DEAR READER
APRIL 2011 | VOL.25 NO. 4
The events that have occurred during the past few weeks demonstrated once again the interdependence between world economies and world markets. Tragic developments like the earthquake in Japan and the nuclear accident that followed took center stage after weeks of worries and uncertainty over the political future of several Middle Eastern and North African countries. These occurrences brought back uncertainty and volatility not only in the financial markets but in many industrialized nations now grappling with new and momentous issues, such as economic recovery and inflation.
The core mission of
Global Finance
is to focus on these issues, not only new ones, but also the less-known realities. And this mission endures, as it has since 1987. Over the 23 years of its existencethanks to the pioneering work of all my predecessors from Carl Burgen to Dan Keeler, who is now editor at large of this magazine
Global Finance
has focused on emerging and frontier markets well before and in more depth than any of its peer publications.
I hope to follow the same route, and somehow improve on it. After working nearly 30 years in newspapers and the financial news business, editing a monthly magazine will allow me to more deeply analyze the different players and economies on a real-world scale. We do not claim the ability to always provide our readers with definitive answers to global issues. However, we strive to empower them with increasingly accurate reports and tools that will facilitate their work. It is our ambition to ultimately become their platform of choice for the debate of global issues.
For this reason, in this issue Michael Shari focuses on the effects on world economies of $100-a-barrel oil prices, Justin Keay travels to the Middle East to cover the developments in the regions financial sector for our special supplement, Jonathan Gregson looks at the effects that rising commodities prices have on countries in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Central Asia, and Anita Hawser provides an update on political risk coverage.
All the stories in this issue, as in the world of global finance itself, are part of the same narrative. And, in line with our tradition, we also present our annual survey of the best investment banks in the world.
I look forward to your comments and suggestions. Feedback is a requisite for improvement.
Andrea Fiano
