Los Angeles Times (June 12)
When the World Cup concludes, “the problems that plagued Brazil’s hosting effort will remain…. Brazil will face major challenges in its transformation from one of the world’s most unequal societies into a thriving democracy.”
6/11 Issue
Super Mario again rode to the rescue of the EU. As the economy sputters and several countries teeter on the brink of deflation, the EU Central Bank took innovative measures to stimulate the economy. There appeared to be wide-spread support for the new measures. The Wall Street Journal writes Mario Draghi was right to do more, but it was wrong of the political leaders to force his hand through their own inaction. There are limits to what the central bank can achieve through monetary policy and Europe still wants for “pro-growth economic reform.”
There is less consensus, but lots of commotion, about whether Seattle is doing the right thing by gradually raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour, the highest in the nation. The Washington Post reports that most economists, unlike most commentators, are honest about the likely results: nobody really knows. Moreover, what ultimately happens in Seattle’s relatively strong economy may not be indicative of what would result in other situations.
Speaking of commotion, Institutional Investor reports that Chinese authorities are trying to ensure there is absolutely no commotion over the 25 year anniversary of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square incident. Time is in their favor. In China, the younger generation has little awareness of the iconic events that once unfolded there.
Since Tiananmen, China has enjoyed remarkable growth and stability. The transformation that has taken place is underscored by an update from the World Advertising Research Center showing China will lead the way in digital advertising in Asia. Digital advertising already accounts for 40% of ad spend and is expected to reach 55% in China by 2018. By that date, digital advertising is also expected to approach half of ad spend in South Korea (46%) and Australia (43%), with some of the growth at the expense of print and mass media.
The Financial Times is calling on Fifa’s corporate sponsors to force the governing body to “mend its ways.” With the World Cup set to begin, Fifa has been attracting unwanted attention for allegations of bribery in the selection of Qatar for the 2022 games. But this is hardly Fifa’s first incident of failed governance and corruption, the newspaper “demands a complete overhaul,” and rather unrealistically hopes the U.S. Congress will take the lead.
The normally staid Financial Times was also calling into question the data behind Thomas Piketty’s recent blockbuster, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Writing in the Washington Post, Robert Samuelson sides with both a bit, asserting that “inequality isn’t as great now as in the ’20s,” but that doesn’t mean the debate over current inequality is unimportant.
German car makers have run away with the lead in the premium car market. The Economist points out that this niche provides an outsized share of the automakers profits, but Japan’s premium motor brands “are missing out on pots of potential profit.”
Japan is, however, once again capturing a tourism pot of gold. The Financial Times reports that for the first time in 44 years, “Japan’s aggregate tourism-related revenues exceeded expenditures.” Benefiting from an influx of Asian tourists, Japan took in Y17.7 billion ($172 million) more than it spent on tourism in April.
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To see the overseas media’s takes on these and other developments, you can browse Global News highlights below or at http://www.irken.jp/gn/. Links to the original sources are provided above, but please note these are frequently updated. Links that were valid at publication may later be broken.
New York Times (June 10)
Will the recent attack on the Karachi airport “be the crisis that finally persuades Pakistan’s government and its powerful military to acknowledge the Taliban’s pernicious threat and confront it in a comprehensive way? It should be…. Security is crumbling and the military, the country’s strongest institution, is in danger of losing control.”
Tags: Airport, Attack, Confront, Control, Crisis, Government, Karachi, Pakistan, Security, Taliban, Threat
Financial Times (June 9)
For the first time in over four decades, Japan earned more in tourism than it spent. This last happened in 1970 when “the Apollo moon landing was still fresh in the memory, Osaka was hosting Asia’s first World’s Fair and a dollar bought three-and-a-half-times more yen than it does today.” Visitors from Asia have skyrocketed as destinations in Japan have gone from “prohibitively expensive” to reasonable, aided by the drop in the yen and higher disposable incomes elsewhere in Asia.
Tags: Apollo, Asia, Destinations, Dollar, Incomes, Japan, Osaka, Prohibitive, Reasonable, Tourism, Visitors, World’s Fair, Yen
The Economist (June 7)
“Japan’s premium motor brands are still far behind their German rivals. The giant carmakers that own them are missing out on pots of potential profit.”
Washington Post (June 6)
“Vying for the title of the United States’ most progressive city, Seattle this week decided to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour.” Amidst the applause and the doomsayers, however, lies the truth. Nobody knows how this experiment will end. “Despite literally hundreds of studies focusing on the minimum wage, top economists are still uncertain about the consequences of raising it.”
Tags: Consequences, Doomsayers, Economists, Experiment, Minimum wage, Progressive, Seattle, Studies, U.S., Uncertain
Wall Street Journal (June 6)
Mario Draghi is again being pressed “to rescue Europe’s politicians from their own economic failures. If only the politicians would give him pro-growth economic reform in return for all of his monetary exertions.” Under Draghi’s leadership, the EU Central Bank taken additional measures to stimulate the economy, including charging banks interest on funds deposited with the central bank, in the hope that bankers will be more inclined to lend their funds to businesses and individuals.
Tags: Banks, Draghi, Economy, EU Central Bank, Europe, Failures, Growth, Interest, Lending, Monetary stimulus, Politicians, Reform
WARC (June 5)
“Digital advertising expenditure is set to grow across Asia in the next five years but most spectacularly in China where it will account for over half of all advertising by 2018,” as it grows from 40% of ad spend in 2013 to 55% in 2018. Other big gains are expected in South Korea (from 35% to 46%), Australia (30% to 43%) and New Zealand (19% to 28%).
Tags: Ad spend, Advertising, Asia, Australia, China, Digital, New Zealand, South Korea
Financial Times (June 4)
Just as the World Cup is about to kick off in Brazil “the prestige sporting event has been tarnished by allegations of corruption at Fifa, world football’s governing body, over the choice of Qatar to host the 2022 competition.” But alleged bribes are hardly Fifa’s first red card. “Fifa is a body that has been mired in corruption allegations for so long – and which has been so lame in mending its shoddy governance – that it demands a complete overhaul.”
Tags: 2022, Allegations, Brazil, Corruption, FIFA, Football, Governance, Overhaul, Qatar, Soccer, World Cup
Institutional Investor (June 3)
“It’s been 25 years since the government cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.” Today, most younger Chinese have little awareness of the seminal event, and authorities are “taking extraordinary measures” to make sure the anniversary “passes without incident, or indeed recognition of any kind.”
Tags: Anniversary, Authorities, Awareness, Beijing, China, Crack down, Demonstrators, Government, Pro-democracy, Tiananmen Square
