Markets

The greatest risk to the divergence theme is not that the BOJ and ECB would abandon their unorthodox monetary policy.  It was that the consensus would swing against ideas that the Federal Reserve would raise rates near mid-year. The greatest...

On the usual measures of economic prosperity, Singapore went from strength to macroeconomic strength in 2014. Real economic growth was between 2.5 and 3.5 percent for the year. The IMF forecast the world economy in October to have grown at...

The impact investing space is growing in Africa and could be the trigger this developing continent needs for faster sustainable development. As the MDGs are being replaced by the SDGs in 2015, new development concepts and policies are being floated...

After a year of solid achievement on the economic front, Malaysia’s leaders will face difficult circumstances as they implement reform in 2015.One of the more impressive achievements of the Malaysian government in 2014 was the resolve it demonstrated in trying...

The US dollar is slightly softer amid last minute position adjustments ahead of the US jobs data.  After the outsized 321k increase in nonfarm payrolls in November, expect a more trend-like report today. The November report skewed the three-month average...

Predicting oil price movements is as risky as exploring for oil itself. The average price for crude fell 10.3% from the start of 2014 to the date of the Scottish independence referendum on September 18. It fluctuated over this period...

Over the last week, Russia (+10%), China (+1.7%), and the Philippines (+0.3%) have outperformed in the EM equity space as measured by MSCI, while Colombia (-7.0%), Hungary (-6.7%), and Czech Republic (-5.4%) have underperformed.  To put this in better context,...

For Vietnam’s leadership, 2014 was another year of growing into a role as an increasingly active international player, both diplomatically and economically. Two events — the Haiyang 981 oilrig incident and TPP accession negotiations — gave Vietnam a place in...

The emphatic victory of Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the December 2014 lower house election masks a quiet power shift toward liberal-centre forces, away from nationalist right-wing forces. What this shift portends is a crucial question...

Oil prices have continued to slide.  Brent briefly traded below $50.  WTI is below $48.  Both have fallen about 10% this week.  Prices are stabilizing in late morning in Europe.  However, unlike yesterday, the fall in oil prices is not...

After Greek elections, Brussels and Berlin can no longer shun the issue of debt relief. Before the New Year, the Hellenic parliament rejected the nominee of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras for president. In accordance with the Greek constitution, a general election...

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...

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...

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...

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...