The Bangkok Post (September 14)
“The North Korean ‘crisis’ of recent months is largely an invented one.” Little has changed. “The probability that North Korea would fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the United States was” and remains, “essentially zero.” Given “the undeniable reality of mutual deterrence, the North Korean ‘crisis’ of 2017 can most accurately be seen as a media puppet show put on by Chairman Kim and President Trump for their own public relations purposes. Nonetheless, it’s a dangerous play.”
Tags: Crisis, Dangerous, Invented, Kim, Media puppet, Missile, Mutual deterrence, North Korea, Nuclear, Trump, U.S., Undeniable
Chicago Tribune (July 23)
“Six months after seizing complete control of the federal government, the Republican Party stands divided as ever plunged into a messy war among its factions that has escalated in recent weeks to crisis levels.” On top of that the executive and legislative branches are more frequently at odds. “Frustrated lawmakers are increasingly sounding off at a White House awash in turmoil and struggling to accomplish its legislative agenda.” In return, “President Donald Trump is scolding Republican senators over health care and even threatening electoral retribution.”
Tags: At odds, Crisis, Divided, Executive, Factions, Frustrated, Government, Lawmakers, Legislative, Republicans, Scolding, Trump, Turmoil
Chicago Tribune (April 8)
“The defiant outsider presidency of Donald Trump could go its own peculiar path for only so long before a crisis intervened, presenting a sudden test of competence. That moment happened when the Syrian government unleashed a poison gas attack on its own people. Trump passed this first test, we’re relieved to report.”
Tags: Competence, Crisis, Defiant, Outsider, Poison gas, Syria, Test, Trump
New York Times (January 9)
India’s “man-made currency crisis” has had real costs and limited benefit. Two months after the surprise move to invalidate over 80% of existing currency, “the manufacturing sector is contracting; real estate and car sales are down; and farm workers, shopkeepers and other Indians report that a shortage of cash has made life increasingly difficult.”
Tags: Benefit, Car sales, Contracting, Costs, Crisis, Currency, Farm workers, India, Manufacturing, Real estate, Shopkeepers, Shortage
Washington Post (November 27)
“Japan is engaged in a national crisis over nuclear power, but the country has embraced natural gas. The United States, by contrast, is seeing a roiling national debate over natural gas and fracking, but concerns over nuclear power are muted. Each country is half right.” As countries invest in renewable energy, they “should keep their options open.” To successfully phase out the deadliest energy sources, e.g. coal, “the world needs fracking – and nuclear power.”
Tags: Coal, Crisis, Fracking, Japan, Natural gas, Nuclear, Renewable energy, U.S.
The Economist (September 22)
“There is an easy way out of the crisis in shipping. If enough lines scrapped their ships, the amount of spare capacity in the industry would fall.” But this is easier said than done. Few players want to scrap enough of their own capacity. “Until some serious scrapping takes place, do not be surprised if more shipping lines declare bankruptcy.”
New York Times (May 30)
Though European leaders are congratulating themselves for the latest debt agreement for Greece, “there is little to celebrate. Greece is bankrupt in all but name…. The reality is that Greece can’t be squeezed any harder.” The latest agreement is more of the same. “This crisis will never end if European leaders keep pushing policies that have repeatedly failed.”
The Economist (November 14)
The Great Recession has morphed into the never ending crisis. Over the past decade, we’ve seen fallout from the U.S. housing crisis, the Euro crisis brought on by Greece, and now “a third instalment in the chronicles of debt is now unfolding. This time the setting is emerging markets. Investors have already dumped assets in the developing world, but the full agony of the slowdown still lies ahead.”
Tags: Assets, Crisis, Debt, Emerging markets, Euro crisis, Great Recession, Greece, Housing crisis, Investors, Never ending, Slowdown, U.S.
Financial Times (October 5)
Amidst continuing outflows, emerging markets are much better placed than before the 1997 Asian currency crisis. “Record levels of reserves” should give “troubled countries a window for reform.” Reserves stand roughly 10 times higher than the past crisis. “While no amount of reserves can withstand the loss of market trust, money does buy time. Using reserves to offset capital flight allows central banks temporarily to avoid the classic EM crisis response of tighter monetary policy amid a recession to protect their currency and avoid imported inflation.”
Tags: Asia, Banks, Capital, Crisis, Emerging markets, Market, Monetary policy, Outflows, Recession Inflation, Reform, Reserves
Los Angeles Times (October 1)
“Today’s mass shooting at an Oregon community college brings us once again to the national crisis that we, as a democratic society, keep proving we’re incapable of resolving.” The numbers don’t seem to “matter because, within the framework of the nation’s sick approach to gun violence, the dead never seem to count.”
Tags: Crisis, Dead, Gun violence, Mass shooting, Oregon, Society, U.S.
