Global Economy
Economic diplomacy: Guns versus butter, trade wars, and feeding PNG
Separation anxiety
A new call to split trade negotiation from diplomacy in Australia has once again underlined how the rise of China has unsettled traditional frameworks…
Trump and Xi need a trade deal and they need it soon
With resumed contact between US trade negotiator Robert Lighthizer and China’s negotiator Vice Premier Liu He, the 12th round of trade talks between the US and China may take…
How Indonesia finds itself in the middle of a US-China trade war
President Joko Widodo, best known as Jokowi, just won the presidential election and will officially start his second term in October. Much of his economic homework is still…
The race to be next IMF chief
The race is on to see who will take over as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the nomination of the incumbent, Christine Lagarde, as President…
What a waste: the G20 and the plastic problem
The recent G20 energy and environment ministers meeting in Osaka delivered an “implementation framework” for reducing the rapidly increasing levels of plastic waste choking the…
Economic diplomacy: Japan v Korea, and trade negotiation secrecy
Own goals
It is hard to find a more remarkable recent example of decades old unresolved nationalist tensions suddenly jumping the fence to the new world than Japan’s decision…
Vietnam shapes as a key winner from the US-China trade war
Even a few hours in Ho Chi Minh City, still called Saigon by the locals, will give you a feel for how much the Vietnamese economy is booming. The international airport completed…
The limits to global monetary policy
With forecasts of a slower global economy, central banks around the world are contemplating easier monetary policy. The problem is that monetary policy is already in “easy” mode…
Lessons of globalisation: the vulnerable women of the Nokia factory
Just 40 kilometres southeast of Chennai in the south of India lies Sriperumbudur, a part of the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu. While Kanchipuram is a town, famous for its…
Temper our optimism: the message from the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka
The G20 leaders’ summit hosted by Japan last Friday and Saturday left many observers underwhelmed. The purpose of the G20 leaders’ summit, since its inception in 2008 to deal with…