In The News

Wall Street Journal: Western Cities Try to Slow Chinese Home Buying

Paul Vieira, Rachel Pannett and Dominique Fong June 7, 2018
Chinese buyers regard real estate in Western cities like Vancouver and Sydney as a good investment. Real estate prices in Canada and Australia were relatively low, inviting buyers and capital from China. The steady onslaught prompts fears about market distortions, changing local culture and inability of young adults to purchase their first home, reports the Wall Street Journal. “In Vancouver,...

Wall Street Journal: Global Economic Growth Fades

Michael Wursthorn, Daniel Kruger and Ben Eisen June 4, 2018
Economic growth is slowing around the globe, not meeting analysts’ expectations, as indicated by declines in business activity, manufacturing, shipping costs, commodity prices. Protectionist trade policies, transitions associated with Brexit and climate challenges add to challenges. A strengthening dollar and increased trade deficits hamper growth for emerging economies. Still, few analysts...

BBC: Italy Political Crisis Hits Stock Markets

May 29, 2018
Italy is in political upheaval three months after the election and protracted negotiations between Five Star and League, two parties combined that won 50 percent of the vote. President Sergio Mattarella “vetoed their choice of a eurosceptic economy minister, and appointed former International Monetary Fund official Carlo Cottarelli as interim prime minister with the task of trying to form a...

Forbes: Globalization vs Nationalism Forces Investor Rethink

Kenneth Rapoza May 17, 2018
Investors worldwide are assessing the forces of globalization including trade and immigration versus nationalism, protectionism and populism. Inequality, declining worldwide, is rising in the United States, and “investors that benefit from globalization are leaving the middle and working class in the dust,” notes Kenneth Rapoza for Forbes. Those left behind clamor for limits on international...

South China Morning Post: China’s Textile Industry Faces Tough Times

Sidney Leng May 3, 2018
The textile industry does not stay in one location for long. Instead, clothing and textile manufacturers move around the world, following automation and low wages from India, England, New England and the US South and more recently to China. Now the textile and clothing industry may be starting to abandon China. “China’s textile and apparel makers are going through a painful industrial...

Caixin: US-China Trade Tensions

Yukon Huang March 28, 2018
The Trump administration was warned about the economic and political consequences of protectionist measures like tariffs. Analysts point out that tariffs are illogical, and will fail to reduce the US trade deficit with China or boost jobs. The trade deficit and the jobs will shift to other countries. “It is a mistake to assume that trade is a bilateral issue when it is multilateral, especially in...

New York Times: Globalization’s Backlash Comes at Wrong Time

Neil Irwin March 28, 2018
US voters responded to promises of tariffs, jobs and protectionism during the 2016 presidential campaign and spurred a backlash to globalization: “It is coming after the major costs of globalization have already been borne,” explains Neil Irwin for the New York Times. “And it comes just as billions of people who have become integrated into the global economy over the last three decades are...