When the Panama Canal expansion is finally finished this spring, the canal will have two new features: 1. Serve larger ships that can carry up to 3x as many containers 2. Serve liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers It is not entirely clear what effects this will have on world trade, but Panama’s hope isContinue reading “Finally Passing Gas: 10 Winners and Losers of the Panama Canal Expansion”
Estonia in 2015: Energy, the Euro, and Elections
It is probably just a coincidence, but there is a strong correlation between being a member state of the Eurozone and being dependent on energy imports. The Eurozone imports upwards of two-thirds of the energy it consumes (compared to just 10-15 percent for the US and China, and 30-40 percent for Britain and India); onlyContinue reading “Estonia in 2015: Energy, the Euro, and Elections”
Internal Chinese Geopolitics, part 1
How can one measure China’s stability? In the West, it is common to look to Hong Kong and Tibet as litmus tests of the strength of the central Chinese government. While it is true that Hong Kong and Tibet are important places — Hong Kong because it one of China’s major financial and service centres,Continue reading “Internal Chinese Geopolitics, part 1”
America’s Domestic Environmental Geopolitics
In an op-ed in the New York Times earlier this month, economist Paul Krugman asks the question: why have the Republicans moved so far to the right on the environment, going from the introduction of the Clean Air Act of 1970 during the Republican Nixon administration (which passed the Senate, as Krugman points out, “onContinue reading “America’s Domestic Environmental Geopolitics”
The 10 Largest “Relative” Trade Networks
If you follow the financial news media, you will frequently hear of countries’ largest trade partners being either the United States, the European Union, or China. As a result, it can often seem like the US, EU, and China are at the centre of massive global networks of international trade. In a certain sense, ofContinue reading “The 10 Largest “Relative” Trade Networks”
5 Challenges for Canada’s Economy in 2015
Canada, the world’s sixth largest “developed” economy, has been on an excellent run in the recent past. According to figures from the World Bank, Canada’s GDP grew at a faster pace than those of the United States or Britain during five out of six years between 2008 and 2013, and during 10 out of 15Continue reading “5 Challenges for Canada’s Economy in 2015”
The Physics of Japanese Economics
With the downward revision of Japan’s GDP growth figures last month, the Japanese economy is technically back in recession, projected to shrink by a slight amount during the year as a whole. Even though most analysts had previously forecast Japan’s economy to expand at a rate of 2 percent in 2014, nobody was too surprisedContinue reading “The Physics of Japanese Economics”
Europe and Arabia: A Geopolitical Perspective
As different as the Quran is from the New Testament, or the Constitution of France is from the Constitution of Saudi Arabia (which is, in fact, the Quran), these differences are arguably less important than those which seperate the geography of Europe from the geography of the Arab world. Europe is a region of islands,Continue reading “Europe and Arabia: A Geopolitical Perspective”
The Coming US-Argentine Tango
Argentina has the world’s 20th largest economy, 8th largest territory, and 30th largest population, according to the World Bank. Yet Americans have historically had little to do with the place. The United States and Argentina have never been close allies, nor have they been hated rivals. Today the two countries trade just $15 billion orContinue reading “The Coming US-Argentine Tango”
Ramblings on regional Canadian Politics
(Disclaimer: this article is more or less a rambling thought-experiment, and should not be taken as a concrete prediction of Canada’s future) The province of Ontario has long been the most dominant force in Canadian politics. Though it has never been powerful enough to simply impose its will on the rest of the country, neitherContinue reading “Ramblings on regional Canadian Politics”
Future Economics 