In The News

Singapore Hooked on External Demand

Eddie Lee February 17, 2004
Singapore's foreign currency reserves jumped 17% in the last year, an increase not seen since before the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. Other countries in the region have also seen large increases due to substantial trade surpluses, which may suggest that the Asian economy is on firmer ground. Previously, large foreign reserves in Southeast Asia were the result of foreign capital...

Asian Central Banks Consider Alternatives to Big Dollar Holdings

Phillip Day February 5, 2004
South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, China and Japan say they plan to shift out of US treasuries. The reasons vary: for some bankers, Treasuries are not bringing the required rate of return, particularly with a depreciating dollar; for others, now is a good time to pay down debt or help finance domestic industry. But given their large holdings, Asian countries need to ensure that any sell-off does not...

Bull in a China Shop?

David Dapice December 1, 2003
As the election calendar heats up in the US, the Republican Bush administration and the Democrats' presidential hopefuls are all fingering China as the culprit behind America's economic woes. A rise in imports from China and a sharp decline in manufacturing jobs are the 'evidence' they point to, says economist David Dapice, but their theories simply don't hold water....

Japan Has Some Bold Ideas for Talks with ASEAN

Anthony Rowley November 26, 2003
After China's president made his successful ASEAN trip last month, Japan is now gearing up for December's ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit meeting in Tokyo, as well as a meeting of Asean+3 finance ministers early next year. To push further for a common Asian bond market is one of the priorities for Japan at these meetings, says this article in Singapore's Business Times, but Prime...

A Winter of Discontent?

Robert A. Kapp November 3, 2003
The recent trade and currency disputes between the United States and China have given some in Washington the impression that a crisis is developing in US-China relations. The entire US Congress seems to be raging about China's unfair trade policies and manipulation of its currency. Robert A. Kapp, the President of the US-China Business Council, says here that the current stable US-China...

The Fine Art of China-Bashing

Neil King Jr. October 31, 2003
As the Bush administration pushes even harder on China to revalue the yuan, the real motivations behind the "China-bashing" by US officials remain shady. Is the administration's rhetoric really meant to "help U.S. manufacturers compete against Chinese companies", ask the authors, "or just help U.S. politicians score points with anxious voters"? When the US...

We Have to Make Globalization Work for All

Joseph Stiglitz October 17, 2003
Why has globalization gained such a bad reputation? It was once the phenomenon supposed to 'save' the world system and provide a framework for global equality and integration. So is the concept inherently flawed, or does the fault lie with the implementation of policies? Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz asks these questions and reflects on what went wrong with globalization during the...