Markets

Timor-Leste’s new Prime Minister, Rui Araujo, has inherited a policy of decentralising the nation’s governance. Given capacity issues, this process is unlikely to bring broader-based rural development to Timor-Leste in the short term. But, if managed effectively, greater decentralisation could...

The US March employment report makes for dismal reading.  Job growth collapsed to 126k, the least monthly total since December 2013. Adding insult to injury, there was a 69k downward revision to this year's job growth. The average workweek slipped...

China’s tax authority announced in February 2015 monitoring multinational firms more closely in an effort to crack down on tax avoidance. The policy is part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, which is a collective effort of G20...

Lee Kuan Yew leaves behind an immense legacy. As Singapore’s first statesman, Lee inadvertently became the leader of an independent city-state after Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in 1965. He led a government of very talented officials who together transformed...

Japan is facing a dual problem of an ageing population and increasing government debt. While pension payouts will balloon out in the next decade, a low tax base means that the government will struggle to finance this. In 2013, Japan’s...

After several months of tense and often antagonistic negotiations, Greece and its creditors appear to be at a stalemate. In order to receive a further bail-out funds, the Syriza government has proposed a set of reforms that in the view...

Procuring a new fleet of submarines is a daunting task for any government. The capability requirements, technological challenges, project timelines, and costs involved all make submarine procurement a complex challenge. Procuring a new fleet of submarines is a daunting task...

Lee Kuan Yew was quite simply, and unquestionably, one of the outstanding national leaders of the last hundred years. He worked on a small canvas, but what he achieved in tiny Singapore not only transformed the lives of his own...

ASEAN would benefit from stronger leadership however, Indonesia, the country best placed to take up that role, appears unwilling.  Indonesia could be the leader that ASEAN needs, but it intentionally refrains from asserting its influence over the association. This is...

The divergence meme that had the US well ahead in the global business cycle produced a virtuous cycle.  The dollar and US stocks rallied together.   However, with the dollar's appreciation spurring concern about US corporate earnings, and the negative interest...

EM currencies are starting the week under pressure again from a broad based dollar recovery. While expectations for a Fed lift-off remain in flux, the recent rebound in the dollar suggests that on a relative basis, the US economic and...

The ‘coup babies’ are the generation that were born around the years before and shortly after Fiji’s first coup of 1987. The majority of this generation voted for the first time in Fiji’s 2014 elections, after living through two coups...

Despite China’s history of experimenting with new policies and the economic liberalisation since the late 1980s, China is still only a partially integrated economy. This has caused regional divergence and inequality. Now, as the Chinese economy begins to slow down,...

When the Australian Office of Financial Management borrowed A$4.25 billion for 20 years at an interest rate of just 2.865% this week, economic commentator Peter Martin called it “the deal of the century”. Governments issue bonds to raise funds to...

Gaining momentum since 2006, the impact investing concept is now 9 years old but it is yet to be well established in many emerging markets including East Africa. As opposed to the maturity expected of an industry after such a...