Markets

After intensive industrialization, growth deceleration is natural. No nation has enjoyed sustained double-digit growth after industrialization. The real test of resilience is the continued increase of Chinese living standards. After intensive industrialization, growth deceleration is natural. No nation has enjoyed...

We had been tracking the budding scandal that implicated the office of Japan's Economic Minister Amari.  We had expressed our concern earlier this week that the scandal could sap Amari's office strength and be a distraction.  However, the situation unraveled...

It has been a shaky start to 2016 for global stock markets, with substantial falls across all international markets, followed by some weak rallies. The overall decline has been partly blamed on the price of crude oil, which is hovering...

If the mass media is to be believed, Africa is hardly a continent brimming with opportunities for business. However, for some time international business commentators have been positioning the continent as the next market with significant potential. It is now...

The Philippines has performed well in the past few years relative to its peers. It demonstrated great resilience to exogenous shocks that would have undone less capable economies. However, will it be able to sustain its positive economic position? There...

The Bank of Japan meets later this week.  We do not think that it will expand its already aggressive monetary policy stance.  Given the largely operational adjustments announced last month, it seems premature to expect substantive adjustment now.  It is...

There is no doubt that China is building up its military capabilities. Nor that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe played up the threat of China, which spends three times as much as Japan does on its national defence, as a...

EM enjoyed a nice bounce to end last week. The global liquidity outlook has clearly moved in favor of EM, at least for now.  However, the overall global backdrop has not shifted in favor of EM just yet.  Bottom line: ...

1) Malaysia’s central bank kept rates steady at 3.25%, as expected, but cut bank reserve ratios from 4% to 3.5%, 2) S&P downgraded Poland one notch to BBB+ with negative outlook, 3) Brazil’s central bank did a complete about-face and...

China has posted its lowest annual GDP growth since 1990. The slowdown is seen as a major concern for some investors, but against a backdrop of disappointing consumer spending, intensifying deflationary pressures, tepid export growth, and a stock market that...

There have been a couple of notable signals about the upcoming EU referendum lately. A public opinion poll showed a clear majority lead for Brexit, then a Financial Times poll of more than 100 leading economists concluded that a vote...

When the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) decided to abolish the one-child policy in October 2015 it made headlines throughout the world. However, while the abolition of the policy is the result of the Chinese government’s...

Last year was a challenging year for South Korea’s democracy. Since the inauguration of the Park Geun-hye government in 2013, there have been a number of incidents that raise serious questions about the soundness and maturity of South Korea’s democracy....

These days, political death in China comes in two moves. The first is when the dreaded Central Discipline and Inspection Commission (CDIC) announce that you are under investigation. After that, you live on a sort of life-support machine until the...

The sudden, sharp fall of Chinese stock prices twice in 2015 and again this month does not necessarily herald a further slowdown of GDP growth. However, investor confidence, the bedrock of a healthy economy, has been shaken both in China...