On 11 August, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) signalled that it would be revising its 2020 real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for South Korea from -1.2 percent to -0.8 percent, adding to the confidence that the country is faring better economically than any other OECD member.

There is a great global misalignment: at the very moment cooperation is more vital than ever to address urgent challenges, it is in decline. In late June, referencing the fractured response to the COVID-19 crisis, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned “there is total lack of coordination among countries.” Some have gone further, drawing on examples from history and comparing the global quest for a COVID-19 vaccine to the space race between the United

Until recently, China was unmistakably trying to be a hegemon in the image of the United States (US), increasingly complementing its growing hard power with soft power. But China seems to have missed its opportunity to build a serious rival to, or even supplant, the existing world economic order fashioned by the US following World War II.All the elements of success seemed to be falling into place for China.

As COVID-19 spread from China to Europe and then the United States (US), pandemic-stricken countries found themselves in a mad scramble for medical supplies – masks, ventilators, protective garments. More often than not, it was to China that they had to turn.By the time the crisis erupted, China had become the world’s largest supplier of key products, accounting for half of all European and US imports of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Widespread lockdowns and border closures aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic have interrupted global supply chains and largely paralysed the global economy.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is in the news mostly for the wrong reasons nowadays. Many people regard it as an ineffective policeman of an outdated rulebook that is unsuited for the challenges of the 21st-century global economy. And WTO members generally agree that the organisation urgently needs reforming in order to remain relevant.Recent months have brought further challenges.

The global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic climbed past 400,000 on Sunday with fatalities accelerating in the epicentre of Latin America even as Europe emerges from its virus lockdown with infections there increasingly under control.Almost seven million infections have been registered since the COVID-19 virus emerged in China late last year, forcing much of the globe into lockdown and pushing the world economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression.However, fears of a

The World Bank’s International Comparison Program (ICP) has just released its latest measures of price levels and gross domestic product (GDP) across 176 countries, and the results are striking. For the first time ever, the ICP finds that China’s total real (inflation-adjusted) income is slightly larger than that of the United States (US).

Global demand for personal luxury goods has been steadily increasing for decades, resulting in an industry worth US$308 billion in 2019.However, the insatiable desire for consumers to own nice things was suddenly interrupted by the coming of the COVID-19 pandemic, and experts are predicting a brutal contraction of up to one-third of the current luxury goods market size this year.Will the industry bounce back?

Numerous industries around the world have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic – some more than others. The aviation industry was one of the first sectors to feel the pinch from the deadly virus outbreak. Nationwide lockdowns, controlled borders and travel restrictions imposed by governments as preventative measures to contain the disease have resulted in significant reductions in passenger numbers.