In The News

Companies Fear Radical Turn in Argentina

Benedict Mander August 25, 2014
Argentina has defaulted on its bonds twice since 2001. The country had settled with most bondholders, but the terms of some loans required disputes settled in US courts. A US judge sided with the minority, ruling that Argentina could not avoid the holdouts. A defiant Argentina swiftly responded with a swap plan to continue paying most creditors, but not the holdouts. Foreign firms doing business...

Banks Cash In on Inversion Deals Intended to Elude Taxes

Andrew Ross Sorkin August 6, 2014
Big investment banks are financing merger deals that encourage US corporations to relocate headquarters overseas to dodge US taxes. The banks anticipate “nearly $1 billion in fees over the last three years advising and persuading American companies to move the address of their headquarters abroad (without actually moving),” reports Andrew Ross Sorkin, editor of DealBook for the New York Times....

China Plays a Big Role as US Treasury Yields Fall

Min Zeng July 18, 2014
China has stepped up its purchases in the U.S. treasury market – that despite tensions and expectations that the country would pull back. “The Chinese government has increased its buying of U.S. Treasury this year at the fastest pace since records began more than three decades ago, data released Wednesday show,” reports Min Zeng for the Wall Street Journal. “The buying has been fueled by China...

Hong Kong Votes, Beijing Fumes: Analysis

Dylan Loh Ming Hui July 3, 2014
A global finance capital is in turmoil over how to organize an election set for 2017. Beijing plans for universal suffrage in Hong Kong with a slate of candidates approved by a 1,200-member pro-China committee, explains Dylan Loh Ming Hui, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, in Eurasian Review. Occupy Central wants the nominating process to be open. China blasted an unofficial...

The New Casinos – Emerging Markets

Anthony Rowley July 1, 2014
Financial analysts tout the potential of emerging economies for growth and wealth creation. While progress cannot be denied, the physical, institutional and financial infrastructures of many nations remain relatively weak, explains author and editor Anthony Rowley. He describes how Wall Street relabeled about 70 developing nations, once known “third world” or “basket cases,” as “emerging markets...

Inequality and the Nature of Capital: A Reminder

Chandran Nair June 17, 2014
Complaints about inequality have taken the West by storm, and that accounts for the success of the book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by economist Thomas Piketty. Inequality is not a new topic for developing nations, notes author Chandran Nair. “Piketty, like every other economist, seeks to explain the world with reference to economic capital alone while ignoring the mother of all...

China Trades Up in Latin America

Jill Richardson June 6, 2014
Since 2000, China has become a strategic economic actor in Latin America, the top trader for Brazil, Chile and Peru. Chinese exports to Latin America have grown in volume and valuation, especially in manufacturing and electronics, but China’s huge influence comes with a cost, including volatility in the commodities markets, reports Jill Richardson for Foreign Policy in Focus. China’s trading...