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World economy 24th September 2014

Britain betrays Hong Kong… again

The British government has failed to condemn China for breaking its promise of greater democracy in Hong Kong. If you were told the Chinese government — an unelected, one-party state — will decide who you can vote for, what would your response be? Not only would you likely object, you would expect others, especially democracies, to loudly condemn the idea. But Britain has done just the opposite to the people of Hong Kong, when it failed to call China out for breaking its promise of greater democracy for the island territory.

alibaba

World economy 22nd September 2014

Alibaba’s big deal

BEIJING | By Caixin | E-commerce giant Alibaba Group’s huge initial public offering in New York has stirred the market. Raising US$ 25 billion in total after the company and some of its shareholders sold extra shares, Alibaba’s IPO now ranks as the biggest ever.

putin

World economy 17th September 2014

Barking at Russia is Easy, Biting is Not

Bungling with Russia over Crimea will send the West knocked out with a bloody nose. One way or another, it was a crisis a long time coming. Europe has arguably sleepwalked into a reluctant confrontation with Russia. The continent’s next-door behemoth of a neighbor, saddled by a man it secretly detests the most, is also its largest energy supplier, irascible trading partner and purveyor of most maladies diplomatic.

deflation

World economy 13th September 2014

Deflation can be “good” or “bad”, it depends

SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes | I do not want to question the likely bad effects that come about owing to a large unexpected deflation (or inflation).  What I want to question is whether a period of prolonged moderate (and presumably expected) deflation is necessarily associated with periods of depressed economic activity. Most people certainly seem to think so. But why?

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World economy 8th September 2014

Predictions pleasant and unpleasant for the world a century from now

MASSACHUSETTS | By Richard N. Cooper via Caixin | John Maynard Keynes gave an address in Madrid in 1930 called on the Economic Possibilities of Our Grandchildren and set a century in the future. The year 2030 is still 16 years away, but the world is almost there. Anticipating its arrival, a Spanish economist asked 10 prominent economists, among them three winners of the Nobel prize, to reflect on what the next century might bring in the way of economic and other developments, recently published as In 100 Years.
russia

World economy 7th September 2014

In depth- Russia: sanctions for peace

BRUSSELS | By Jacobo de Regoyos | Europe’s 28 have unanimously requested at their recent summit to the Commission to prepare new economic sanctions against Russia, which will be triggered if the tension in Eastern Ukraine is not reduced. “Further significant steps,” is written on the statement. But nobody really knows how far can go the difficult consensus knitting machine that the European Union has become, divided between the dread to Russia felt by Eastern countries and the economic interests that grip the continental West. (Note from the editor: The cartoon above was published in Chinese official newspaper China Daily).

guinea

World economy 2nd September 2014

In depth: Equatorial Guinea on the brink

By Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo | On 24 July, thousands of students took for several hours the precincts of the National University of Equatorial Guinea (UNGE) and made it to the streets of Malabo. An unusual fact, they were demanding the payment of their grants. Although the Army and police forcefully repressed the demonstrations, the government reaction was far from the bloodbath occurred in December 1992, when more than a hundred of students, teachers, opponents and priests were tortured in police stations. Now President Teodoro Obiang hurried to meet the demands of students and national oil company’s GEPETROL workers, who were missing several months’  wages.