Markets Archives - Page 527 of 782

The Part-Time Economy Consuming America

Workers on the U.S. west coast are experiencing serious challenges when it comes to landing a full-time job. This is forcing millions of Americans to languish in part-time positions, because there are no other options available. In the state of California alone, over 1.2 million people are underemployed. In total, that number equates to the same population of Oakland and San Francisco.

Some people wonder why you would live in a state that is so anti-business. This is what California has done to itself and they just raised taxes.

U.S. Services Demand Falls Despite Cheaper Oil

Despite hopes that cheaper oil would encourage more spending on other goods and services, non-manufacturing fell to its lowest growth rate since June.

Demand for non-manufacturing services in the United States, fell to 56.2 in December, lower than 59.3 in November. The employment index also fell to 56 from 56.7 in the prior month.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME): Why Internationalization Matters

Regionalism in Asia led by global value chains (GVCs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) has increasingly put the spotlight on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As one of Asia’s success stories in internationalization, Malaysia offers interesting insights. Drawing on research on Malaysian enterprises, this article examines the characteristics of SMEs which have successfully internationalized by participating in GVCs and FTAs and explores their policy implications.

Vietnam’s Political Landscape in 2015

Vietnam will begin 2015 on a fairly sound economic footing. The national economy has largely recovered from Hanoi’s ill-advised efforts to mitigate the impact of the 2009 Great Recession. That sobering experience exposed structural weaknesses which, left unfixed, could condemn Vietnam to languish in a middle-income trap, unable to realise the potential of its relatively young and well-educated population.

India’s Modi Ruling with an Old Playbook, but with Style

The story of 2014 in India was the story of Narendra Modi’s rise from chief minister of Gujarat to prime minister of India. Son of a tea stall owner and once associated with the 2002 massacre of Muslims on his watch as chief minister, Modi electrified the electorate during a six-month campaign. He led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to an absolute parliamentary majority for the first time, while reducing the long dominant Indian National Congress (INC) to a seat total too low to qualify for official parliamentary opposition status.

Weak Inflation Urges for European QE

Equities dove worldwide as inflation and oil continued to fall, prompting more analysts to urge the European Central Bank to begin its own large-scale quantitative easing program.

A Preview of What May Come in 2015

2015 might be a very important year for many economies across the globe. Last quarter of 2014, saw many fluctuations in the economic indicators of different countries. While US ended 2014 with a good performance, Russia faced double trouble with falling currency and oil prices. Satyajit Das, a former banker and author, in his article ‘How easy money has cracked the global economy’, writes that global financial markets face serious economic and non-economic risks in 2015 that are above and beyond the challenges seen in 2008.

Low Oil Prices, for too Long, May be a Bad Thing

Oil prices are tumbling with Brent approaching $51 and WTI near $48.5. This follows yesterday’s announcement by Saudi Arabia of deeper discounts next month for the US and Europe. This was a further confirmation that it adheres to its market share strategy.

The continued drop in oil prices is spurring a significant decline in bond yields. The US 10-year yield is below 2% for the first time since mid-October causing new record low yields throughout European core bonds. The German 10-year yield is below 50 bp.

A Preview of the Emerging Markets

EM has started the year by extending many of the trends present towards the end of last year. The ruble is on the defensive along with Brazilian assets, while the Shanghai Composite continues to rally. The continued fall in oil prices will also ensure that the trading dynamics of importers vs. exporters will remain intact. But soon, we will be reaching the point in which secondary impacts will start to be counted as well. For example, the potential boost to the US economy from lower oil prices could counter some of the negative effect of lower energy exports for Mexico.

‘Xiism’ May be China’s New Ideology

It became clear in 2014 that Xi Jinping was the dominant leader of China. Even President Obama recognised this at the end of the year, stating that no recent Chinese leader had consolidated power as quickly as Xi since Deng Xiaoping.