In The News

Bloomberg: Jack Ma Sees Decades of Pain as Internet Upends Old Economy

April 24, 2017
The internet and automation are not through disrupting the economy, warns Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, and “society should prepare for decades of pain” – or expect conflict. In a speech to an entrepreneurship conference in China, Ma expressed frustration that no one listened to his warnings issued long before his online company became famous. “Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce operator,...

Bloomberg: A Foreign Threat to US Treasuries That Dwarfs Fed's Debt Hoard

Liz McCormick and Brian Chappatta April 11, 2017
Foreigner investors own more than 40 percent of the $13.9 trillion US securities, and options for investing in public debt are expanding, report Liz McCormick and Brian Chappatta for Bloomberg. This comes at a time when the US Federal Reserve is reducing crisis-era investments in US bonds and the Trump administration plans to launch an infrastructure-spending program. “In overseas markets, more...

South China Morning Post: Risks Rising for China’s City Commercial Banks

Laura He April 11, 2017
“City commercial banks across China are increasingly relying on interbank funding and wealth management products as deposit substitutes– but growing investment holdings, waning liquidity and weakened capital buffers have rendered them more vulnerable to financial disruption, according to analysts at Fitch Ratings,” reports Laura He for South China Morning Post. Her article focuses on smaller...

Financial Times: Brexiters Must Lose if Brexit Is to Succeed

Martin Wolf March 30, 2017
The British government officially notified the EU of its intention to leave – an admission that a prominent and pragmatic member could not influence the larger governing structure or find agreement with other European members. The decision is a tragedy for both sides “Even if the exit negotiations go well,” explains Martin Wolf for the Financial Times. “Economically, [the UK] will lose favourable...

Barron’s: Asia’s Biggest Central Banks Diverge

William Pesek March 21, 2017
The People’s Bank of China, in line with the US Federal Reserve’s March 15th decision, recently increased some interest rates while the Bank of Japan responded by maintaining its negative interest rate target. Divergence in monetary policy “adds a new element of market uncertainty into 2017,” writes William Pesek for Barron’s. The governor of the People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, instituted...

Financial Times: Sharp Drop in US Emissions Keeps Global Levels Flat

Pilita Clark March 18, 2017
The world has kept emissions that cause climate change in check for the third year in a row during a period when the prices of fossil fuels were low and global economic growth averaged about 3 percent per year. Natural gas has quickly replaced coal as an energy source, seven nuclear power plants went on line in China and renewable energies are becoming more affordable. The trends suggest “a shift...

Caixin: China Posts First Trade Deficit in Three Years

Fran Wang and Pan Che March 13, 2017
Political rhetoric blasting global trade from the United States and other countries may slow economic growth in the world’s second largest economy. “China recorded its first trade deficit in three years last month as imports surged on soaring commodity prices while exports declined, likely adding uncertainty to the country’s growth prospects,” reports a team from Caixin. “The surprisingly robust...