In the face of the Euro crisis, the Economist compares and evaluates the merits/demerits of the two major trade blocs that the United Kingdom is engaged in - The European Union and The Commonwealth.

Russia cut down its tariffs for transportation exceeding 1100 km by half to lower the cost of hauling grain to its farmers in the country's interior to sell their crops.

This is a NYT editorial article written in June addressing the issue of a looming trend of protectionism. The big trading nations' patience with the open market is wearing thin with the sluggish economic recovery. However, it is crucial that the world stays committed to the game with a sense of common purpose to survive the economic crisis. Protectionism brings disruptions of the international supply chains and reduce economic activity.

An article from the economics section of The Economist on free trade. It focuses on America's lost decade and the role of liberalization of trade in it.

Ever since the stagflation that followed the Keynesian economic policies in the 70s, the notion that government planning is our best bet at bringing back the economy has faded away. However, in recent years, Keynes's ideas are being implemented once again in the form of Keynesian style of fiscal policy

"WHEN disaster strikes, the reaction of many investors is to scoot first and ask questions later." The recent natural disaster in Japan not only caused tsunamis that destroyed the cities, but it also caused ripples of detrimental effects on the world economy. Investors reluctant to put their money on the table due to the negative trends due to geopolitical and economic reasons around the world further contribute to the cycle of recession.

This article is about a book which assesses the progress of the Indian economy. Nehru, India's first prime minister implemented an extreme version of a Keynesian economy that even "Keynes would have found fiscally impossible" India sought to increase industrial output through government spending, which had disastrous consequences for the Indian economy. It took Manmohan Singh's radical turn away from state intervention to bring it back up. The articles elaborates further.

China's inflation rate has been growing over the years, however, some economic experts say that inflation is a healthier way to rebalance China's economy than currency appreciation.

This is an article by the New York Times addressing the issue of gender equality in the job market. Married women who have children must take time off work and the employment business is harsh in terms of promotion and pay when it comes to taking time off work - naturally women are disadvantaged in our society today. The articles dives in to explore the situation.

The article talks about the state of Tehran's atmosphere which has turned into a thick brown haze of smog. The inadequacy of public transportation in the city along with government policy promoting automobile usage for its booming car industry has created an atmosphere which has led to the bastardization of its air and the consequent deaths of its citizens. The article is related with this week's topic in the sense that in case of market failure (overproduction of cars) an adequate government response is required to stabilize the situation - which was not the case for Ahmadinejad's Tehran.

Global warming, the "mother of all negative externalities", may be a substantial opportunity for development for Africa. Pavan Sukhdev and other prominent economists claim that monetization of natural assets by "rediscovering" economics may bring great wealth to Africa.

This article talks about how Taiwan's standard of living has passed Japan's. Although Japan's GDP per capita itself is still far larger than that of Taiwan, when taking into consideration of the price of the two markets, the real relative income for Taiwan is larger than that of Japan. The role that price plays here is that it serves as a clarifier of the numbers which may mislead the people into believing that the standard of living for Japanese people is twice as good as the Taiwanese's.

"Putting caps on prices is only a short-term solution" Asian countries, China, Malaysia, and the like, are reluctant to raise prices on fundamental goods such as food and petrol. This allows the people of the country to have access to cheap petrol and thus more motivation for actions which lead to economic growth using petrol. Although the price caps seem beneficial for the country, that is only true in the short run. In the long run, the price caps will increase consumption in the country, and thus increase the demand for more crude oil from abroad which will lead to a rise in global prices of crude oil. Thus, looking ahead, it is for their own sakes that Asian countries should cut down on their price controls on such goods.

This article is a report on the state of burial prices in Hong Kong greatly affected by the lack of supply of room for the dead. For private burials, the costs can go well beyond $25,000!

The undervalued and overvalued currencies are having a war against each other - each struggling to either lower or maintain their value. Since the worth of the currency strongly affects exports, this phenomenon is quite crucial to our lives. The article presents the issue through the prices of Big Macs.

In Indonesia, where the land was once seemed to be covered by endless dark waves of treetops, almost indiscriminate logging is taking place - both legal and illegal. The irony is, this deterioration of forests in the country is actually recorded as progress. This is because the land which is cleared is used for other purposes which are considered less 'scarce'. Logically, in a country with plenty trees, the scarcity of trees will not be very high. Thus, by reducing supply of something which they have an ostentatiously an 'infinite' supply of and acquiring more scarce means of economic production, this economic phenomenon is recorded as progress in Indonesia.