The Economist (July 5)
Prabowo Subianto and Joko Widodo are facing off in Indonesia’s July 9 presidential election. While both candidates support protectionist policies, “Jokowi’s appears milder. Foreign investors certainly prefer him: Deutsche Bank reports that if Mr Prabowo wins, 56% of investors surveyed would sell their Indonesian assets and just 13% would buy, while a Jokowi win would cause 74% to buy and just 6% to sell.”
Tags: Assets, Candidates, Election, Indonesia, Investors, Joko Widodo, Prabowo Subianto, President, Protectionist
New York Times (July 4)
The U.S. jobs report brought welcome news: 288,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate hit 6.1%, the lowest since September 2008. “Behind the good news, however, there is still enormous slack in the economy. Human capital is being wasted. Economic ground is being lost, often irretrievably.”
Tags: Economy, Human capital, Jobs report, Slack, U.S., Unemployment rate
Institutional Investor (July 3)
“Japan is not without ambitious women who have been able to get ahead, as well as corporate leaders who are making an effort to promote more women…. But barriers persist.” Kathy Matsui, who coined the term womenomics, recently estimated that “Japan’s GDP could rise by nearly 13 percent if the employment rate of women rose to match that of men.”
Tags: Ambitious, Barriers, Corporate leaders, Employment rate, GDP, Japan, Kathy Matsui, Women, Womenomics
USA Today (July 2)
“Any traveler to the Middle East today can feel the tidal wave sweeping the area. The Arab Awakening is now a distant memory, and the hopes for democracy have been replaced by the black flags of al-Qaeda,” except they are now known as ISIS. The threat is not limited to the Middle East. “If al-Qaeda, from its sanctuary in Afghanistan, could produce 9/11, imagine the threats ISIS can pose from the much larger area in Iraq and Syria.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Arab Awakening, Democracy, Iraq, ISIS, Middle East, Syria, Threat, Traveler
Wall Street Journal (July 2)
The decision by the Cabinet to reinterpret the constitution and allow for Japan’s collective self-defense is “a momentous and long overdue decision that strengthens the security of Asia’s democracies. Perhaps as important, it will force Beijing to contemplate how its aggressive behavior in the East China Sea invited Japan to take a more active role in the region.”
Tags: Aggressive, Asia, Beijing, Cabinet, Collective, Constitution, East China Sea, Japan, Region, Reinterpret, Security, Self-defense
7/2 Issue
To act or not to act? That is the question this week.
Reuters reports that the Bank of Japan is not looking to expand its stimulus program, as it expects the drop in inflation to be temporary. In addition, unemployment hit a 16-year low in May, while some see signs of “bottoming out” in spending. Bloomberg, however, offers a less optimistic perspective, noting that “consumer prices climbed at the fastest pace in 32 years.” Taro Saito, director of economic research at NLI Research Institute, states, “Households are starting to struggle with faster inflation coupled with the sales-tax hike,” adding “It’s hard to imagine households are happy with Abenomics.”
The US News & World Report praises Japan’s cabinet decision to allow Japan to participate in collective self-defense and thus “normalize Japan’s military posture.” The changing security situation in Asia, the Report writes, warrants the “modest and legitimate step” toward a more proactive role for the country.
On the same subject, while noting that “a majority of Japanese oppose the collective self-defense reinterpretation,” the Wall Street Journal calls the move “inevitable” in light of China’s “bellicose rhetoric and unilateral actions,” speculating that the move may prompt Beijing to “consider how its aggressive behavior” led to the change.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, urged Europe and particularly the United States to take a harder line with Russia over its continuing aggression in Ukraine, Putin’s “gestures suggesting de-escalation” notwithstanding. “The United States is right to work for allied unity on sanctions,” the Post asserts, “But the quest for unity cannot become an excuse for inaction.”
The Los Angeles Times describes another possible call to action for the United States, specifically the private sector, coming from a report that examines the potential economic costs of climate change. The report seeks to offer a “springboard for a serious, non-partisan discussion of the potential actions we can take.”
And despite a lack of any apparent concerted national action, The Economist reports, suicides in China have decreased precipitously in recent years. Possible causes? Besides higher living standards and general satisfaction, urbanization and the atomization of extended families may play a part, even as they suggest challenges down the line for China’s aging population.
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To see the overseas media’s takes on these and other developments, you can browse the Global News highlights in app 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.
US News & World Report (July 1)
Supporting “collective self-defense efforts with other countries…. is a modest and legitimate step for Japan that can enhance its own security and foster deeper alliance integration with the United States. The only loser in the decision could be North Korea, since it will face a more capable coalition allied against it.”
Tags: Alliance, Coalition, Collective self-defense, Japan, Legitimate, North Korea, Security, U.S.
