurozone is an example of monetary union/currency union. We can clearly see that the effects of economic downturn affect different countries to a different degree. Greece, Spain, and Ireland are much more heavily affected than the rest. This is the same as the crisis mentioned in this article as the 70s to 80s crisis. Shocks will affect different countries differently--a shortcoming of monetary union.

This article tells the balance of payments of Ghana skyrockets comparing to the same period in 2011. The main reason is the falling price of cocoa beans, which is a main export of Ghana, and the falling export volumes. With the export going down and imports of oil, and other non-oil imports skyrocket, the balance of payment become negative value.

It is interesting to receive a totally different perspective on the issue that China keeps its currency artificially low. In this article, it actually says that the benefits to the US of China manipulating its currency far outweighs the costs. The reason is that the consumers get cheaper goods, which are essential goods such as toys and clothes. The other reason is that when the Chinese government is constantly buying dollars to keep Chinese yuan low, it helps to stabilize the price level in the US because the imported goods do not become more expensive, and it also helps to keep the interest rate low. This is beneficial to the US economy.

This article reports that Ukraine is thinking to raise its tariffs on various imported goods. Since Ukraine joined the WTO, its trade deficit has been increasing. The increase in trade deficit suggests that the international market is too competitive for the Ukrainian goods and putting them at a disadvantage. To respond to this issue, the Ukrainian government is thinking to raise tariffs so as to protect the domestic goods from aggressive international competitions.