THE CORNER | As China moves towards consumer-based growth, the key to unlocking its economic potential lies in raising productivity. But until it protects intellectual property rights, it will face an uphill battle, says Dong Tao, Chief Regional Economist, non-Japan Asia at Credit Suisse.
WASHINGTON | By Mike Konczal via The Next New Deal | There was a fantastic piece in The Atlantic back in 2000 about psychiatrists dealing with people who wanted to have their limbs cut off because it would make them feel more like themselves to be amputees. The doctors’ big dilemma was whether or not to treat “apotemnophilia” as a diagnosable mental illness. If they engaged with it as a mental illness that existed and was recognized by the medical community, they ran the risk of encouraging more patients to identify with it.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The U.S. shutdown drama has set off alarm bells in Asia. Beijing and Tokyo, which together hold more than $2.4 trillion in American Treasuries, are putting pressure on its creditor to end its political rough house. If Washington is unable to honor its debt obligations it would damage the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency and bring chaos to global markets. America’s status in Asia seems also to be losing steam -and boosting China’s influence-.
[NOTE: This illustration from Liu Rui appeared on Oct 10 at the official Chinese newspaper Global Times English edition]
THE CORNER | As expected, U.S. President Barack Obama appointed Janet Yellen as the Federal Reserve’s next leader, the first woman in the 100-year-history of the central bank. Among her first words: “More needs to be done to strengthen the recovery,” even though progress has been made, and: “too many Americans still cannot find a job and worry how they will pay their bills and provide for their families.” Were those hints about how she will deal with QE? Although she is considered a dove, some analysts believe that is a bit overstated. Anyway Obama called her “tough”, joking that it was not just because she was born in Brooklyn.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | If the Senate agrees and everything goes by the script, President Obama will pick Janet Yellen as the Federal Reserve’s next leader on Wednesday, the White House said. Ms. Yellen, 67, has been the Fed’s vice chairwoman since 2010 and would be the first woman to run the central bank. Among her first tasks is how quickly to wind down the U.S. expansionary monetary policy. Will she take even more aggressive measures to boost growth? If so, how will markets react?
MEXICO CITY | By David Brunat | “If Mexico is capable of passing its energy reform in a way that enables them to attract foreign investment, it will mean that Canada, United States and Mexico will altogether become the new Middle East in terms of gas and oil production,” U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar recently said. For some experts the North American country is dealing with its most important political decision of the last century.
NEW YORK | The Corner Team- (Image by Andrew Harrer) | With two and a half years’ delay, the new $100 bill began circulating on Tuesday. It still has Benjamin Franklin on the front and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the back, but comes with new security features such as a band with moving images, ink that changes color with the angle as well as a new design. Some customers could start using it in the coming hours, depending on how close their bank is to a regional Fed facility.
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes | ‘Uncertainty’ is getting more and more attention. John Taylor is a great supporter, so much so that a while back I did a post with the title “Taylor´s Uncertainty Principle”, and argued that what was really keeping the recovery back was the “on and off” decisions by the Fed.
The Corner Team via TED Talks | Should we turn to corporations or to governments and NGOs in order to solve global problems such as access to water? Is money the key (and barrier) to education, access to justice and political influence? Two radically different ideas on business and its potential for good.
WASHINGTON | By Jeff Madrick via The Next New Deal | This latest outrage is just another symptom of an extreme anti-government ideology with roots dating back to the 1970s, the author believes. And sequestration is undermining what could have been a strong recovery by now.