4/2 Issue
Chances (last and otherwise) seemed to be the week’s prevailing theme. National Geographic highlighted an influential IPCC report, released in Yokohama, that asserts this might be our last chance to limit the impact of climate change.
The New York Times comments on the explosive growth of patents, many of them overly broad and vague, and urges the Supreme Court to avail itself of an upcoming chance to limit what’s patentable.
The Economist contends that Japan could boost its economy and prevent lost potential by availing itself of chances to better utilize women in its work force.
In the midst of perpetual drought, the Los Angeles Times points out how California could learn from Australia to avoid water shortages. By stretching its water resources, California has the chance to accommodate up to ten times the state’s current population.
The Financial Times notes how Abenomics has given Japan’s economy a chance to recover, but cautions that success in stimulating inflation could actually be the economy’s rapid undoing if it renders Japan’s debt burden unsustainable.
The Washington Post believes Europe has the capability to counter Russia’s recent incursions into Ukraine more forcefully. The region’s dependence on Russian natural gas is overblown.
And U.S.A. Today posits that a resurgent Russia could be exactly the chance the U.S. needs to again shine. Competition brings out the best in people, companies and countries. Since losing its great Cold War nemesis, the U.S. has grown enfeebled.
For your chance to see the media’s takes on these and other developments from around the world, last week’s Global News highlights appear below and also at http://www.irken.jp/gn/ where stories for this week will soon appear. As always, links are provided to the original source so you can get further detail, but please note these are frequently updated and links that were valid at publication may later be broken.
3/25 Issue
Crimea, Ukraine and Russia continued to dominate the news. The New York Times questions whether exuberant Crimeans will soon have regrets. Many of the liberated South Ossetians were similarly delighted to be freed by Russia from Georgia only to be eventually let down with unkept promises and neglect.
Forbes suspects it may be Putin who has second thoughts. Success in the short term is likely to shoulder the leader with a costly winner’s curse. A rebellious Ukraine could burden Russia as heavily as its unsuccessful thrust into Afghanistan once did.
The Wall Street Journal hopes that President Obama will have second thoughts about his plan to turn over control of the internet governing body ICANN. The internet could shift from a bastion of freedom as countries like China and Russia seek to silence critics and opponents.
No one has silenced, restrained or much punished the credit ratings agencies. Despite their complicity in the financial crisis, the New York Times questions why regulators can’t make progress on this front.
On the other hand, the Economist notes that governments need to be less restrained and more creative with infrastructure spending. An already yawning gap in basic infrastructure investment is growing. Private public investment may hold some promise.
The Financial Times points out that the government of Japan is trying to encourage greater corporate investment, but questions the wisdom. Japanese corporations already outspend their global competition with a very low return on capital.
But that return shows up in come unusual places. Bloomberg notes that Japan recently bested Scotland at its own game. A 25-year-old Yamazaki was named best single-malt in an international blind tasting.
Combine the dollars that some say should be spent on global infrastructure with the risk that’s being showcased in Russia and Ukraine. Then add lax regulation and a little whiskey… and you just might deduce one of the latest trading phenomenon. Institutional Investor notes that traders are no longer primarily hedging against volatility, increasingly they’re trading volatility. This could be a trend that does not end well, but end we must.
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Last week’s Global News highlights appear below and also at http://www.irken.jp/gn/ where stories for this week will soon appear. As always, links are provided to the original source so you can get further detail, but please note these are frequently updated and links that were valid at publication may later be broken.
3/18 Issue
For bellwether Japan and the rest of the world, the Wall Street Journal writes the key to growth amid graying demographics “will be finding new solutions to engage older Americans in the workforce.” According to the Chicago Tribune, the missing Malaysia Airlines flight should provide another clear call to action. Authorities everywhere should be availing themselves of Interpol’s passport database to verify each passenger’s identity.
Euromoney notes that just about everybody was wrong-footed at the beginning of 2014 “as new depths of pessimism about emerging markets were plumbed.” Sensing another debacle, Forbes sounds the alert that Singapore is Iceland in the making. It may just be a matter of time before “its economic bubble is punctured.”
Also looking to the future, the Financial Times writes that with Germany on board, there is now “a better chance of EU nations supporting tough sanctions if Mr Putin’s aggression escalates.” USA Today cautions that nobody should mislead themselves about Putin. “It would be foolish to think that Putin…will do anything other than press the objective he has pursued for years: restoring the historic subjugation of Ukraine to Russia’s will.”
Putin was not the only autocrat being called out for behaving poorly. The Wall Street Journal asserts that the U.N.’s report on human rights abuse in North Korea “demands action,” lauding the quality and objectivity of the report.
While the likes of Putting and Kim Jong-un might have to contend with sanctions, the LA Times reports that vulnerabilities in the nation’s electricity grid could leave the golden state, indeed the entire nation, without electricity for a year or more. And that’s just some of the illumination found in the news last week.
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Last week’s Global News highlights appear below and also at http://www.irken.jp/gn/ where stories for this week will soon appear. As always, links are provided to the original source so you can get further detail, but please note these are frequently updated and links that were valid at publication may later be broken.
3/10 Issue
Even in countries where the press enjoys considerable liberties, governments can exercise considerable control through the overzealous defense of state secrets. The New York Times worries the Obama administration has gone to extremes in “prosecuting those suspected of leaking classified documents, and even seizing reporters’ records.” Following enactment of a state secrets law, this editorial may be equally applicable to Japan.
The Ukraine received considerable attention. USA Today notes that the U.S. had been dealt a very poor hand. Though he may have overplayed his hand, Putin kept the best cards for himself. Oil is clearly one of the aces in Russia’s deck. To break Russia’s stranglehold on Europe’s energy supply, the Washington Post calls for the expansion of LNG supply to Europe from alternative sources.
The Financial Times reports on the upside of air pollution in China. It’s so hard to overlook the smog that the Chinese government is finally paying attention to the environment. Alas, there is a downside. Pollution doesn’t put rice in bowls. The government will need to fight the continual temptation to favor short-term economic growth over much needed environmental measures.
Focusing on a less visible environmental issue, Salon points out how the costs of climate change extend far beyond economic livelihood to culture. Rising sea levels could destroy nearly 20% of the 720 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, wiping off vast swaths of coastal civilization.
Turning to the economic front, The Economist sees similarities between the emerging-market correction and the dot.com crash. Exuberance is being reigned in and companies will begin taking stricter approaches to emerging market investment, yet emerging markets will remain important.
And, closer to home in Japan, Euromoney wonders if Abenomics isn’t running out of steam, given a number of sputtering indicators. The rising cost of ensuring against credit default means Japan now leads developed markets in an area where one doesn’t want to be the leader. These and other factors leave Euromoney speculating that the yen may need to weaken considerably for Abenomics to succeed.
12/9 Issue
“Why?” That’s what everybody, except Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron, seemed to be asking about China’s unilateral move to declare an air defense identification zone. The Financial Times asserts this move is not in the interest of China or its people, and risks repeating the mistakes Germany made leading up to the First World War.
In contrast to David Cameron, who was pilloried for pandering during a sales trip to China in which prickly issues were fastidiously avoided, the media mourned the passing of South Africa’s great leader. Despite his age, Nelson Mandela was the glue keeping South Africa together. USA Today wonders if this will last. “As long as Mandela survived, even with his capacity ravaged by his age and the harshness of his life, the simmering South African cauldron could not bubble over. No one dared upset their beloved Madiba.” The future looks less certain.
Patents are critical to innovation and protecting corporate profits. Yet, they can also be an encumbrance. The New York Times reports that patent applications have tripled in recent years, leading to frivolous lawsuits. In the U.S., possible legislation may bring some relief from patent trolls, but so far the lawmakers have failed to get to the heart of the matter: granting patents that are overly broad or vague.
As China seeks to move up the value chain, the Government is vigorously promoting innovation. According to the Wall Street Journal, however, China’s leaders have failed to address the main issue. The kind of innovators they seek to attract don’t care to live where the political environment is repressive.
Based on test scores alone, Japan, Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan look set to leave the U.S. in their wake. Yet the U.S. seems to excel at innovation. As the Washington Post observes, this may be because the top one percent of U.S. test takers achieve so much, they more than compensate for the overall mediocrity.
Genetically modified (GM) crops provide hope that the world will remain able to feed its expanding population. Though GM crops have never been shown to be harmful to humans, many environmentalists harbor an irrational aversion to them. The Economist urges greens to look at the facts, cautioning that the kind of organic farming favored by greens is vastly inferior to the challenges we face. Organic farming “uses far too much land. If the Green revolution had never happened, and yields had stayed at 1960 levels, the world could not produce its current food output even if it ploughed up every last acre of cultivable land.”
Perspective can be everything. In Detroit some citizens are getting excited about events that might leave others depressed. The city just made history as the biggest public U.S. bankruptcy filing. As the Detroit Free Press notes, this provides citizens with hope that the city will be able to rapidly remove urban blight and begin improving basic services.
12/2 Issue
The Iran breakthrough dominated coverage so you may have missed another breakthrough deal in Warsaw at the United Nations Climate Conference.
Writing in the New York Times (November 25, 2013), former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan (1997-2006) lauded the deal for keeping alive hope that an agreement can be reached to carry on from the Kyoto Protocol. He cautions, however, that much remains to be done, and calls the upcoming 2014 conference in Peru the “last shot.” Anan believes governments should start phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, should invest more in renewable energy, and must meet commitments from the 2009 Copenhagen conference to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, government action may not be sufficient and Kofi Anan calls on people to take the lead. “We need a global grass-roots movement that tackles climate change and its fallout.”
The Washington Post (November 28, 2013) notes the unexpected path of the Arab spring, which seems to be leading to autocracy in Egypt rather than the hoped for democracy, and questions why the U.S. seems content to overlook this reality.
China may have reached an environmental crisis level and now, according to Institutional Investor (November Issue), seems determined to reduce emissions.
With a unilateral proclamation of air rights, China helped tension in the Pacific reach crisis level. The Economist (November 30, 2013) points out that this tension extends well beyond Japan and has resulted in the worst strain on U.S./China relations in nearly two decades.
In and out of Japan, expectations are growing that the Bank of Japan will maintain or even expand monetary easing. The Wall Street Journal (November 28, 2013) points out that the yen is increasingly expected to weaken against the dollar.
Hoping to make a dollar, many U.S. retailers opened for business on Thanksgiving Day, traditionally a retail holiday. U.S. News & World Report (November 26, 2013) calls the development “disgraceful.”
