The personnel records of 4 million current and former federal employees were hacked, and the US government believes that Chinese hackers were responsible for the breach. The records were from the Office of Personnel Management and contained numerous bits of information that were sensitive and revealing. The US Government did not reveal the basis for the accusation against China, but, if true, it represents only the most recent episode of what could be described as cyberwarfare. How to respond to such attacks is a very difficult decision to make.
Ghana has been hit by serious flooding. Heavy rains are not unusual in June, but the capital city of Accra experienced heavy damage from the floods and there were multiple deaths from gas explosions associated with the flooding. Ghana’s infrastructure is fragile despite promises from the government to make improvements. The flooding is a serious setback to Ghana’s economic development and the costs of recovery are going to be difficult for the state to manage.
The IMF has just issued a paper on public debt which suggests that its own austerity programs are harmful (you will have to download the report to read it, but the report is free). The abstract says it best:
We argue that, for countries with ample fiscal space (little risk of encountering a fiscal crisis), raising distortive taxes merely to bring the debt down is a treatment cure that is worse than the disease. High public debt of course is costly, but it is a sunk cost only made worse by efforts to pay down the debt through distortionary taxation.
Many have been arguing precisely that point for many years, but the IMF nonetheless has insisted upon its austerity programs. We will have to see if the IMF believes it own authors.
World Politics News 
Leave a comment