THE SAVIOR OF EUROPE

WORLDVIEW (March 5, 2012) by Fareed Zakaria

The Savior of Europe. Mario Draghi just bought his continent—and the rest of the world—some breathing room.

　　Because Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank, printed about $600 billion so that Europe’s banks would be able to borrow as much money as they wanted at the rate of 1%. Thanks to the printing, European stocks had their best January in nearly 15 years. Draghi’s action is not a new model because the Federal Reserve in U.S. did the same four years ago although it was criticized by many. Japan’s central bank also printed trillions of yen to stabilize the economy after the Great Tsunami in March. The fear of inflation is justified, but it will not happen at a time when unemployment is sky-high. If the lenders of last resort had not done it, we would be discussing how to get out of a global Great Depression.
(148 words)

IS HUGO CHAVEZ IN TERMINAL DECLINE?

ESSAY (March 19, 2012) by Jorge Castaneda

Venezuela’s influential President could lose re-election if voters believe he is dying. Although the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez underwent cancer surgery in Cuba, he is campaigning for the upcoming presidential election. We do not know what sort of cancer he is suffering from, but we do now know it is grave and recurrent. If he is seriously ill, the electorate may not believe he is capable of governing for another six years. This matters for the following three reasons: (1) Chaves’s role in relation to Cuba is crucial for Cuba because Cuba depends on Venezuelan oil and subsidies. (2) Chaves’s departure from the Latin American political scene would weaken pro-Chavez governments like Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. (3) If Chavez is no longer president, Cuba, Iran, and Syria will lose a valuable and irreplaceable ally. (134 words)