Markets

25 February 2015

The BJP’s Declining Political Fortune

The tale of the recent February Delhi assembly elections shows how quickly political fortunes can decline. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recorded a landslide victory at the 2014 national elections and won a majority of seats in...

24 February 2015

Japan’s Inward FDI is Extremely Low Among Developed Nations

Japan’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is extremely low in comparison with that of other developed countries and even its Asian neighbours. Japan’s inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is extremely low in comparison with that of other developed countries and...

23 February 2015

Does Australia Have to Choose Between China and the U.S.?

Will it be China or the US? One is Australia’s largest trading partner, the other its traditional security ally. But what happens if Australia is forced to choose between them — will economics or history win out?Malcolm Fraser, the former...

23 February 2015

A Heavy Economic Data Week in the Emerging Markets

With some of the big near-term uncertainties gradually being cleared up (Greece and Ukraine), we think EM assets could get some traction this week. That said, EM FX will remain vulnerable and liable to selloffs should the dollar bullish-trend resume...

22 February 2015

Jokowi’s High Risk, High Reward Strategy for Indonesia

No more ‘business-as-usual’ is the Jokowi government’s message in the 2015 budget. Cut fuel subsidies, ramped up infrastructure spending, and rising revenues. These three steps deliver a 1.9 percent fiscal deficit, down from 2.2 percent in 2014. This leaves space...

22 February 2015

Asian Pop Culture Captures Vietnam’s Heart

An endless line of water that starts from a shallow stream, grows into a big river, and then flows into the ocean. That’s how Vietnam’s former deputy prime minister, Vu Khoan, described the progress made by Vietnam and South Korea...

17 February 2015

Checking in on ASEAN and the AEC

A pressing policy question facing Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders at their summit in April 2015 and beyond is whether the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) can be sustained without more effective institutions. This article explores the link between...

17 February 2015

China Still Seeing Growth in Small Businesses

After decades of the fastest economic growth in the world, China’s economy has started to slow down. This is perhaps inevitable, given an average annual growth rate of around 10% was sustained for almost thirty years following the economic reforms...

17 February 2015

Singapore’s Temasek Celebrates 40 Years of Development

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Temasek, one of Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), along with the Government Investment Corporation (GIC). Set up in 1974 as part of the newly independent city-state’s nation- building effort, Temasek has evolved...

16 February 2015

Preserving the EU through Compromise with Greece

As the hard talks on Greece’s bailout start again, there is no time to lose. A compromise is possible. Before the weekend, Euro group president Jeroen Djisselbloem said that “Greece wants a lot but has very little money to do that....