Japanese telecommunications company Softbank wants to buy Sprint Nextel for about $20 billion. One barrier to the deal is unusual: Softbank and Sprint are being pushed to spurn equipment made by specific Chinese companies, due to cyber espionage fears. The fear is reasonable but the way the deal is being …
The annual meetings of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) start March 5. This year is more important than most: The new Communist Party leadership introduced at last fall’s Party Congress receive their government positions. We all know the top slot (president), and we are all but certain of the #2 …
Thursday was a really bad day for the Indian economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the October–December quarter came in at 4.5 percent, continuing to weaken. Worse, the central government budget for the next fiscal year leaves India on the same, failing course it’s been on of undisciplined spending …
Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) fell for the third straight quarter (October–December) and was essentially flat for 2012 as a whole. This continues two decades of stagnation in annual output—Japan’s annual GDP in 2012 is essentially the same as 20 years ago. Stagnation is part of what motivated new Prime …
China’s 2012 official economic numbers are due out at the end of this week and I, among others, will gently suggest that they aren’t particularly accurate. Sometimes, however, it isn’t Beijing that can’t get basic economic facts right. Sometimes it’s us. A lot of foreigners believe China is contributing a …
China set a record with its investments around the world in 2012. And in the United States, China shattered its previous investment record. Before people start panicking, it’s important to know: This is not a bad thing. First, let’s put it in perspective. Chinese investment is still very, very small …
Japan’s incoming prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has an unenviable task. While Mr. Abe may prove to be exactly what the country needs in terms of foreign policy, his economic promises mirror the policies that have mired Japan in two decades of stagnation. Mr. Abe has made headlines promising more aggressive …
