Global Trade & Economy

The dual risks of an economic and environmental meltdown could combine in the near future to form a “perfect global storm,” the World Economic Forum warned Tuesday in its annual report on global risks.

This year's report by a panel of more than 1,000 experts from around the world concluded that “severe income disparity” was the most likely global risk over the next decade, with “major systemic financial failure” the risk with the highest impact if it were to manifest itself. “Chronic fiscal imbalances” and “rising greenhouse gas emissions” were rated the second and third most-likely risks.

Crippling sanctions targeting Iran's energy sector are a bonanza for Russia's oil and gas industries, a key lawmaker warned Wednesday.

Many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are heavily reliant on imports for their energy needs. In the wake of U.S.-led sanctions aimed at Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, Russia has been filling the gap, the outgoing chairman of the House Foreign Affairs panel on Europe and Eurasia said Wednesday.

“Sanctions are an essential tool in our continued attempts to isolate the Iranian regime,” Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) said at a hearing on the Iranian threat to the South Caucasus and surrounding region. “However, we must recognize that for many countries in this subcommittee's jurisdiction, decreasing consumption of Iranian energy means increasing consumption of Russian energy.

“Such a chain reaction is not in the national interest of the United States.”

The move comes as Congress looks to shield U.S. airlines from Europe's greenhouse gas rules.

The U.S. financial industry is growing increasingly concerned that a European push to establish a tax on financial transactions could end up on American shores.

The group of investment and business lobbies warned Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday that while they appreciated the Obama administration's "sensible" opposition to such a tax, a growing movement in Europe to impose one could throw fragile markets off kilter.

"Global markets remain in a fragile state with many economies experiencing historic levels of unemployment and unusually slow recoveries," they wrote. "Now is not the time to experiment with policies that experience tells us will impede growth, fragment markets, increase market volatility, destroy savings and encourage uneconomic tax-motivated decisionmaking."

Foreign carmakers with ties to Iran would not be eligible for U.S. government contracts or financial assistance under proposed legislation.

Almost three out of four young adults in the crucial battleground state of Ohio are concerned China is taking over their jobs, according to a new poll from the conservative-leaning Generation Opportunity.

The poll found that 73 percent of 18-to-29 year-olds told pollsters they were concerned that “so many American jobs are going to foreign competitors like China.” They blamed China's lower wages first and foremost (78 percent), but also taxes on U.S. businesses (38 percent), government regulations (30 percent) and “lack of opportunity” to start and grow businesses in the United States (28 percent).

“China is a very important issue to young adults across the country, especially among those living in Ohio, because they view China as either or both an economic and military competitor to the United States,” Generation Opportunity President Paul Conway said in a statement accompanying the poll.

The ad running in Ohio repeats a disputed claim that Chrysler is moving production of its Jeep brand to China.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will make the case Thursday that “energy diplomacy” is central to U.S. foreign policy.

The Wall Street Journal got a look at the speech that Clinton will give Thursday afternoon at Georgetown University.

“Today, energy cuts across the entirety of U.S. foreign policy. It is a matter of national security and global stability. It is at the heart of the global economy. It's an issue of democracy and human rights,” Clinton intends to say, the paper reported. “It has been a top concern of mine as secretary. And it is sure to be the same for the next secretary of State.”

Clinton is “expected to stress the role that U.S. energy production, coupled with U.S. diplomatic efforts, has played in ratcheting up sanctions on Iran,” the Journal reports.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The International Monetary Fund offered its bleakest assessment for world growth prospects since the 2009 recession in its World Economic Outlook report, released today. The report lowers the forecast for world GDP growth to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2013. [The Wall Street Journal] 

Brennan visits Tripoli: President Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, arrives in Libya today to meet with top Libyan officials as the White House ponders how to go about finding and punishing those responsible for the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. [The Washington Post]

Africa hand: U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon formally unveiled former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi as his choice to be special envoy to the Sahel region during a visit to Paris today. Western African states are seeking U.N. backing for military action to throw out Islamist militants who have taken over the northern half of Mali. [Reuters]

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to stray into the presidential campaign on Monday saying she has been "preaching" around the world about fair taxation, especially concerning "elites."

Early on in her speech, Clinton stressed that she was "out of politics now." She then said on visits to other countries she regularly stresses the importance of a fair tax code.

"One of the issues I have been preaching about around the world is collecting taxes in an equitable manner, especially from elites around the world," Clinton said at a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative according to The Guardian. "It is a fact that around the world the elites of every country are making money.

"There are rich people everywhere, and yet they do not contribute to their growth of their own countries."