New York Times (August 12)
“For the last half-decade, three-dimensional printing has been billed as the next revolution in manufacturing. The Economist and Wired have declared it world-changing technology…. But for all the hype, it’s still unclear exactly how and when 3-D printing will have an impact on our daily lives.”
Tags: 3-D printing, Daily lives, Hype, Impact, Manufacturing, Revolution, Technology, The Economist, Wired, World changing
Bloomberg (August 10)
The Bank of Japan has refrained from additional monetary stimulus; an apparent acknowledgement that “pumping more money into the economy won’t end Japan’s deflation. Falling prices are as much about the aging population as anything else, and only structural change can arrest the trend.” Fortunately, the economy might just be driven by “a new breed of Japanese companies going overseas as the domestic market shrinks.”
Tags: Aging population, BOJ, Deflation, Economy, Japan, Market, Monetary stimulus, Overseas, Prices, Structural change
Euromoney (August Issue)
“Key energy suppliers are increasingly politically unstable and Europe faces a rise in prices, even though demand is falling.”
The Economist (August 9)
Abenomics may be working at the top, but it’s not trickling down to “folk who do not own bundles of shares or a flat in Tokyo’s trendy Daikanyama neighbourhood…. The mantra of Mr Abe and his advisers has been that a virtuous circle would come about whereby wages would rise and lift consumer spending, which in turn would boost investment by companies. Bingo: Japan would emerge from deflation. That is not happening and it is a conundrum.”
Tags: Abe, Abenomics, Advisers, Consumer spending, Daikanyama, Deflation, Investment, Japan, Shares, Tokyo, Trickle down, Wages
Washington Post (August 8)
The U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit was truly “an extraordinary event. That may sound like hype, but the gathering featured some innovative new ideas to prevent terrorism and lawlessness from spreading in Africa as it has in the Middle East.”
Tags: Africa Leaders Summit, Ideas, Innovative, Lawlessness, Middle East, Spreading, Terrorism, U.S.
New York Times (August 7)
The “government rescue of one of Portugal’s largest lenders” is another example of “regulatory failure.” Banco Espírito Santo had succeeded in a system that made “it easy for banks to look good and hide their problems.” As the European Central Bank (ECB) moves to assume supervision for some of Europe’s largest banks later this year, it will have to show that it really is serious. “Europe’s economy will not recover until its banking system is truly healthy.”
Tags: Banco Espírito Santo, Banks, ECB, Economy, Europe, Government, Lenders, Portugal, Recover, Regulatory failure, Rescue
Wall Street Journal (August 6)
“Taiwan’s leaders have warned for years that economic isolation will damage the nation’s competitiveness. Now their worst fears may be coming true, and the consequences of resisting freer trade and economic reform are becoming clear.”
Tags: Competitiveness, Consequences, Damage, Economic isolation, Fears, Free trade, Leaders, Reform, Taiwan
8/6 Issue
The Chinese government is “considering its first mandatory cap on coal use,” according to USA Today. Domestic and economic issues, rather than concerns about the global environment, seem to be behind this and other steps to reduce CO2. Smog in major cities poses a threat to health and social stability while getting a head start on developing and marketing green technologies could keep China’s economy humming well into the future.
The Financial Times reported that “US judges have declared it illegal for Argentina to make payments to the holders of restructured bonds unless it includes full payments to holdouts too.” This ruling caused Argentina to miss scheduled bond payments in the U.S., leading Standard & Poor’s to declare Argentina to be in selective default. Argentina could restructure all its debt into bonds issued under local law, but this would be very costly. They may still be able to settle with the holdouts, but it’s not clear how Argentina will proceed.
In Japan, some outcomes seem suspiciously clear. The Nikkei newspaper predicts financial results of publicly traded companies with eerie precision. The Financial Times notes the articles, available only in Japanese, cause markets to react more strongly than the actual results. Non-Japanese do most of the trading in Tokyo stocks, and many feel the so-called “Nikkei previews” are tantamount to insider trading.
While a newspaper may be able to influence a stock market, foreign governments came together this week to prove they can influence an entire economy. The Wall Street Journal reports that “the U.S. and European Union on Tuesday finally made good on their threats of robust sanctions on Russia.” The fear of a war spiraling out to other areas of Europe spurred some hesitant E.U. states to assent to the sanctions. The U.S. said it is trying to prevent bloodshed in Ukraine but does not see this as the start of a new Cold War.
And while Israel may be militarily winning the war with Palestine, it is losing world opinion polls. The Economist states that “public opinion matters. For a trading nation built on the idea of liberty, delegitimisation is, in the words of an Israeli think-tank, ‘a strategic threat’. But it is also because some of the foreign criticism is right.” The Israeli government may not like the criticism it is receiving, but it needs to be practical about possible long-term solutions.
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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.
Financial Times (August 4)
In what’s regarded as “a notorious feature of the world’s second-biggest equity market,” the Nikkei newspaper somehow very accurately “previews” earnings results days or weeks before they are officially reported. Authorities in other jurisdictions might worry “about disclosure violations, or a lack of equal access to price-sensitive information…. In Japan, regulators seem to have turned a blind eye to the ‘Nikkei previews.’” As these are only available in Japanese, they may place “non-Japanese readers at a disadvantage,” along with those who don’t read the newspaper and rely instead on the company’s official public results announcements.
Tags: Authorities, Blind, Disadvantage, Disclosure violations, Earnings results, Equal access, Equity market, Japan, Nikkei newspaper, Notorious, Previews, Regulators
USA Today (August 3)
“As the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, China and America hold the key on global warming. If the U.S. acts to curb emissions, it puts pressure on China to go along. If it doesn’t, it gives China an excuse to delay.”
