On Monday, the world marked International Women’s Day. As a husband and father of strong, wonderful women, I am always very much aware of the occasion. But as the Vice President responsible for the gender portfolio at the World Bank, women’s day became a powerful reminder of all the things we still need to do in the quest for gender equality.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Each day in recent weeks has brought new evidence of troubles in the once stalwart “trans-Atlantic relationship,” the outdated misnomer for ties between Washington and its major Western European partners: Britain, France, Germany and more recently, the European Union. Disputes and slights – some real, some imagined – have led to speculation about a drift in a relationship that dominated (and indeed founded) most of the global institutions of the second half of the 20th century. While few see any evidence of an actual rivalry between the two sides, it’s possible that the combined damage to the relationship caused by the 2003 Iraq War and then the global financial crisis in 2008 has altered the way the major players view each other. In particular, hopes that maturing EU institutions could simplify this relationship so far remain unfulfilled. Ties between various individual European states and Washington vary greatly, with Poland and the Baltic states on the warm end and an increasingly disgruntled Turkey and bellicose Russia on the other.

With monetary authorities around the world preparing for their exit, there are fears in some circles that a new Armageddon is in sight. Volatility could shoot up, it is argued, as investors try to figure out the impact of a synchronous global tightening on their respective asset classes—let alone the difference between, say, the effective fed funds rate and the interest on excess reserves!

After the financial and banking crisis of 2007/2008, the year of 2010 will certainly be dominated by the following global macroeconomic themes:

a) the growing importance in the world economy of Brazil, Russia, India and China – the so-called BRIC countries – with excellent perspectives, as far as their impact on world economic growth is concerned;

b) the dangerous fiscal and/or balance-of-payments situation of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain – the so-called PIIGS countries – bringing serious risks for the world economy, including a renewed credit crunch;

c) the contradictory economic policies of the G-5 “big” economies ( US, UK, Germany, Japan and France).

The elections in Iraq on March 7, 2010, are likely to serve as an important indicator of the prospects for a resolution of the long-running dispute over the administration of the ethnically mixed and resource-rich province of Kirkuk in the north of the country.

Finally, some good news. We recently surveyed CFOs of 620 companies in the U.S. and nearly 800 in Europe and Asia and found some encouraging signs. U.S. finance chiefs are finally loosening the purse strings: capital spending is expected to rise 9 percent, and tech spending, R&D, and advertising should all increase by about 4 percent. These are the largest expected increases in several years and indicate that the business sector has bottomed out and is improving. As further evidence, public U.S. companies expect earnings to increase by 14 percent.

With Yemen’s oil revenues plunging, the government’s push into the gas market seemed like an economic saving grace for a state wracked by poverty and terrorism, but analysts warn more thought should be given to carving out the country's post-petroleum era.

Recent revelations that Greece used derivatives to disguise its true level of borrowing have surprised markets. The reaction is reminiscent of Captain Renault (played by Claude Rains) in Casablanca: "I am shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here."

Global manufacturing activity continued to expand in February, albeit at a slightly weaker pace than in January. At 55.2, down slightly from 56.1 in January, the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted its second highest reading in almost four years. The average reading so far in Q1 2010 (55.7) is above that for Q4 of last year (54.2). The headline Manufacturing PMI has now remained above the no-change mark of 50.0 for eight successive months.

Crude oil broke through the $80 a barrel ceiling repeatedly during the week but kept falling back as hedge funds placed big bets on the Euro’s decline.

The fiscal drama in Greece held global markets hostage much of the week as worries about the impact of the Greek crisis on the euro outweighed comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke about continued low interest rates in the U.S., pushing the euro down against the dollar and damping crude prices.