photo: Nicolas Raymond The similarities in the electoral appeals of businessman Donald Trump and Senator Bernie Sanders have been widely noted (see, for example, here, here and here). Both men attract voters who feel trapped in their economic status, unable to make progress either for themselves or their children. Moreover, both men have assigned the blame for the loss of […]
Trade has been a key driver of global growth, income convergence, and poverty reduction. Both developing countries and emerging market economies have benefited from opportunities to transfer technology from abroad and to undergo domestic structural transformation via trade integration in the last decades. Yet, more recently, concerns have been raised over whether the current pace […]
While the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership has potential to split Asia Pacific, it could be used as a foundation for truly free trade, along with other free trade plans in the region. Recently, the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement has been greeted with great fanfare by the U.S. foreign policy elite and mainstream media. In typical […]
The inclusion of the renminbi in the currency reserve basket is only a matter of time. It could trigger a US $1 trillion reallocation of global reserve portfolios. Before the summer, investment banks estimated that, in the medium-term, at least US$1 trillion of global reserves could switch into Chinese assets when, and if, the International […]
From the early 1980s until now China has grown at a pace not matched since the four decades Argentina enjoyed before the First World War. In spite of some fairly goofy attempts a few years ago, however, to characterize China during this period as having followed a set of policies called the “Beijing Consensus”, these […]
By Andy Tully: The dispute between Beijing and Hanoi over China’s placement of an oil rig in disputed waters has escalated over the May 26 sinking of a Vietnamese fishing boat. Vietnam’s version of the incident is that 40 Chinese vessels surrounded the Vietnamese boat in an area of the South China Sea claimed by both nations. […]
Japan reported that it imported record levels of coal and liquefied natural gas for the fiscal year that ended in March. Japan has been forced to import vast amounts of fossil fuels to make up for an energy shortfall caused by its decision to shutter nearly all of the country’s 54 nuclear reactors after the March, 2011 […]
By Dennis Botman and Zoltan Jakab (Version in 日本語) Japan’s economic progress over the past year has been impressive, with strong growth, and inflation, investment, and credit growth all heading in the right direction. But that progress is largely the result of last year’s sizable fiscal and monetary stimulus—the first two arrows of “Abenomics”. Now, the economy needs to transition […]
After half a century of isolation, Myanmar’s immediate challenge is to sustain reforms, boost foreign investment and diversify its industrial base. Unlike other Asian tigers, it must cope with a far more challenging international environment. Recent headlines from Myanmar have caused unease in the United States, Europe and Japan. While the controversies are social by […]
The carnage continued in Asia after the more than 2% drop in the S&P 500 on Monday. The Nikkei was crushed, falling 4.2%, which is the largest drop in 7-months. Consumer and industrial sectors were the hardest hit and telecoms was the only sector to escape the sell-off, positing a 0.3% gain. The dollar has fared […]