Asia Times - Global Economy

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valign="top">Global Economy</td> <td width="36%"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td height="51" align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="right"> <script language="javascript"> function showDate(){ var monthArray=["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"] var days=["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"] var d=new Date(); var month=d.getMonth() var day=d.getDate() var year=d.getYear() // document.write("Today is " + days[d.getDay()] + " ") document.write(monthArray[month]) document.write(" ") document.write(day) document.write(", ") if(d.getYear()<2000){document.write(year+1900)} if(d.getYear()>2000){document.write(year)} } </script> <script language="javascript">showDate()</script> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="65%" valign="top"> <table width="406" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="406"> SPEAKING FREELY <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EC27Dj01.html ">Timing of US-Australia FTA questioned</a> As US-led forces push to Baghdad, there is a rush to complete a free trade agreement between Australia and the United States - an idea that Washington brushed aside until Canberra started supporting its aims. - Manjit Bhatia (Mar 26, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EC20Ak01.html"> OPEC prevails in the short term </a>OPEC's commitment to not increase output has helped calm the market, but in the aftermath of war in Iraq, neighboring countries could be dragged into crises, conflicts and instability with long-term restrictive effects on their oil exports, and consequently on the global price of oil. - Hooman Peimani (Mar 19, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EC20Dj01.html">French fear US 'payback' </a>They aren't getting on very well in the diplomatic arena, but the fact remains that the US is France's biggest commercial partner. Now French businesses feel that they will be the ones to feel the sting of US anger over everything French. (Mar 19, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EC19Dj01.html"> This is the end, my friend: Door slams on globalization </a> In a great irony, the Bush administration, through its adoption of a nationalist approach to global affairs, has achieved what recently seemed impossible: the halting of the trend toward globalization. As other nations follow suit, the result will be increasing protectionism and trade wars, as well as greater likelihood of armed conflict. - Erich Marquardt (Mar 18, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/EC15Dk01.html">Asia's consumer revolution gets serious </a> Asia is now at a unique confluence of circumstances that has been developing for more than a decade. The result is a consumer revolution that promises to propel world trade and industry for a generation. - John Berthelsen (Mar 14, '03) <hr color="darkorange"> (Advertisement) Investment Property / Real Estate Business hotel 47 kilometers from Frankfurt Airport, Germany, for sale. 40 rooms, restaurant and conference rooms for 200 people. Built in 1997. Price 2,500,000 euros including tax. Please contact <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402060026/mailto:MichaHeuser@yahoo.de">MichaHeuser@yahoo.de</a> or 00-49-172-268-8444.  <a>Visit our site online </a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402060026/http://www.hotel-wasseruhr.de/"> at </a><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402060026/http://www.hotel-wasseruhr.de/">www.hotel-wasseruhr.de</a> <hr color="darkorange"> <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EC05Dj01.html ">CalPERS plays with investment fire</a> The California Public Employees Retirement System has changed its investment standards for emerging economies. Gary LaMoshi examines the controversial criteria as the pension fund takes a step away from the pursuit of returns toward becoming a global nanny - with CalPERS investors footing the bill. (Mar 4, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EB25Dj01.html"> Power and the new world order </a>Thomas Friedman, the Pulitzer-winning voice of US neo-liberalism, has rapped China for not getting on board with US foreign policy. But why should it? Indeed, why should any nation-state be a cheerleader for a World of Order that exists primarily for the economic benefit of a single entity - the United States of America? - Henry C K Liu (Feb 24, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EB19Dj01.html">Research crackdown: The real costs</a> A tough settlement being forced on New York's major investment banks to break up the incestuous relationships between financing of corporate deals and supposedly independent research is almost certain to be felt far outside the United States. But Kevin Phillips and John Berthelsen explain why, in Asia and elsewhere, it's still "investor beware". (Feb 18, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EB06Dj01.html ">Death of an industrial king: The looming crisis</a> The death on January 24 of the president of Fiat, Gianni Agnelli, leaves a vacuum of power in Europe that, if not properly filled, could cause an industrial crisis in an already hurting European market. Francesco Sisci looks at the potential winners and losers in the scramble to fill the shoes of "l'Avvocato". (Feb 5, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EB01Ak01.html ">OPEC in the crosshairs</a> The Bush administration has been accused of obsessing over Iraqi oil, but if one looks at the likely economic effect of Iraqi regime change (and subsequent production increases) on the world's other major oil-producing economies, one begins to suspect that the strategy may be focused less on the oil belonging to Iraq, than on the oil belonging to OPEC. - Ehsan Ahrari (Jan 31, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EA29Dj03.html ">When globalization works ...</a> Globalization is a double-edged tool. One can take advantage of it with sound national strategies, or one can do nothing and allow globalization to take advantage of us. Jose Maria Figueres, former president of Costa Rica, explains how his country adopted the former approach. (Jan 28, '03) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EA29Dj02.html ">... and when it does not</a> The theology of global neo-liberalism preaches that abundant comparative advantage accrues from free trade. But this is just propaganda: the validity of comparative advantage is limited to trade between countries with similar wage-price levels. - Gernot Kohler (Jan 28, '03) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/EA18Dk02.html">Part 4a: The Asian experience</a> The world's three leading economies, the United States, the European Union and Japan, have experienced a rare synchronous slowdown while much of the developing world, including Asia, has remained mired in economic and financial difficulties. As part of a series in which he makes a case against central banking, Henry C K Liu traces this phenomenon back to the Asian and Mexican financial crises and further, to the beginnings of the Cold War. (Jan 17, '03) TWO CENTS' WORTH <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/EA10Dj01.html">The Bush plan: A global-scale disappointment </a>The world is at a very dangerous moment caused by violent political fallouts from the destructive economic impacts of neo-liberal trade globalization. All wait for the president of the United States to command the awesome power of his office to "think big" and lead the world to economic recovery. Instead, we are given the Bush "growth and jobs" proposal, which merely reinvokes dated supply-side theories and further enriches the rich. - Henry C K Liu (Jan 9, '03) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DL21Dj01.html">Part 3d: The lessons of the US experience</a> As the US Federal Reserve has progressed through a series of policies whereby today's Nobel-winning economic theories explain "scientifically" last year's political expediency, one constant has stood fast: the Fed will protect the banking system at all costs, including human ones. This article is part of a series in which Henry C K Liu makes a case against central banking. (Dec 20, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DL13Dj01.html">Web libel ruling bound to please tyrants</a> The Australian High Court ruled this week that material published on the Internet is subject to local libel laws in a complainant's jurisdiction. That's bad news for news businesses everywhere, but music to the ears of repressive governments that will now have another excuse to quash Internet news that originates in jurisdictions enjoying free speech. - Gary LaMoshi (Dec 12, '02) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DL10Dj01.html">Part 3c: Still more on the US experience</a> In October 1987, the New York stock market crashed in a drama more spectacular than the 1929 disaster. Yet the damage was far less dramatic than the Great Depression of the 1930s. Much of the credit for that fact went to Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan, and the super-central banker cult began. This article is part of a series in which Henry C K Liu makes a case against central banking. (Dec 9, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DL10Ad04.html">Overseas Chinese: How powerful are they?</a> The worldwide diaspora of ethnic Chinese living outside mainland China numbers about 60 million, controlling a combined estimated wealth that could be called the world's third-largest economy. But does history back the oft-heard claim that this wealth equates to power? - Phar Kim Beng (Dec 9, '02) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DK27Dj01.html">Part 3b: More on the US experience</a> From its founding in 1913, the US Federal Reserve System has gone through a bewildering array of changes led by an intriguing cast of characters who have been accused of everything from engineering the Great Depression to bringing down presidents. This article is part of a series in which Henry C K Liu makes a case against central banking. (Nov 26, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DK21Ad02.html">The ominous subtext to US-China relations</a> Although the US-led war on terror has forced Beijing to improve its relationship with Washington, it is unlikely that this change represents much more than improved atmospherics. Indeed, the shadow of their impending rivalry over Asia appears to be lengthening, and the outcome won't be pretty. - Stephen Blank (Nov 20, '02) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DK16Dj02.html">Part 3a: The US experience</a> In the United States, central banking was not born until December 1913 with the establishment of the Federal Reserve System. However, a long and colorful history led up to that event, which was pushed through by congressmen eager to start their Christmas holidays. This article is part of a series in which Henry C K Liu makes a case against central banking. (Nov 15, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DK14Df02.html ">The case for a South, Central Asia trade bloc</a> The recent signing of an economic cooperation agreement between China and ASEAN, which will create the world's biggest free trade area, could serve as an example for a similar initiative between South and Central Asian states that could go a long way to addressing many of the economic and security woes in the region. - K Gajendra Singh (Nov 13, '02) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DK08Dj01.html">Part 2: The European experience</a> Since the Amsterdam Wisselbank, the first modern national bank, fueled the successful Dutch economy of the 17th century, the evolution of European banking has culminated in the European Central Bank, which works at cross purposes against its member governments. This is the second in a series of four articles in which Henry C K Liu makes a case against central banking. (Nov 7, '02) BANKING BUNKUM <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DK06Dj01.html">Part 1: Monetary theology</a> From time to time in the history of economics, the purpose of a national banking system has been seen as improving the well-being of the nation and its people. Nowadays, however, we have central banking, which prioritizes the preservation of the value of money over the monetary needs of a sound national economy. This is the first in a series of four articles in which Henry C K Liu makes a case against central banking. (Nov 5, '02)  <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DJ16Dj02.html"> Doha and the shadow of failure <img align="left" border="0" hspace="3" src="/web/20030402060026im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/images/KWR-logo-tiny.gif"></a> With China finally incorporated as a full member of the World Trade Organization, the current Doha Round of WTO negotiations was supposed to be a piece of cake. That's not turning out to be the case, and without stronger support by the free-trading nations of the world, the possibility of failure remains very real. (Oct 15, '02)    <img border="0" hspace="0" src="/web/20030402060026im_/http://www.atimes.com/atimes//images/arrow.gif"><a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DJ16Dj03.html">Trade stuck in a global rut</a> <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DJ15Dj01.html">US economy: A casualty of war </a>President George W Bush has spoken of rebuilding Iraq's economy should Saddam Hussein be ousted from power. All well and good, but there are ominous indications that the administration should as a matter of urgency pay some attention to the fragile US economy. - Ahmad Faruqui (Oct 14, '02) OIL AND WAR <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DJ02Ak01.html"> Part 2: Crude assumptions </a>If the US plays its cards right, it could be on its way to a strategic grand slam, with Americans running the show in Iraq, and Americans running the show in Saudi Arabia. That could be a strong hand - except for the many jokers in the pack, headed by Russia. - Dinkar Ayilavarapu (Oct 1, '02)    <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20030402060026im_/http://192.168.9.94/atimes//images/arrow.gif"><a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DJ01Ak02.html ">OPEC prices surpass price ceiling</a> TWO CENTS' WORTH <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DI28Dj01.html">Crippling debt and bankrupt solutions </a>A movement to tackle distressed sovereign dollar debts through an international bankruptcy regime has gained momentum in neo-liberal circles. But the proposals favored by creditors focus on the wrong models in bankruptcy law, and would serve to enslave debtor nations further while leaving the global economic system at risk. What is needed is a debtors' revolt. - Henry C K Liu (Sep 27, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DI17Dj01.html ">Extremists' financial 'tentacles' hard to sever</a> The real frontline for the US war on terror is the labyrinth of financial cells that prop up the operations of extremist groups. Cut off the tentacles, declared US President George Bush, and the body will quickly wither away. But a year later, the body is still evidently well nourished - largely because of widespread money-laundering in Asia. - Alan Boyd  (Sep 16, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/DI17Ak01.html"> The economic costs of war with Iraq</a> "The preponderance of evidence suggests that if we start this war we will be endangering our [the US's] economic health." This is the conclusion of Miriam Pemberton, of Foreign Policy in Focus, testifying before the US Congress last week. (Sep 16, '02) TWO CENTS' WORTH <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DI14Dj01.html ">Perils of the debt-propelled economy </a> To less creative minds than those of leverage kings and Enron executives, debt is a liability, not an asset. And yet economies around the world are on the edge of a precipice, pushed there by the neo-conservative-inspired shift from public to private debt, most damagingly in foreign currencies, dooming billions to poverty. - Henry C K Liu (Sep 13, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DH14Dj01.html ">The economics of global empire</a> To find the true source of empire in today's world, take a page from Watergate lore and simply "follow the money". You'll find that the trail leads to the world's low-wage exporting nations - notably China - which unwittingly spent the past 20 years funding the US hegemony that they now deplore. - Henry C K Liu (Aug 13, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/DH01Dj01.html">Bad apples: It's the barrel that's rotten </a> The US Congress has tried to portray the ongoing saga of corporate malfeasance as a series of individual acts by immoral characters. This demonization of the bosses of Enron, WorldCom and others is in itself fraudulent, an attempt to cover up the systemic flaws in finance capitalism as currently practiced. - Henry C K Liu (Jul 31, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DG25Ad01.html ">China and the global security web </a> Investors, both Chinese and foreign, are turning to the burgeoning Chinese market as a promising place to put their money. And there are solid reasons to do so. However, Francesco Sisci notes in the second of two articles, China's position outside the US-Europe-Japan security network threatens its market's long-term security. (Jul 24, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DG24Ad04.html ">Crisis in confidence: The China factor </a>Investors turned off by the "creative accounting" scandals in the United States and by the lack of cohesion and innovation in Euroland are increasingly turning to China. But is there any more reason to put confidence in the Chinese economy than in those of the US-Europe-Japan bloc? This is the first of two articles by Francesco Sisci on that question. (Jul 23, '02) <a href="/web/20030402060026/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/DG23Ad04.html">China vs the almighty dollar </a> Global capitalism is the tool by which world economies are kept subservient to the United States economy through dollar hegemony. Asia, in order to service its dollar-denominated debts, is thus forced to keep wages low and provide Americans with cheap imports. 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