3/25 Issue
Crimea, Ukraine and Russia continued to dominate the news. The New York Times questions whether exuberant Crimeans will soon have regrets. Many of the liberated South Ossetians were similarly delighted to be freed by Russia from Georgia only to be eventually let down with unkept promises and neglect.
Forbes suspects it may be Putin who has second thoughts. Success in the short term is likely to shoulder the leader with a costly winner’s curse. A rebellious Ukraine could burden Russia as heavily as its unsuccessful thrust into Afghanistan once did.
The Wall Street Journal hopes that President Obama will have second thoughts about his plan to turn over control of the internet governing body ICANN. The internet could shift from a bastion of freedom as countries like China and Russia seek to silence critics and opponents.
No one has silenced, restrained or much punished the credit ratings agencies. Despite their complicity in the financial crisis, the New York Times questions why regulators can’t make progress on this front.
On the other hand, the Economist notes that governments need to be less restrained and more creative with infrastructure spending. An already yawning gap in basic infrastructure investment is growing. Private public investment may hold some promise.
The Financial Times points out that the government of Japan is trying to encourage greater corporate investment, but questions the wisdom. Japanese corporations already outspend their global competition with a very low return on capital.
But that return shows up in come unusual places. Bloomberg notes that Japan recently bested Scotland at its own game. A 25-year-old Yamazaki was named best single-malt in an international blind tasting.
Combine the dollars that some say should be spent on global infrastructure with the risk that’s being showcased in Russia and Ukraine. Then add lax regulation and a little whiskey… and you just might deduce one of the latest trading phenomenon. Institutional Investor notes that traders are no longer primarily hedging against volatility, increasingly they’re trading volatility. This could be a trend that does not end well, but end we must.
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Last week’s Global News highlights appear below and also at http://www.irken.jp/gn/ where stories for this week will soon appear. As always, links are provided to the original source so you can get further detail, but please note these are frequently updated and links that were valid at publication may later be broken.
