Old menaces reappear

Rocketing international oil prices, which topped $100 a barrel on Wednesday, are not a new danger to the world economy, but they come as a stark reminder of how little the international community has done to address long-term challenges while focusing excessively on short-term measures to cope with the world's present problems.

From Davos to Paris, the global elite and policymakers have ostensibly failed to recognize the looming risk of the double whammy of record food prices and soaring oil prices.

It is high time to make a quick review of the effect of measures that different countries adopted to fight the global recession. If the world economy is to avoid a double-dip, those stimulus measures of dubious short-term benefits but serious long-term consequences must be ended now.