With current economic prospects bleak, the only way to eradicate hunger and poverty by 2030 is to implement well-designed social protection and scale up pro-poor investments.

With the U.S. oil production falling, and speculators sensing an opportunity to strengthen price increases, Saudi Arabia's bet of not cutting production seems to have worked as oil prices rise.

While it was presumed the developing world, especially the more prominent emerging markets, were less prone to price deflation, data from China and India show trends of declining producer prices.

Recent social and political trends in the US and in parts of Europe point to the regressive tendencies that seek to recreate a past that seems less complicated, but manages to intensify unhappiness.

The decline in primary commodity prices over the
past four years particularly last year, shows that financialisation of commodities has amplified and exaggerated instabilities and fluctuations.

For a robust global economic recovery there is the need of a coordinated policy response that must involve international cooperation and commitment to sustainable development.

A sense of reversal of colonial roles might have played a role in Tata Steel's acquisition of the British steel giant, but the Indian conglomerate seems to have overreached itself.

Substantial accumulation of bad debt in the domestic banking systems of India and China seems to be proving too heavy a burden to bear when the good times are disappearing.

With interest rates and bond yields turning negative in many developed countries, the efficacy of monetary policy as a countercyclical instrument is in question.