In The News

The Way Forward

Nayan Chanda June 2, 2014
India’s citizens are greeting new Prime Minister Narendra Modi with great expectations to revive a lagging economy. Modi’s decisive win was based on a pro-business, pro-development, pro-growth agenda. “Ironically, one policy measure that is all ready to be implemented and could prove a game changer for the country is also the one that the BJP election manifesto is dead set against — FDI in multi-...

Up to 21 Dead, Doctor Says, As Anti-China Riots Spread in Vietnam

May 15, 2014
China tugged a massive drilling rig to the disputed waters in the South China Sea, which led to confrontations between Chinese and Vietnamese coast guard vessels. Peaceful protests deteriorated into riots and violence in Vietnam with thousands setting fire to foreign factories believing them to be Chinese-owned.More than 450 companies reported damage, despite Vietnam’s strict controls. Taiwanese...

Emerge, Splurge, Purge

March 7, 2014
Multinational makers of phones, cars, beverages, and household products of all types have long eyed the emerging markets – the “geography seduced everyone,” suggests the Economist. Then the US Federal Reserve announced in mid-2013 that it would reduce bond purchases. Currencies of emerging economies in India, Turkey and South Africa fell in value along with a drop in consumer demand. The...

Why Chinese-Japanese Economic Relations Are Improving

Richard Katz January 9, 2014
Despite heated political and online rhetoric, trade between China and Japan continues to grow. “In short, China has started to delink economics from politics,” no longer encouraging boycotts or protests in a quest for territorial concessions, explains Richard Katz for Foreign Affairs. “Chinese-Japanese economic relations (but not political ties) are set to get better, not worse.” The Chinese...

Paying the China Price

Nayan Chanda November 15, 2013
Manufacturing that adapts to new technologies and conditions shapes societies and economies. The challenge for India and other countries is competing with China’s low costs. Nayan Chanda, YaleGlobal’s editor in his column for Businessworld, describes how business people place manufacturing orders with China and then reap the profits by re-selling readymade goods or assembling components with big...

Singapore Foreigner Curbs Target Professionals

Sharon Chen September 27, 2013
Singapore’s unemployment rate is 2.1 percent, near full employment, according to economists, but that’s too high for some. The nation will set up a job bank and require companies to advertise jobs to Singaporeans before pursuing work visas for foreign professionals. Exempt are businesses with fewer than 25 employees and jobs that pay less than US$30,000 or more than $140,000. The move reflects...

The Politics of Palm Oil

Pavin Chachavalpongpun September 17, 2013
Palm oil is Indonesia’s most valuable agricultural export and the industry employs nearly 2 million people. Indonesia has laws prohibiting the slash-and-burn method of clearing fields for large plantations, explains Pavin Chachavalpongpun, of Kyoto University’s Centre for Southeast Asian Studies. Yet allowances for small farmers and a regional culture of patronage politics may hamper enforcement...