In The News

China Bubble: Empty Mega Mall and Million Dollar Pooch

Vikram Mansharamani April 6, 2011
China remains one of the world’s fastest growing economies, yet numerous signs point to a speculative mania underway. While investors anticipate China’s economic growth to continue apace at 8 percent – reinforcing the flurry of demand, easy money and excessive building – a slowdown to 5 percent is not outlandish, explains Vikram Mansharamani, Yale lecturer and author of a book on spotting...

China Can Use More Copper Than World Has Now With Yang’s Stove

Fan Wenxin November 18, 2010
As China industrializes, millions move from the countryside into urban centers. The trend that began along the coast now expands cities in the interior as Chinese exporters continue a search for inexpensive labor. Urbanization and growth spur China’s standard of living with new apartments and the amenities of modern life – TVs, air conditioners, washing machines. This Bloomberg article details...

Australia Gets Money, China Gets Australia

Malcolm Knox September 20, 2010
Chinese investment and trade in Australia have grown rapidly. Australian metals and fuels flow to China to help power industrial growth. The scale involved – the costs, the tons moved each day – buoys the Australian economy during a time of global recession. Yet while most Australians deem China’s role as positive, a majority also worries about an over-reliance on such investment. While Australia...

If Only China Were More Like Japan

John Lee September 8, 2010
Rapid economic growth, an over-reliance on exports, can lead to troublesome bubbles. And national leaders are wise to strengthen institutions that provide economic security against such developments. As China overtakes Japan as the world’s second largest economy, John Lee compares the two nations for Businessweek. During Japan’s heady period of growth followed by a decade of stagnation, Lee...

Joys and Pains of a Global Paradigm Shift

Michael Casey August 27, 2010
In a world with immense wage inequality, two world views emerge, explains Michael Casey for the Wall Street Journal. Attitudes are relative, depending on whether one’s circumstances are improving or declining. Global economic power is in an ongoing shift from high-wage to low-wage nations, he argues, and if indeed deflation is underway, that represents additional hardship for the high-wage...

The Arrogance of Chinese Power

Brahma Chellaney July 2, 2010
According to CIA estimates, China has the largest population, the largest labor force, the greatest number of people fit for military service and the third largest GDP at purchasing power parity. In addition to its massive, sustained economic and military growth, the nation plays an increasingly prominent role in international relations. The US, burdened by debt and two ongoing wars, hesitates to...

Germany's Export Boom Has Trade Partners Stewing

Armin Mahler, Christian Reiermann, Wolfgang Reuter, Janko Tietz June 30, 2010
Fortunes turn quickly, and the experience of German manufacturers shows that some firms emerge from recession with renewed strength. But global trade partners that rely on deficit spending claim that German prosperity comes at others’ expense, as suggests this Spiegel Online article. Critics complain that a weak euro, German wage stability and failure to stimulate domestic demand decrease the...