Following the path-breaking work of Coase (1960), economists have recognised the complex issues of managing jointly owned and utilised properties, so-called commons. Increasingly we see this as a problem of externalities, as with public goods. We recognise the wide range of occurrences, ranging from small public sites – visualise an overcrowded public park – to worldwide issues, like global warming, and we observe the diverse ways in which these resources are being managed or mismanaged. This article suggests that the global economy is also a commons, one whose management poses special challenges. The current world situation suggests the urgent need to recognise this fact and to devise ways to reconcile the interests of various participants in an increasingly integrated global economy.

Recently questions have been raised about the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus policies, and about whether stimulus to a recessionary economy should be in the form of tax cuts or expenditure increases. This paper evaluates alternative empirical approaches to measuring the impact of fiscal policy and presents new results based on simulations of a large econometric model of the US economy.

The US economic stimulus has not been more effective because, large as it is, it has not been sufficient to offset the impact of a serious recession and because it has been phased in slowly. Multiplier simulations and other studies suggest that the recession would have been considerably more serious in the absence of the economic stimulus programme.

Putting aside the legacy of its unique history, Vietnam has achieved an excellent growth record. But it is still far behind the leading East Asian economies. We consider the Vietnamese growth strategy in light of the controversies about ‘accumulation vs assimilation’ and ‘non-intervention vs governing the market’. We discuss the changes that are occurring as a result of the actions of the still large state-owned sector, and as a result of growing private domestic and FDI-led entrepreneurship. Policy options for directing economic development are today influenced by Vietnam’s participation in AFTA and WTO. Trade links with China, Japan and the US also influence the direction of Vietnamese development.

The Report of the Commission on Economic Performance and Social Progress considers the issues of establishing a broader measure of human well-being than the per capita GDP currently used. The report evaluates the possibilities for expanding the GDP concept and other measures of well-being, and for evaluating sustainability. The Commission recognises that it will not be possible to rely on one measure, recommending the use of a dashboard of various measures, including adjusted net saving.

Globalisation has gone a long way towards freeing individual economies from their resource and technology constraints. But, paradoxically, as large economies grow, their need for resources may strain availability on a worldwide basis, causing commodity prices to rise, with adverse consequences for inflation, trade balance and growth. This paper is concerned with recent developments, focusing particularly on the petroleum market. The recent upsurge and collapse of world petroleum prices reflects underlying demand and supply conditions, augmented by speculative behaviour. Even though petroleum prices have declined as the world economy has gone into recession, the conflict between growth of demand for petroleum and resource availability may reappear during the recovery phase of the cycle.

The world financial crisis of 2008 is a consequence of new financial technologies, new accounting methods and new international linkages. These developments have come at a time when governments have returned to an old-fashioned free market philosophy. This paper links the systemic financial/economic crisis of 2008 to the new economy developments, globalisation and policy philosophy perspectives of recent decades. It raises the question of how to re-establish confidence once traditional thinking has been questioned.

The rapid globalization of the world economy is causing fundamental changes in patterns of trade and finance. Some economists have argued that globalization has arrived and that the world is “flat”. While the geographic scope of markets has increased, the author argues that new patterns of trade and finance are a result of the discrepancies between “old” countries and “new”. As the differences are gradually wiped out, particularly if knowledge and technology spread worldwide, the traditional theoretical Heckscher and Ohlin comparative advantage basis for trade will fade. Trading relationships in the "new" economy will be based on the locational theories of the new economic geography.