Category: Current Affairs

WES Exclusive: The European Neighbourhood Council (ENC) on the Japanese Oil Tanker Attack and its consequences for Europe

On June 13th, a Japanese tanker was attacked off the Gulf of Oman, provoking accusations by the US of Iranian culpability. Numerous conflicting reports have cast doubt on the US’s accusations and ignited uncertainty of how Europe should best respond to prevent the situation escalating further.

WES had the exclusive privilege of receiving comment on the matter from the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), an independent think-tank focused on European, Central Asian, and Middle Eastern regional policy.

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The End of Fiscal Conservatism? The largest shift in economic policymaking in a generation

A politician seen not advocating for fiscal conservatism is to flirt dangerously close with the label of being fiscally irresponsible. For decades now, policymakers in the US kept a tight rein on public finances to ensure the public debt ratio stays low, while the central bank routinely seeks to contain economic booms and busts. Exercising fiscal discipline has always been synonymous with good governance, or so we thought.

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Jagjit Chadha – What do economists have to offer to policy making?

“A hell of a lot. Whether policymakers take our advice is the real question.”

This year’s WES Presents was kicked off by Professor Jagjit Chadha, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). In a time where the role of experts seems to be increasingly distrusted in public discourse, he highlighted the value of rigorous economic analysis rather than reductive political sensationalism in the search for the right answers in policy, forecasting and analysis of the past.

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Race to One Trillion: Amazon’s Affairs in Washington

This is the second part of our analysis of Amazon’s rise to 1 trillion. Today, we look at the changing relations between Amazon and the US political circles.

When a company registers £178 billion revenue and employs 560,000 people, it does not go unseen in Washington’s, London’s or Brussels’ corridors of power. Amazon is no exception. The online retailer’s relation with politics is complex, being alternatively cooperative or detached, but is always functional to profit maximisation. Continue reading “Race to One Trillion: Amazon’s Affairs in Washington” →

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The outcome of the Mexican elections and why it matters

Mexico recently shocked football fans around the world when it defeated Germany in its opening game in the FIFA World Cup. It has also been at the forefront of the global news cycle as the USA’s southern neighbour. Trump’s controversial handling of the immigration issue – through the potential construction of his infamous wall or his recent policy of separating families at the border, is the source of major social and political turmoil in the US and has been discussed heatedly around the world. But now, Mexico is making worldwide news because, on 1st July, the second-largest economy in Latin America took to the polls for the biggest general elections in Mexican history with an expected but unprecedented result of the presidential race.

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