WE ARE TOLD that China is a challenge for the West, that its emergence as an economic power is a “Sputnik” moment for American leadership and will affect UK post-Brexit economic prospects. It’s said this requires a major political and economic response to protect ourselves from its global ambitions. The fear seems to be that an […]
Cycling to Success As I was growing up, one of the quirky delights of the weekend was listening to Alistair Cooke’s ‘Letter from America.’ I’m sure at the time I barely understood what he was opining on but somehow the combination of the mellifluous voice and the reassuring normality and clarity of abnormal events succinctly […]
This morning has seen a does of economic news from the epicentre of the current pandemic and hence crisis which is China. This is keenly awaited as we see how the economy responds to the pandemic. Sadly we seem already to be charging into what might be described as Fake News so let us take […]
What’s the better for dealing with pandemic disease: martial-law quarantines imposed by the state according to geography, or keeping society open while trusting medical professionals, individuals, families, and communities to make intelligent decisions? A month ago, such a question would have been purely hypothetical but the answer in the United States would have been settled. […]
CBRE’s latest research into Asian outbound real estate investment has uncovered some compelling new insights into buyer behaviour and their markets and assets of choice. Firstly, Asian buyers are spending less on overseas property. Outbound real estate investment fell by 17% y-o-y to US$45 billion in 2019, primarily due to fewer big-ticket transactions and weaker […]
It’s the time of year when my loyal half dozen readers expect a missive from the far end of the world. Usually a disaster, natural or man made accompanies my travels and this time is no exception. The ghastly ‘White Island’ horror occurred in early December. Many survivors remain in Christchurch and Auckland hospitals. How […]
The coronavirus epidemic may be centre-stage for epidemiologists and other health professionals right now, but it is unquestionably also a political economy event in China with important repercussions for the rest of the world and financial markets. Look no further than the 150 billion yuan ($22 billion) net liquidity injection (1.2 trillion yuan gross) by […]
At the dawn of the 2020s, China is facing challenges that are perhaps the most serious since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. Until relatively recently, these were predominantly home-grown problems gathering momentum slowly over the last decade or so. They have become accentuated, though, by the emergence of a new, repressive governance system […]
The conventional explanation for the protests that have gripped Hong Kong in recent weeks is that they have been triggered by opposition to the government’s extradition bill, but the true causes run much deeper. Planning consultants Demographia have named Hong Kong the world’s least affordable housing market for nine years in a row, yet its […]
Over the last few weeks of protests in Hong Kong, culminating in the violence in the Legco building last week, most people have rightly concluded that: at best, the end of the ‘one country two systems’ m.o. will be hastened; all the sooner, if the protests don’t fade away as they did after the 2014 […]
