Miklós Vámos is a Hungarian novelist, screenwriter and talk show host. He is one of the most read and respected writers in his native Hungary. He has taught at Yale University on a Fulbright fellowship, served as The Nation’s East European correspondent, worked as consultant on the Oscar-winning film Mephisto, and presented Hungary’s most-watched cultural television show. Vámos has received numerous awards for his plays, screenplays, novels and short stories, including the Hungarian Merit Award for lifetime achievement. The Book of Fathers is considered his most accomplished novel and has sold 200,000 copies in Hungary.
If I were in the saddle, I’d follow Keynes’s advice and focus on jobs and public works projects. And I’d pray.
Ibsen Martínez is a Venezuelan playwright and novelist. A former telenovela writer based in Caracas, he is now a freelance writer and regular contributor to a number of newspapers, magazines and websites in both Spanish and English.
He writes a weekly column for the Caracas daily "Tal Cual." Spanish language newspapers such as Madrid's "El País" and "ABC" as well as Buenos Aires's "La Nación" run his articles on a regular basis. His essays on literary and political subjects have appeared in prestigious magazines such as "La Nouvelle Revue Françoise", Mexico's " Letras Libres", Washington's "Foreign Policy" and The Washington Post's "Outlook" magazine. He also writes a monthly column on Latin American economic issues for the Liberty Fund's website, "Econlib Library (www.econlib.org).
I can only hope that a severe recession in the U.S., Venezuela’s primary customer, will awaken our spendthrift leadership from its petro-dollar slumber.
Miriam Leitao is a reporter and columnist for O Globo and Radio CBN in Brazil. She is also a commentator on Globo TV Network and runs her own blog, www.miriamleitao.com, hosted at Globo online at www.oglobo.com.br. She was awarded Columbia University’s Maria Moors Cabot Prize in 2005.
Brazil has a better chance than most of escaping the global grip of a U.S. recession – but we’re still worried.
Bill Emmott is the former editor of The Economist magazine, a leading international current affairs publication from England. He is now an independent writer, speaker, and consultant on international affairs.
The world needs a bit of a slowdown in order to get inflation--and, in the longer term, global warming--under some sort of control.
Dr. Ali Ettefagh serves as a director of Highmore Global Corporation, an investment company in emerging markets of Eastern Europe, CIS, and the Middle East. He is the co-author of several books on trade conflict, resolution of international trade disputes, conflicts in letters of credit, trade-related banking transactions, sovereign debt, arbitration and dispute resolutions and publications specific to the oil and gas, communication, aviation and finance sectors. Dr. Ettefagh is a member of the executive committee and the board of directors of The Development Foundation, an advisor to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and an advisor to a number of European companies. Dr. Ettefagh speaks Persian (Farsi), English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic and Turkish.
Blaming China, al-Qaeda, a dead Iraqi dictator or fabricated “enemies”, demands for cheap oil or talk about gay marriages will not replace the estimated $2 trillion froth on American asset values.
William M. Gumede is Associate Editor at Africa Confidential. He is Research Fellow at the School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He recently released the bestselling book Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC.
The long-term solution still lies with strengthening the powers of financial regulatory institutions and central banks to curb irresponsible financial behavior.
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