The rules no longer apply. The biggest challenge facing the new EU is the growing threat to the international economic order. From banking to free movement of people and goods to international law and trade, bilateral alliances and unilateral moves have undermined existing structures. As Brexit heats up, a new 2-part series from trade expert Eoin Gahan will explore its trade and investment prospects.

If Brexit happens, the UK will not be in a strong position to face global challenges. Lagging in trade openness and innovation, and facing a divergent regulatory environment and declining foreign investment, the UK will struggle to re-negotiate trade deals with global partners. Conversely, as the influence of the EU moves east, increased political coherence could benefit the Euro and EU financial sector.

Much debate surrounds the choice of indicator used to determine economic performance and stage of development for governments, businesses and citizens.

Why do urban centres thrive despite serious social problems such as crime and pollution? Cities represent the triumph of diversity over uniformity, bringing together many complementary skills and inputs to foster complex economic activities.

Shrouded in secrecy, and acting outside established international channels for trade negotiation, will the Trans Pacific Partnership further marginalise smaller and less developed nations in their quest to secure a place in the global marketplace?

Following a period of relative prosperity, the survival of liberal democratic capitalism is threatened by the prolonged economic slump that set in after the 2008 banking crisis. It turns out that the case for a free market system is undermined by commonly observed scale economies; producing uneven development and inequality.

Catastrophe models are an emerging tool for governments, NGOs and international aid agencies to assess and prepare for the risks posed by natural disasters.

One in six of the world’s population live in rural areas, and suffer from poor health - especially chronic diseases caused by infection with parasitic diseases now known as ‘Neglected Tropical Diseases’ or NTDs.

Increasingly affluent and powerful female consumers in China and India are expected stimulate extraordinary growth – and deliver growth to the companies that serve them.

According to the International Monetary Fund, seven of the ten fastest growing economies over the next five years will be in Africa, a figure which is starting to capture the attention of both private and institutional investors.

Mathematical models for finance evolved radically from about 1900, when Bachelier applied Brownian motion as an underlying process to derive option prices.