Steve H . Hanke
Prof. Hanke served as a Senior Economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981-82, a Member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers in Maryland in 1976-77, and a Senior Advisor to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress in 1984-88. He has been an adviser to five foreign heads of state and five foreign cabinet ministers and held a cabinet-level rank in both Lithuania and Montenegro. He has been awarded seven honorary doctorate degrees, and is an Honorary Professor at four foreign institutions. He was President of Toronto Trust Argentina in Buenos Aires in 1995, when it was the world’s best-performing mutual fund. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. in Amsterdam.
In 1998, he was named one of the twenty-five most influential people in the world by World Trade Magazine In 2020, Prof. Hanke was named a “Knight of the Order of the Flag” by Albanian President Ilir Meta.
Articles
Currency War with China: 1934 and 2019
Today’s currency war with China promises to deliver what currency wars always deliver: instability and uncertainty.
Public infrastructure: Welcome to the world of waste, fraud, and abuse
This article appeared in the December 2016 issue of Globe Asia Economic policy is subject to fads and fashions. The most recent economic-policy fad is public infrastructure. Its advocates include progressives on the “left” – like President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders – and populists on the “right” – like President-elect Trump. They tell us to…
The twists and turns of the greenback
This article appeared in the November 2016 issue of Globe Asia. At a monetary conference in Vienna back in 2014, the distinguished Frenchman, friend, and occasional collaborator Jacques de Larosière proclaimed that the current world monetary order should be termed an “anti-system.” He has a point – an important point. Among other things, such an anti-system…
Enhance prosperity and improve health: Slash regulations, please
This article appeared in Globe Asia. Productivity and economic growth continue to surprise on the downside in most countries. While there is a great deal of handwringing over the so-called productivity puzzle, little attention is given to the real elixir: freer markets and more competition. Indeed, the policy tide is moving in the opposite direction in…
On the Italian and eurozone doomsday scenario
This article appeared in the June 2016 issue of Globe Asia. On June 23rd, the voters in the United Kingdom (UK) turned a collective thumbs-down on the European Union (EU). The Brexit advocates – the ones who had had enough of the EU’s mandates and regulations – won the day. But, this is only the first…
Venezuela vs. Ecuador (Chavismo vs. Chavismo Dolarizado)
This article appeared in the July 2016 issue of Globe Asia. With the arrival of President Hugo Chávez in 1999, Venezuela embraced Chavismo, a form of Andean socialism. In 2013, Chávez met the Grim Reaper and Nicolás Maduro assumed Chávez’ mantle. Chavismo has not been confined to Venezuela, however. A form of it has been adopted by…
On the price of oil
This article appeared in the June 2016 issue of Globe Asia. Since its high of almost $108/bbl in June of 2014, we have witnessed a stunning collapse in the price of oil. Indeed, in February 2016, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at $26/bbl, a 76 percent plunge from the June 2014 highs.…
Monetary policies misunderstood
Ever since the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) began to consider raising the federal funds rate, which it eventually did in December 2015, a cottage industry has grown up around taper talk. Will the Fed raise rates, or won’t it? Each time a consensus congeals around the answer to that question, all the world’s markets either…
The Hong Kong dollar, rock solid
The currency speculators are restless, again. Many, like George Soros and Kyle Bass, are reportedly taking aim at the Hong Kong dollar (HKD). HKD bear circles think China’s renmimbi (RMB) will lose value against the U.S. dollar (USD) as China’s economy slows down and capital flight from China continues. This, it is asserted, will put pressure…
Economic headwinds: Big players, regime uncertainty and the Misery Index
Before we delve into the economic prospects for 2016, let’s take a look at the economies in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East/Africa to see how they fared in the 2014-15 period. A clear metric for doing this is the misery index. For any country, a misery index score is simply the sum…
