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
6/4 Issue
Global investors remain firmly focused on Asia, despite harboring some concerns. Euromoney reports that market volume in Asia for dollar-denominated debt capital hit a new high in April.
The coup in Thailand, however, may have raised additional concerns. The New York Times urges the military regime to set a schedule for elections if it really means to deliver “genuine democracy.”
Tension also rose to the fore in Singapore where the annual Shangri-La Dialogue on Asian security took place. The Wall Street Journal notes that Chinese officials accused the U.S. and Japan of doing exactly what most attendees thought China was doing: “using coercion and acting hegemonically.”
And The Economist recalls that it’s been 25 years since China overcame a potentially existential crisis in the form of Tiananmen and went on to create the most stable period in modern China. But prolonged stability should not belie the potential for political risk.
Elsewhere, USA Today notes that risk taking entrepreneurs may benefit the economy tremendously, but they aren’t typically job creators. The disruptive services they offer, benefit consumers, but sometimes eliminate the need for entire swaths of middle class jobs.
Speaking of risk takers, Britain’s GDP is set to grow by £10 billion as some law-breaking activities, e.g. sales of illegal drugs and prostitution, will now be included in calculations made by the Office for National Statistics. The Financial Times observes that Britain is just one of many European countries adjusting their GDP calculation methods to include figures for illegal, but mutually agreed transactions.
Thomas Piketty is under more than a bit of fire for some of the statistics underlying his hit book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. The premise, that inequality has reached new heights, resonates with many and the Washington Post notes it could make the case better without “misleading and overwrought rhetoric.”
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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.
