Markets

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...

This is set to be one of the most important weeks of the year. EM is likely to take a backseat between the ECB monetary policy decision, the OPEC meeting, and the US jobs report. That said there are several...

These are tiring times for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib has so far managed to stay in power despite the flurry of attacks on his leadership. Political debacles have almost cost Najib his prime ministership and the popularity of...

In the EM equity space, Hungary (+2.3%), Korea (+2.0%), and Malaysia (+1.2%) have outperformed over the last week, while China (-5.8%), Turkey (-5.6%), and Poland (-3.4%) have underperformed.  To put this in better context, MSCI EM fell -1.8% over the...

The US dollar is firm against the major currencies and nearly all the emerging market currencies as well to close out the week (and month) Participants are clearly focused on next week's events, and in particular, the prospect of additional...

Africa’s natural environments and spectacular wildlife are about to face their biggest challenge ever. In a paper published today in Current Biology, my colleagues and I assess the dramatic environmental changes driven by an infrastructure-expansion scheme so sweeping in scope...

Energy is probably Japan’s greatest vulnerability, both in environmental terms and in assured sources of supply. Japan’s long-run energy policy is simple — obtain stable supplies at low cost — but implementation is complex in what is a global, dynamic,...

EM starts the week on an uncertain footing. Commodity prices were off sharply until comments by Saudi Arabia lifted them, reversing the trend in commodity-sensitive assets. The dollar is also back on the rise, pressuring EM FX even as a...