China builds in Africa, but the foundations are shallow
BEIJING | By Zhou Xin | The positive side of Chinese involvement in Africa is well-known, but a lack of shared values means projects are inefficient and lack vision.
World economy
Brazil’s poor ready to sweep Dilma to victory in spite of market concerns
MADRID | By Sean Duffy | A faltering economy, a plummeting currency, skeptical markets and a polarized electorate are just some of the issues observers are focusing on this weekend as Brazilians go to the polls in what has been labeled the tightest election for a generation.
Are we talking about deflation?
MADRID | The Corner | Which is the real origin of the deflationist pressure that the global economy is facing? A greater desire of saving money than investing at a global scale, experts at Morgan Stanley point out. The eurozone, Japan and the most stable emerging countries have a greater control over their domestic interest rates, whereas China, whose currency is pegged to the USD, will also import deflation -something Beijing won’t like.
Australia: A “Swedish Governor” at the RBA?
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes via Historinhas | It would be pretty depressing, so late in the game, to see “gold medalist” Australia fall into a Swedish-type trap. I hope Mr Lowe is a lone voice: Australian central bank Deputy Governor Philip Lowe urged vigilance on asset prices inflated by record-low interest rates and said government action is needed to encourage companies to invest.
For China’s property market, all is not lost
BEIJING | By Liu Ligang via Caixin | Pessimistic voices are saying China’s property market is nearing a Japan-style collapse of the late 1980s, but this ignores the fact urbanization will continue to create demand for homes.
Monetary policy: Does Israel want to become Sweden?
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes via Historinhas | It may sound strange, but that´s what comes to mind when central bankers start playing “alternative roles”. In the case of Sweden things started unraveling when the Riksbank decided to “prick” a housing “bubble”.
Germany officially leaves the growth track… More chances for Asia?
BEIJING | By Peter Lundgreen via Caixin | There are a host of reasons to doubt Europe’s growth prospects for this year and next, so investors would be wise to look for opportunities in Asia.
“Globalisation is Southern Europe’s source of agony”
MADRID | By Ana Fuentes | Trying to compete with emerging markets is not enough: Those EU countries trying to re-launch their industrial sectors in order to boost economic recovery need to go through technological changes, Yao Yang explains to The Corner. Dean of the China National School of Development and Director of the China Center for Economic Research, he believes that austerity in Europe has not been in vain. On the same day, business-research group Conference Board reported that Chinese growth will dip to 5.5% in 2015-19, Prof. Yang points out that such a decline would not mean any catastrophe.
Homelessness: No shelter from the storm
Jacob Straus | Homelessness continues to plague societies the world over, with legal frameworks needed to tackle it still largely lacking.
Yellen likely to focus on jobs today; markets get comfort from Bullard: nothing changes
MADRID | The Corner | Markets expect more dovish rhetoric from the Federal Reserve’s chairwoman Janet Yellen, who is addressing a Boston Fed conference on income inequality today. The fact that she has put the issue into the mainstream has earned support from working class communities. Visiting an under-privileged neighborhood on Thursday, she eschewed the chance to talk about monetary policy, but instead listened to stories about layoffs and lost savings. Wall Street took some comfort from the St. Louis Fed President, James Bullard, who said that the Federal Reserve should consider delaying the end of bond purchases, given declining inflation expectations.