The Economist (April 8, 2013)
“As prime minister from 1979 to 1990, Margaret Thatcher transformed Britain and left an ideological legacy to rival that of Marx, Mao, Gandhi or Reagan.” Lady Thatcher was the UK’s first and, to date, only female prime Minister. She also “remains the only occupant of Number 10 to have become an “-ism” in her lifetime.”
Financial Times (April 7, 2013)
“After 20 years of hesitation Japan has stepped on to the economic tightrope. To do so is bold and necessary.” A decade earlier, the effectiveness of Abenomics would have been more certain. “As the years passed, the path that Japan must walk has narrowed, with continued deflation on one side or debt crisis on the other. That is no reason not to try. Disaster is otherwise inevitable, which is why the BOJ’s past reluctance to act was so infuriating. But there is no margin for error.”
“New York Times (April 7, 2013)
U.S. regulators like FINRA need to confront today’s changing market where trading “has increasingly migrated away from public exchanges, like the New York Stock Exchange, to private trading venues, mostly operated by big banks.” With approximately 40% of trades being handled through dark pools and internalizers, markets are losing transparency and may become more susceptible to crashes and manipulation. Canadian and Australian regulators have already taken steps to protect their markets. U.S. regulators need to get with the program. “The market cannot be efficient if many orders never see the light of day. An inefficient market is neither fair nor stable, which makes a strong regulatory response to protect investors imperative.”
Tags: Australia, Canada, Dark pools, Efficient markets, FINRA, Investors, NYSE, U.S.
Washington Post (April 6, 2013)
“Pop stars, bourgeois lifestyle commentary and funny videos often seem to interest young South Koreans more than Pyongyang’s latest provocation.” As North Korea tries to “to intimidate its neighbor… South Korea has already won the fight.” Young people do talk about “the risk of a second Korean war. But, even if this week’s chest-thumping has them a bit jittery, they typically mock Kim Jong Un and dismiss his war declaration as hot air. It’s a distraction from more pressing matters — not a particularly high bar for a youth culture obsessed with the latest Korean pop girl group or Samsung gadget.”
Tags: Kim Jong Un, North Korea, Provocation, South Korea, War, Youth
The Economist (April 6, 2013)
“Even by its own aggressive standards, North Korea’s actions over the past couple of weeks have been extraordinary.” The time has come “to get tougher with the nastiest regime on the planet.”
Tags: Aggression, Extraordinary, North Korea, Regime, Tough
Forbes (April 4, 2013)
“Quantitative easing is a global craze, and now a man named Kuroda is showing Bernanke and Draghi how to do it big time….While markets expected Kuroda’s BoJ to make a bold move, the size of the purchases and the wide array of financial assets the central bank plans to stock up on came as a surprise, boosting Japanese stocks and sending the Nikkei 225 higher by 2.2%.”
Tags: Bernanke, BOJ, Central bank, Draghi, Japan, Kuroda, Nikkei, Quantitative easing, Stocks
Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2013)
“Japan’s quadrillion-yen market for government bonds is grappling with something it usually doesn’t face: volatility. Price gyrations are rising as bond investors try to assess how Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s fresh attack on deflation will play out in a market accustomed to a steady decline in consumer prices and a cautious, predictable central bank.”
Tags: Abe, BOJ, Bond market, Consumer prices, Deflation, Investors, Japan, JGBs, Volatility
Chicago Tribune (April 1)
“In the world’s most populous nation, attending to your filial obligations is no longer entirely up to your discretion. It’s a legal obligation.” In China, “the government has enacted a law mandating that children visit their parents and that employers give the children time off to do so. And if Junior shirks his duty, Mom and Dad can sue him to force compliance.”
Euromoney (March Issue)
”The currency war that many feared as an inevitable accompaniment to the credit crisis played out as more of a paint-ball contest until the recent sharp slide of the yen. The violence of the yen fall of roughly 20% reawakened fears of a wave of competitive devaluations.” While many fear the negative repercussions, for investment banks and hedge funds, the revival of FX uncertainty holds out the hope of a recovery in their moribund currency-trading revenues.”
The Economist (March 30)
“India is often spoken of in the same breath as China because of its billion-plus population, economic promise, value as a trading partner and growing military capabilities.” Yet, in the common view, India remains a near power, rather than a great power. Despite shortcomings, India has much to offer and deserves a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. “Although poorer and less economically dynamic than China, India has soft power in abundance. It is committed to democratic institutions, the rule of law and human rights. As a victim of jihadist violence, it is in the front rank of the fight against terrorism.” India would be “a force for stability and an upholder of the rules-based international system.”
Tags: China, Democracy, Human rights, India, Permanent seat, Security Council, Terrorism, UN
