April, 2009
Americas summit a litany of missed opportunities by Harper
The Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago will be hailed as the watershed moment of change in the relations between the United States and Latin America, but the same cannot be said for Canada.
The Emerging Powers
Why is the current global economic downturn causing such widespread anxiety? We are worried because the crisis has gone global. It has spread beyond a financial crisis and is now affecting incomes and employment in households -- kitchen tables -- the world over. The other reason is that the crisis has fully revealed the limitations of the existing system of international organization, born after the Second World War.
Free-fall trade
Of the many individuals and institutions being affected by the current economic crisis -- although at this stage, "meltdown" might be a better description of the economic situation -- one of the most dramatic has been the rapid decline in international trade flows.
The hardest hit
Economic turmoil in the developed economies is jeopardizing the recent hard won progress in developing countries. The Asian economies have accelerated their growth in the last five years. Countries in Latin America and Africa made substantial progress as these economies grew more than five per cent a year, a welcome change from the malaise that afflicted them in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Spectre of Deflation
As this recession unfolds, downward price pressure could be good, bad or ugly
In Search of a Global Solution
G20 gatherings could be the catalyst for international action on economic crisis
Reasons for Optimism
The current economic recession seems unforgiving toward Waterloo Region. The March 2009 unemployment data from Statistics Canada rated the Kitchener Census Metropolitan Area (approximating Waterloo Region), as having the second highest unemployment rate among Canada's 27 urban centres -- tied with St. Catharines-Niagara.
UK government obsession with nuclear power costly for the country
Waterloo, Canada - April 14, 2009 - The problematic history of nuclear power in the United Kingdom (UK) suggests that a stronger focus on sustainable energy alternatives is a better and more cost-effective option. This is a conclusion of a report released today by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI).
Double Whammy of Recession, Shrinking Government Funds Hitting NGOs Hard
Caught between the global economic crisis and major decreases in government funding, many of Canada's internationally-focused civil society groups are rethinking how they operate even as they struggle to stay alive.