The influx of Chinese economic assistance into Sri Lanka and Cambodia has raised questions regarding the intentions behind these massive loans. While China may still be considered a developing economy, its current strategy of providing soft power loans and aid to its regional neighbours is reminiscent of the tributary system that the country employed back […]
The sheer range of known unknowns for 2017 — the outlook for China’s economy, the effect of populism on European politics, the scattergun policy-making of president-elect Donald Trump — makes a low level of uncertainty unlikely to persist. Read Here – BloombergView
It’s a bomb! A mountain! A horror movie and a treadmill to hell! To doomsayers, China’s $25 trillion pile of public and private debt is a threat to the global economy. Or maybe it’s just a manageable byproduct of the boom that created the world’s second-biggest economy. Read Here – Bloomberg
China is a good example of how an activist monetary policy can ferment bubbles, ruin the health of a financial system, economic reforms and, eventually, economic growth. Since 2004, China has run a gigantic monetary bubble that has corrupted virtually every corner of the economy. Read Here – South China Morning Post
Dumping U.S. bonds is not really an option for any country holding major positions. To the extent that the number of bonds the United States sells is a problem—and it is a problem—it is not because it gives others leverage over America. It is because it is reflective of decades of out-of-control spending, which must […]
World stock markets plunged on Monday, after a near 9 percent dive in China shares and a sharp drop in the dollar and major commodities sent investors rushing for the exits. After dropping more than 1,000 points, or almost 7 percent, at Wall Street’s open, the Dow Jones industrial average eased losses but was still off […]
Asian leaders could be excused a degree of exasperation over the ongoing Greek mess. China’s slowdown and stock-market chaos are worry enough; the last thing the export-dependent region needs is a Europe in chaos. Worse, European leaders seem intent on misreading or ignoring lessons from Asia’s own brush with collapse. Read Here – Bloomberg
In the wee hours of Monday morning, after a marathon 17-hour session, Greece finally agreed to a deal with the euro zone that would give it enough cash to start reopening its shuttered banks, pull it out of arrears, and stave off its exit from the euro. In some ways this deal (or any deal) might […]
The Sri Lankan government has cleared one more Chinese project – the expressway linking the southern port city of Hambantota with Matara, which will be the second phase of the previous Chinese-funded project that connects Matara with Colombo. This was one of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s pet projects – connecting his hometown with the capital. […]
It’s easy to moralize Greece’s feckless borrowing, weak tax collection and long history of default, and hey, go ahead; I won’t stop you. But whatever the nation’s moral failures, what we’re witnessing now shows the dangers of trying to cure the problems of weak fiscal discipline with some sort of externally imposed currency regime. Read […]
looking beyond borders 