Markets

It is a common refrain of political strategists that, you should not let a good crisis go to waste. Seven years on from the beginnings of the global financial crisis, we can make an assessment whether one followed that maxim....

The major big business lobby groups have largely welcomed this week’s innovation statement, getting behind its support for entrepreneurs. One wonder why they care since it primarily focuses on research institutes and startups, with which they hardly interact. “Australia’s innovation...

A civil war has raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than 15 years, resulting in the deaths of millions and displacing millions more. A civil war has raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than...

Discussions of sex in Japan typically spotlight the extremes of the social landscape: from the hypersexualised (2D girlfriends, hug cafes, erotic manga) to the sexless. Gender is skimmed with reference to ‘herbivore men’ and ‘parasite singles’. However, beyond the salacious...

The US dollar continues its mixed performance.  The fragile stability of commodity prices today is not lending much support to the Australian and New Zealand dollars though the Canadian dollar is flat after yesterday's slide. The euro has pushed above...

China’s economy has entered a ‘new normal’, slower growth pattern. In addition, consumption is touted to play a more significant role in boosting economic development. The potential is large. However, if it has to be achieved, the Chinese government needs...

EM starts the week off in the familiar position of coming under pressure.  The strong US jobs report has all but cemented a Fed lift-off this month, helping the dollar to claw back some of its post-ECB losses.  Meanwhile, commodities...

Economists expected China's reserves to fall by around $33 bln in November.  Instead, they fell by a little more than $87 bln.   This is the third largest decline it has recorded, and a little below the $94 bln drop reported...

1) The Chinese yuan will be in the SDR.  2) Brazil had one of the most important weeks of the year, and possibly of its history. 3) Russia enacted sanctions against Turkey, while Turkey got a deal from the EU....

The federal government has hit a major roadblock in its plan to bring in new rules governing superannuation funds, with four independent senators refusing to support the related bill. The proposed legislation was widely seen as targeting industry super funds,...

Chinese firms have invested in natural resources in low- and middle-income countries on a global scale. These include mining operations and large hydropower dams. Often these projects have environmental and social implications. There are a range of reasons for these...

When the public thinks of innovation, it’s usually in the realm of blue-sky thinking and new inventions. In the world of transport, innovation evokes images of 600 kilometre per hour trains in Japan, or two-person aerial transit pods in Israel,...

Back in February 2005, Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai was re-elected with a bumper majority. However, as Thaksin consolidated ever more power, his opponents became anxious. The Democrat Party worried that it would never again control the levers of government,...

Canada reported its monthly GDP estimate for September, and at the same time, provided its first estimate of Q3 GDP.   The Great Graphic, created on Bloomberg, shows both time series. The yellow line depicts the monthly GDP and the quarterly...

China has a problem. No, not Donald Trump trying to savage it any time he comes within three feet of a microphone. It’s that enormous social shifts in recent years – like the forcible relocation of 250 million people from...