Why the Elites Are Losing Sleep
Who says nothing gets done at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland? As the weeklong winter fest, which costs tens of thousands of dollars to attend, has grown over the past decade, it has become as much about dealmaking as about brainstorming solutions to the world’s problems. In fact, gray-suited consultants slipping around the Magic Mountain in their city loafers now seem to outnumber genuine thought leaders (to use a very WEF term) by about 2 to 1. Still, the elite haven’t abandoned Davos. This year’s shindig drew several heads of state, the world’s top bankers and a good helping of Fortune 500 CEOs, Nobel laureates and rock-star entrepreneurs (though, for once, no rock stars). Davos remains, as Foreign Policy Group CEO David Rothkopf put it, “the factory in which conventional wisdom is manufactured.” And so it is in that spirit that we offer this year’s best takeaways, factory-direct. A New Bubble? We are now in historically uncharted territory in terms of how ...
action
authorities
axel
bundesbank
ceo
ceos
chinese
david
davos
european
fed
fortune
forum
foundation
generation
george
germans
group
hyperinflation
japan
magic
mountain
nobel
policy
rothkopf
solution
soros
switzerland
trillion
ubs
weber
wef
wisdom
A Yen for Cash: How the Bank of Japan Could Threaten the Global Economy
Japan has been an experiment in economics ever since its crushing defeat at the end of World War II. First, Tokyo employed inventive techniques to rebuild its economy and wealth – the export-led, state-directed system in which bureaucrats “targeted” industries for special support – that broke with economic tradition and became a development model for the rest of the region to follow. Then after the country’s massive stock-and-property-price bubble exploded in the early 1990s, Japan became a much-examined case study in how to handle (or not handle) a financial crisis. After that, economists have puzzled over why Japan has been unable to escape the long stagnation it has suffered ever since. Now Japan is embarking on yet another set of unconventional policies in an attempt to revive itself, which, if successful, could rewrite the rules of fiscal and monetary policy. Whatever the result, economists will likely be studying Japan for decades to come. On Thursday, the new governor of ...
abe
boj
deflation
development
economists
england
european
experiment
federal reserve
government
haruhiko
inflation
japan
japanese
kuroda
minister
policy
prime
region
shinzo
stagnation
tokyo
tradition
trillion
Currencies: Yen slides against dollar, euro after G-20
The yen slides further against the dollar and euro in Asia after the Group of 20 nations decides against scolding Japan for policies that have dragged heavily on the local currency in recent weeks.
asia
currency
group
japan
nation
policy
Financial Lobby Group Warns on Emerging Markets
(ZURICH) — A leading lobby group for the world’s financial institutions is warning investors not to get caught short in emerging markets if rich-country central banks end their easy and cheap money policy of the past few years. The Institute of International Finance said Tuesday that the withdrawal of massive stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks could lead to a “boom-bust cycle” in emerging markets if investors are unprepared. (MORE: The Federal Reserve’s Rule-Making Secrecy) “The risk of market participants being unprepared for a reversal of rates is real and needs to be seriously considered to avoid disruption,” the IIF said. Low interest rates around the world over the past five years have boosted investments into faster-growing emerging countries — where money can earn a better return. The IIF sounded its warning in a report ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where some 2,500 business and political leaders are gathering to ...
action
business
davos
disruptions
economists
fed
federal reserve
finance
forum
government
group
iif
indications
inflation
institute
institutions
international
investment
japan
policy
secrecy
states
switzerland
unemployment
united
zurich
Will Japan’s New Prime Minister Start a Debt Crisis?
It’s back to the future for Japanese politics. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) crushed its rivals with an ally to gain a supermajority in the lower house of the Diet, the national parliament, which means the party’s president, Shinzo Abe, will become the nation’s next Prime Minister. This would be a repeat performance for Abe, who had a less-than-stellar stint in the Prime Minister’s job from 2006-07. His term was distinguished by his miserable approval ratings and scandals among members of his cabinet, leading to his sudden resignation in September 2007. But in the weird and wacky world of Japanese politics, such issues as competency don’t seem to matter much. Abe will get a chance to redeem himself. Can he? Looking at his policy statements, the odds don’t look good. If Abe is a blast from the past, so are his economic policies. The agenda he has forwarded during the campaign promise a return to the days of frivolous government spending and easy money – policies that have ...
abe
competencies
construction
democratic
gdp
government
implement
japan
japanese
journal
ldp
minister
nation
parliament
performance
policy
position
prime
resignation
shinzo
statement
street
supermajority
trillion
wall