strategic challenges

Review of The Margin of Victory, by Douglas Macgregor

22 December 2016

Margin of Victory, Five Battles that Changed the Face of Modern War – by Douglas McGregor, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis Maryland 2016 This is an important book for two reasons, firstly, it gives a series of fascinating insights into some key campaigns and battles of the 20th century. [read more]

Review of “National Competitiveness and Economic Growth, The Changing Determinants of Economic Performance in the World Economy” – Timo J Hämäläin

29 October 2016

Pub. 2003 Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, England and Northampton, Massachusetts This book is, in my opinion, is one of the most important economic books published in the last few years. The title fails to hint at the explosive contents of the book and its price unfortunately puts it out of the reach [read more]

We no longer have internationally agreed rules of behaviour in the financial markets

19 October 2016

The original Bretton Woods settlement, by providing for fixed exchange rates and a link to gold imposed a degree of control over international financial exchanges, which were primarily mechanisms for facilitating international trade. With the development of the Eurodollar markets in London in the [read more]

The Problem of Financial Imbalances

19 October 2016

In addition to the weakness of self-equilibrating mechanisms within the global monetary system, there is an arguably even more serious problem with underlying financial, trade and debt imbalances. In the words of the BIS, “Historically high debt levels and signs of financial imbalances point to [read more]

Climate Dynamics: Facing the Harsh Realities of Now

23 March 2016

Climate Sensitivity, Target Temperature & the Carbon Budget: Guidelines for Strategic Action – David Wasdell (Director of the Apollo-Gaia Project) September 2015 Executive Summary The value of Climate Sensitivity is the fundamental parameter governing all strategic policymaking in [read more]

The Planetary Eco-System

23 October 2015

In order for the eco-system to function and support life, including humans, it needs to have access to a range of resources, including clean air, clean water, functioning food chains, energy and an equitable climate. Living, as so much of humanity does, in urban surroundings, cocooned in an [read more]

Thieves of State – Sarah Chayes (review)

6 April 2015

Thieves of State – Sarah Chayes, published by W W Norton & Company, New York and London, 2015 This is an important book and its publication is timely, given recent developments. Sarah Chayes uses her own experience in Afghanistan as the thread around which she weaves her narrative. What [read more]

When do we decide that Europe must restructure much of its debt? – Michael Pettis

25 February 2015

By Michael Pettis · February 25, 2015 · Balance sheet fragility It is hard to watch the Greek drama unfold without a sense of foreboding. If it is possible for the Greek economy partially to revive in spite of its tremendous debt burden, with a lot of hard work and even more good luck we can [read more]

Peak Population: What it Means for Global Resources, Part 1

30 November 2014

We are reproducing (with permission) this article from visualcapitalist.com because of the excellent graphics. Presented by: Gainesville Coins Even with having existed for millions of years, the process for humans to reach 1 billion in population was long and arduous. It is only about 12,000 [read more]

The Great Rebalancing – Michael Pettis

22 November 2014

Michael Pettis has gained a reputation for his forthright articles on the Chinese economy and financial markets, which he publishes in his blog http://blog.mpettis.com (some of which are reproduced on The World in Crisis, with his kind permission) and in international media like The Wall Street [read more]

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