Markets

EM and other risk assets rallied on Friday after the strong US jobs data.  It appears that markets are pricing in a benign backdrop for risk near-term; that is, the US economy is recovering but not by enough to warrant...

Chinese tourism around the world is experiencing a boom: the numbers of tourists are increasing and the types of tourism diversifying. However, Australia will need a more culturally sensitive approach than the catchy advertising of old to capitalise on this emerging market....

Since the election of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as the next Philippine president in a landslide victory on 9 May 2016, the regional and international media have highlighted his outrageous remarks on various sensitive topics. For instance, he backed...

Australia received a warning from Standard & Poor's (S&P) this week that it is on downgrade watch. Although the nation presently enjoys a AAA rating, the downgrade warning signals that Australia will likely soon receive a reduced rating. Australia received...

Australia’s AAA credit rating was under pressure even before the election and is now looking decidedly shaky. Australia’s AAA credit rating was under pressure even before the election and is now looking decidedly shaky. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has moved Australia’s rating outlook from...

Rodrigo Duterte took his oath of office as the 16th President of the Republic of the Philippines on 30 June 2016. Duterte’s first seven days in office signals both reassurance and change, but it also foretells the complexity of what...

Financial markets around the world are responding to current political uncertainty in both Australia and the UK by sending stocks, bonds and currencies on a rollercoaster ride.  The far-reaching implications of Brexit caused the S&P/ASX 200 volatility index (A-VIX) to spike to...

The biggest macroeconomic challenge facing Vietnam today is sustaining growth. Most doi moi-era growth has resulted either from efficiency gains associated with the introduction of a market economy (opening domestic markets and trade, relaxing restrictions on labour movement and land...

‘Brexit’, close on the heels of the shock resignation of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Raghuram Rajan, has triggered a great deal of market turbulence and future uncertainty for the Indian economy. What should India do...

The services sector dominates the Philippine economy. In 2015, it accounted for 59 percent of GDP and 54.5 percent of employment. In recent years the industry sector — which includes manufacturing and construction — has started to recover, growing faster...

A notable element of South Korea’s general elections in April 2016 was the hypervisibility of anti-gay political rhetoric, promulgated especially by the fledgling Christian Liberal Party (CLP). An ultra-conservative Protestant political party established in March 2016, the CLP ultimately failed...

Sterling is continuing to move lower.  It has tested the $1.3050 area in the North American morning, having been under pressure through the Asian session and the European morning.  That the UK economy is slowing down, materially, as BOE Governor...

EM and risk recovered nicely from the Brexit turmoil last week.  Yet we think markets are being too carried away with the "low rates forever" theme and are likely underestimating the capability of the Fed to tighten before 2018.  This...

Whatever its final impact, in the short-term the UK’s EU referendum will increase global economic uncertainty, market volatility and economic risk. In Africa, most scenarios will prove costly, particularly among those economies highly exposed to UK trade, investment, banking and...

What happened to the innovation debate in our lengthy election campaign? This was supposed to be the centrepiece of Australia’s transition to a more balanced and diversified economy. Instead the debate is once again about who can return the budget...