World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

One of the consequences of the debt crisis in the eurozone is that as some nations are forced to undergo austerity programs to reduce wages, other nations within the some (especially Germany) enjoy a competitive advantage.  The discrepancy occurs because the common currency, the euro, weakens as growth slows in the countries undergoing austerity–in effect, the euro devalues.  This means that the exports of the stronger countries are more attractive to countries outside the eurozone leading to even stronger economies.  The growing discrepancy between the weak euro countries and the strong euro countries will inevitably lead to political friction.  We’ll see if this friction has any effect on the cohesion of the EU as a whole.

The Oil Drum is a fascinating blog on energy related issues, and its most recent post is a fascinating summary of global energy consumption over the last century.  It is a very detailed post, so I won’t be asking any questions about it on the weekly quiz in American foreign policy.  But for those who wish to see how the use and sources of energy have changed throughout the period of high industrialization, the post is incredibly revealing.  The only possible conclusion is that the historical trends are clearly unsustainable–something has got to change.

The question of how income inequality affects economic growth is perhaps one of the most pressing questions facing the world at this moment.  Much of the historical evidence on income inequality suggests that it often leads to economic decline.  There is evidence that this outcome is increasingly likely in the developed world.