Japan’s newly minted finance minister, Naoto Kan, seems an excellent choice to lead Japan on an expedited road to fiscal perdition. For those who argue the best way to deal with the coming financial crisis is to precipitate it quickly, Mr. Kan’s choice should be particularly welcome. The governments of …
Myth: China is America’s banker. Truth: China has bound itself to American economic leadership. The federal government runs a gigantic budget deficit, which will hurt the economy for the next decade. China buys some of the bonds sold to finance that deficit and has about $800 billion in official holdings …
A top story in the Washington Post last Saturday concerned Chinese banks. It was badly misleading, to the point of almost seeming intentional. The article leads with the claim that “new lending by Chinese banks has injected $1.3 trillion into the world economy.” That is the figure injected into the …
President Obama didn’t accomplish much on his Asia trip. He has the media covering for him, though. They’re not praising him, they’re making bigger errors than he did, especially on the U.S. and China. Tough times have made people pessimistic about America’s future, and with good reason. Elements of the …
There is a consensus, spanning the Democratic and Republican parties, our Asia-Pacific trade partners, and those interested around the world that President Obama is heading to Asia with one hand tied behind is back. The reason is his failure to develop and present a clear, coherent trade policy. Economics is …
The rumblings of the dollar’s decline are louder than usual at the moment, tied to speculation that oil producing countries are seeking to move to a basket of currencies in oil pricing, rather than using the dollar alone. There are genuine developments behind such rumblings, mostly concerning American economic policy. …
Chinese President Hu Jintao captured headlines yesterday, promising the PRC would “endeavor to cut carbon-dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a notable margin by 2020.” Reviews have ranged from an important step toward emissions caps to vague and disappointing. For those serious about climate change, China is the whole …
