Foreign Affairs

Maduro Moves Up

Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s anointed heir, is expected to cruise to victory in Venezuela’s upcoming presidential elections. But the easy part ends there. Once in office, Maduro will face a dysfunctional economy, high crime, and the broken political system Chávez left behind.

The Fall and Rise of the West

While the grim effects of the 2008 financial crisis still resonate across the globe, the recession wasn’t all bad: it triggered fundamental economic restructuring, and the result is a U.S. economy poised to emerge stronger than it was before. Although it’s too soon to say with certainty, even Europe may come out ahead.

The urban poor and unemployed youth continue to take to the streets in Egypt.

Back Street’s Back

The protestors taking to Egypt’s streets are overwhelmingly male, urban, and destitute. They do not have the time or patience to wait for the democratic process to fix their country and its flailing economy. In desperation, they might usher in a second revolution — this one an uprising of the poor.

Prosperity Isn’t Free — The Fair Way Down the Fiscal Cliff

To get out of its economic hole, the United States needs to cut spending and increase revenue. But policymakers must not let new taxes harm low-income working families, who have the fewest resources to contribute to reducing the deficit anyway.

America the Undertaxed — U.S. Fiscal Policy in Perspective

Compared with other developed countries, the United States has very low taxes, little income redistribution, and an extraordinarily complex tax code. If it wanted to, the government could raise taxes without crippling growth or productivity. Tax reform is ultimately a political choice, not an economic one — a statement about what sort of society Americans want.

Indebted Dragon:The Risky Strategy Behind China’s Construction Economy

Financing the Middle Kingdom’s recent building boom has been expensive: Estimates put local government debt alone at between $800 billion and $2 trillion, or around 13 to 36 percent of GDP. If the real estate bubble pops, financial and social crises will follow.

Have you been following the debate on the future of Europe? In the magazine and online, we have published a wide range of viewpoints from leading experts.

Read the full collection of Foreign Affairs coverage now, and get all sides of the story.

All the President’s Central Bankers

Regardless of who wins the 2012 U.S. presidential election, President Barack Obama will end his first term having decisively shaped U.S. monetary policy for at least the next two decades. Thanks to lucky timing, by the end of 2012 Obama will have either appointed or reappointed every single one of the seven members of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, including its chairman, Ben Bernanke. With each governor set to serve a 14-year term, they will ensure Obama’s long-term impact on the U.S. economy.

Until recently, there seemed plenty of reasons to be bullish on Brazil. Having posted record growth for a decade and weathered the financial crisis well, the country looked poised to become a global economic leader. But the would-be giant stands on feet of clay. The economy depends too much on high commodity prices, and as demand falls, so may Brazil. Read the full essay from our upcoming issue.