Economics/All

September 2, 2010

Economics/All

Sheen wearing off Indian growth

India's latest stunning headline growth figures are raising hopes of a 9% economic full-year expansion. Unfortunately, while production charges ahead, demand for factory goods is less strong, and the government is not plugging the gap left by reluctant consumers.

- Kunal Kumar Kundu (Sep 02, '10)

Pakistan mulls 'flood taxes'

Flood-battered Pakistan, which wants the International Monetary Fund to ease terms for an already obtained multi-billion dollar loan, may impose special taxes to make up washed-out revenue while facing reconstruction bills that can only keep mounting.

- Syed Fazl-e-Haider (Sep 02, '10)

Malaysia reaps reform benefits

Economic reforms instituted by Najib Razak after he took over as Malaysian prime minister less than 18 months ago appear to be paying off. The stock market is driving ahead, exports of oil and electronics have soared, and domestic spending is on the rise. If there is a downside, it isn't showing yet.

- Robert M Cutler (Sep 02, '10)

Indonesia falls short of BRIC rank

Strong growth, backed by vast natural resources and an improving sovereign credit rating, are encouraging talk of Indonesia's promotion to the "BRIC" rank of emerging economies, alongside Brazil, Russia, Indian and China. But before that happens, infrastructure and education must be improved, and local-governments energized.

- Sara Schonhardt (Sep 01, '10)

Ganji tops China listings

Five years after Mark Yang set out to emulate the success of US-based Craigslist, he has fought off hundreds of competitors to make Ganji the top Internet classified ads site in China. With customers such as Wal-Mart and the backing of Nokia, the company now aims to double revenue in the next year.

- Sherman So (Sep 01, '10)

Pentagon watchdog misses $1bn audit

The Defense Contract Audit Agency's job, and the work of its thousands of employees, is to keep a close eye on Pentagon spending, yet it failed to complete an audit of US$1 billion in bills presented by a young company supplying translators.

- Pratap Chatterjee (Sep 01, '10)

Jobs deficit lays bare failure of Obamanomics

The grim state of US unemployment is expected to have worsened again in August, as small businesses wither and large corporations continue to head to China. The Obama administration's rejection of demands for higher duties to counter the effects of a weak yuan does nothing to improve the prospects of the jobless.

- Peter Morici (Sep 01, '10)

How deep after Jackson Hole?

Ben Bernanke's willingness to intensify monetary unorthodoxy was welcomed by speculators keen to receive yet more free money. For the rest of us, the US Federal Reserve chairman's weekend pledge holds only further financial disorder and economic agony.

- Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene (Aug 31, '10)

THE BEAR'S LAIR

Combining the worst

A combination of deep recession and inflation is supposed theoretically to be impossible, but that desperate state of affairs can exist perfectly comfortably in a world that is not all in recession, as Argentina, Venezuela and Russia can testify. Next on that list could be the United States.

- Martin Hutchinson (Aug 31, '10)

Tax officials invade Russia's Defense Ministry

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov appears intent on putting his house in order. The latest appointment to the ranks of his deputies, Tatyana Shevtsova, has a thorough grounding in economics topped up experience as one of the country's top tax officials, with a fearsome reputation for getting things done.

- Roger N McDermott (Aug 30, '10)

Flying blind

Like a flock of pigeons, economists and commentators on the economy too often switch and turn in reaction to every rumor or fact, unable to pursue a particular coarse through the whirl of short-term information. Yet economics can be understood and properly forecast.

- Peter Schiff (Aug 30, '10)

Bus on stilts to beat Beijing gridlock

As drivers in Beijing struggle to survive days of being trapped in never-ending traffic jams, entrepreneur Song Youzhou is attracting worldwide interest in his futuristic answer to city gridlocks - a bus on stilts, with an elevated passenger section, allowing it to pass over vehicles stuck in the road below.

- Olivia Chung (Aug 27, '10)

MARKET RAP

Bottom grazing

A bounce on Thursday, though followed by end-of-week declines, offered the prospect that the up-trend of the past three-months across Asian stock markets might just hold. Yet long-term support at the present level looks fragile.

- Robert M Cutler (Aug 27, '10)

Indonesia to keep shining

Share values in Indonesia have surged since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's comfortable election victory last summer established a stable environment for increased spending and investment. Rising inflation is one cloud over the market, but one unlikely to dampen confidence.

- Robert M Cutler (Aug 26, '10)

India's Ramesh kills mega-projects

Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is hero of the day for green activists after decisions to scrap plans for bauxite mining in Orissa state and a dam in the Himalayas. Other issues, such as a Maoist insurgency, may however have been more important than green concerns.

- Ranjit Devraj (Aug 26, '10)

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Sheen wearing off Indian growth

Pakistan mulls 'flood taxes'

Malaysia reaps reform benefits

Indonesia falls short of BRIC rank

Ganji tops China listings

Pentagon watchdog misses $1bn audit

Jobs deficit lays bare failure of Obamanomics

How deep after Jackson Hole?

THE BEAR'S LAIR

Combining the worst

Tax officials invade Russia's Defense Ministry

Flying blind

Bus on stilts to beat Beijing gridlock

MARKET RAP

Bottom grazing

Indonesia to keep shining

India's Ramesh kills mega-projects

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