In The News

Next Stop Asia

January 24, 2008
With Asia’s emerging economies posting spectacular growth, Asian investors had hoped that a US recession would cause little concern for their economies. But then global stock markets took a big tumble. World markets are connected, but that does not mean a recession in one part of the world will necessarily devastate another part. Some Asian markets are more vulnerable than others, reminds this...

Globalization and the Markets – Part II

Xu Sitao January 24, 2008
As anxiety spread about a possible recession hitting the US, stock-indexes went into sharp decline in Europe and Asia. Not surprisingly, worried investors scrutinize the Chinese stock market, as conventional wisdom suggests that China investments are the world’s next over-valued bubble. But analyst Steven Xu points out that the Chinese market could continue to grow, especially this year as China...

“Ancient” Forgeries Fool Art Markets

Matthias Schulz January 24, 2008
As the world accumulates more wealth, eager investors pay exorbitant fees for art. To help supply meet frenzied demand, art forgery is also on the rise. Even established collectors, including governments and museums, get fooled, reports Matthias Schulz for Spiegel Online. Globalization and advances in technology – with new chemicals; access to antiquated stone, paper or even tools; and elaborate...

A Crash Is China’s Chance for Reforms

Minxin Pei January 23, 2008
After spectacular growth over two years, China’s stock market has slipped into correction mode. “Because the Chinese government has been perceived as an active promoter of the country’s stock market, tens of millions of individual investors, members of the privileged urban middle-class, will direct their ire at the government,” writes Minxin Pei and Wayne Chen, researchers with the Carnegie...

Globalization and the Markets – Part I

David Dapice January 22, 2008
Stock-market indexes have tumbled like dominos around the globe, exposing vulnerability of intricate economic connections. A crisis in one nation – and the panic – can quickly bounce from one country to the next. A major cause behind the stock-market plunges the world over are US financial instruments designed to spread and protect risk by including all manner of home mortgages, explains...

World Rides to Wall Street's Rescue

David Enrich January 17, 2008
Nations with hefty savings accounts, including Singapore and Saudi Arabia, are devoting billions to rescuing US banks in trouble, a result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. “After flooding the world with capital that fed both economic growth and excess, battered U.S. financial institutions now are turning to countries and companies that not so long ago were suffering through their own disasters...

In Singapore, A Local Switzerland for Asia's Wealthy

Wayne Arnold January 11, 2008
Singapore’s authoritarian order and highly regulated environment attracts foreign investors who value banking secrecy. Coupling a pro-business stance with amenities that appeal to the wealthy, Singapore has become a haven for private banking. While suppression of free speech and artistic expression is bothersome, Wayne Arnold reports for the International Herald Tribune that internal security...