Euromoney (March Issue)
“Investors are probably being too bullish about the size and buying power of Africa’s middle class.” Following a 2011 African Development Bank (ADB) report which pegged the middle class at 313 million, “it has become commonplace to hear wonderful things about the rise of Africa’s middle class.” The ADB’s figure, however, is misleading as it includes individuals making between $2-5 per day. Using a more conservative definition of those making $10-20 per day, Africa’s middle class would probably number less than a quarter of the ADB’s estimate. “Africa has vast potential, but investor sentiment today is pricing in a level of progress towards it that is not yet backed up by facts.”
Tags: ADB, Africa, Investors, Middle class, Misleading, Potential, Sentiment
The Economist (March 9)
“The annual shareholder proxy season now getting under way in America could be the liveliest ever. The bosses of Apple and Disney have drawn flak not only for their strategies but also for their pay. Activist shareholders are on the march. About time, too…. Trying to improve the way a firm is run is more constructive than the traditional ‘Wall Street walk’, whereby disgruntled shareholders simply sell their shares.”
Tags: Activists, Apple, Disney, Pay, Proxy season, Shareholders, Strategies, U.S.
Washington Post (March 8)
“Obama has chosen to carry out hundreds of drone strikes against al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, including one against a U.S. citizen, without any public accounting…. That is not how a democracy should operate…. The administration could greatly increase the legitimacy and sustainability of the strikes by openly laying out the criteria under which they can be carried out and by seeking congressional authorization.”“Obama has chosen to carry out hundreds of drone strikes against al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, including one against a U.S. citizen, without any public accounting…. That is not how a democracy should operate…. The administration could greatly increase the legitimacy and sustainability of the strikes by openly laying out the criteria under which they can be carried out and by seeking congressional authorization.”
Tags: Accounting, Authorization, Criteria, Democracy, Drones, Obama
Wall Street Journal (March 8)
“McDonald’s lackluster February sales report is a fresh sign that the real economy — where people eat fast food and earn an average of just under $24 an hour — is still sluggish, despite today’s upbeat jobs report and the soaring Dow.”
Tags: Dow, Economy, Jobs, McDonald's, Sales
New York Times (March 6)
“China’s decision to join the United States in proposing tougher sanctions on North Korea is a welcome step,” but unlikely to prove decisive. Other measure should simultaneously be taken. “China and the United States should be working covertly to disrupt the North’s nuclear program, as the Americans and Israelis did with Iran’s…. Dealing with North Korea has never been easy, but neglect certainly will not help contain its nuclear and missile capabilities.”
Tags: China, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Nuclear missile, U.S.
Businessweek (March 4)
“The Swiss government must figure out how to translate some of the world’s toughest rules on executive pay into national law and risk an exodus of big corporations after voters overwhelmingly backed new curbs in a referendum.” In addition to giving shareholders a binding vote on executive pay, the measure will crack down on golden handshakes and golden parachutes.
Financial Times (March 3)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has acted boldly by appointing Haruhiko Kuroda as the next governor of the Bank of Japan. “Mr Kuroda has been appointed to end Japan’s one and a half decades of deflation. The attempt to do so will shake Japan’s economy and, maybe, the world’s. This shift is necessary but risky. It is likely to be destabilising, at least in the short run. Mishandled, the upheaval could end in disaster. But disaster was coming. Gamble now or fail later – that was the choice.”
Tags: BOJ, Deflation, Economy, Japan, Shinzo Abe
The Economist (March 2)
Africa has achieved a dramatic transformation. “Never in the half-century since it won independence from the colonial powers has Africa been in such good shape.” The credit belongs to the Africans themselves. “The continent’s main saviours are its own people. They are embracing modern technology, voting in ever more elections and pressing their leaders to do better. A sense of hope abounds.” The transformation is laudable, but “still incomplete. The danger is that Africa settles for today’s pace of change. Only if Africans raise their ambitions still further will they reach their full potential. If aspiring Africa wants a new dream, it should be creating a common market from the Med to the Cape. That would be a boon to trade, enterprise and manufacturing: it would also get rid of much of the petty corruption and save lives.”
Tags: Africa, Common market, Corruption, Elections, Leaders, Manufacturing, Technology, Trade, Transformation
New York Times (March 2)
The outcome of recent negotiations with Iran “was frustratingly incremental, but it keeps alive the slim possibility of a diplomatic solution…. It is hard to know whether Iran will ever abandon its nuclear ambitions.… Mistrust runs deep on all sides. Still, it makes sense for the United States and its partners to be creative in pursuit of a deal that will prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon.”
Tags: Deal, Diplomacy, Iran, Mistrust, Negotiations, Nuclear weapons
Institutional Investor (February Issue)
“Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is releasing huge new supplies of natural gas and promising to revive the American economy with cheap energy. The U.S. energy boom may “create 3 million jobs and boost economic growth by 1 to 1.5 percentage points a year between now and 2020.” Chemical and agricultural companies are also poised to benefit from the lower cost of raw materials and energy.
