MARKET RAP
Shadows lighten over Asia
The receding fears of immediate downturn in the US has lightened a shadow over Asian markets. More national issues such as inflation or the attraction of regional stocks to Chinese investors found room to assert themselves. Confidence, however, remains in short supply. (May 9, '08)
R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.

Food crisis gatecrashes ADB
As food prices soar to unprecedented highs, the Asian Development Bank at the weekend outlined its vision for eradicating poverty in the region. Yet after 40 years of being the premier lender of development cash in the Asia-Pacific, the bank had a solitary paragraph about agriculture in the document outlining its goals. (May 5, '08)

MARKET RAP
Pacific remains pacified
Traders taking a break from their labors in Asia could do so reasonably satisfied with unfolding events. Once heady share-price declines appear to be halted with prospects of strengthening markets ahead. That apparent local stability may be welcome if the sense of panic returns to Wall Street. (May 2, '08)
R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.

What is really causing agflation?
Rising food prices, notably in the past year, have coincided with with increased involvement of speculators seeking to profit from rising demand for agricultural commodities. Specialists in the sector are divided over whether that speculation is itself driving up prices. (Apr 28, '08)

Rising food prices could affect WTO talks
Countries from the Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean have warned Pascal Lamy, the head of the World Trade Organization, that rising food and fuel prices may require a change in course of talks aimed at liberalization of trade in industrial goods and agriculture. That puts them at odds with Lamy, who last week said he wants to wrap up negotiations next month. (Apr 22, '08)

CHAN AKYA
Bankrupt policies, empty stomachs
Inflation in food products has become the new front in the geopolitical battlefield. Asians can start by blaming themselves for the present mess in which their farmers remain poor, their poorest struggle to pay for basics such as rice, and their governments continue to pay economic allegiance to the has-been powers of America and Europe. (Apr 18, '08)

A blow for Asian wealth funds
Germany's decision to introduce controls on investments in the country by sovereign wealth funds, mostly based in Asia and the Middle East, indicates a victory for European protectionists and a stand against the globalization so recently pressed for by advanced economies. (Apr 15, '08)

Capitalism at stake in climate crisis
As recognition grows of the threat posed to humanity by global warming, the goal must be adoption of a low-consumption, low-growth economic model. Yet the elites of the North and the South are likely to agree only to techno-fixes and a market-based cap-and-trade system. Growth will be sacrosanct, as will the system of global capitalism. - Walden Bello (Apr 10, '08)

Rust to fertilize food price surge
The spread to Asia of a wheat-killing fungus after a four-decade lull threatens vital farming areas in Pakistan and further east. The result, allied to reduced grain reserves and biofuel production, will be further upward pressure on the price of basic foods. Makers of genetically modified crops, however, may make a killing. - F William Engdahl (Apr 3, '08)

MARKET RAP
Bright spots defy Asia's
ubiquitous enervation
Volatility and poor sentiment in the US helped to maintain a dismal tone over Asian markets, even as national economies as a whole remain relatively unaffected by the US credit crunch. Within the gloom, bright spots appeared, notably in India. (Mar 28, '08)
R M Cutler runs his eye over the ups and downs in the week's markets.

What's up with Asian currencies?
The strength of the yen and euro has been a dominant recent feature of global markets. Yet Asian currencies, even the Chinese yuan, have yet to show comparable gains against the US dollar. Economic fundamentals argue that these gains should come; local politics can argue otherwise. Therein lie the risks and the opportunities. - Axel Merk (Mar 27, '08)

CHAN AKYA
Why markets love dictators
This week's developments once again highlight the reasons for markets to prefer dictatorships compared with freewheeling democracies. Clarity in decision-making is more important than preserving the rights of individuals, for the benefit of society at large, as seen by the market reactions to recent political changes in India, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and China. (Mar 20, '08)

CHAN AKYA
Storm warning for Asia
Asia's economies, already under pressure amid rising regional security risks in the form of an unsettled Pakistan and a belligerent Russia, could see their growth prospects blown away as the impact of the crippled US financial system goes global. The biggest economies may pull through eventually; the smaller ones will have a tougher time finding port. (Jan 3, '08)

ASIA HAND
SE Asia offers haven from US turmoil
A US recession, now an ever-increasing possibility, may no longer be a harbinger of a downturn in Southeast Asia. Thriving demand in China and India has helped to decouple their neighbors from dependence on the world. - Shawn W Crispin (Dec 21, '07)

CHAN AKYA
Vanishing minnows
Asia's emerging giants are crowding out both investors and regional alignments, changes underlined by the renewed search for relevance by ASEAN and other groupings. The increasing likelihood of a US recession next year will only exacerbate the downward spiral facing many of these countries. (Nov 30, '07)

Asia has a model in the euro
It took almost 33 years from concept to hard currency, but the euro's bumpy road to success points to a model Asian leaders would be wise to emulate when working to ensure currency stability. Understanding that political will and sound economic judgment can turn what looks impossible into a reality is more than half the battle. - Joergen Oerstroem Moeller (Nov 12, '07)

CHAN AKYA
Rocking the land of Poppins
The near-default of Northern Rock in the United Kingdom must give pause to every Asian central banker, especially those in China and India. Rather than adopt a self-congratulatory tone on the travails of European and US banks, the region's bankers must choose the current period of strength to undertake serious structural reforms. These involve aggressive culling of small and medium-size entities, and increased supervision that incorporates sophisticated market understanding. (Sep 21, '07)

Asia dives into moon race
Visionaries proclaim all kinds of benefits stemming from permanent bases on the moon: cheaper minerals, needed energy supplies, even tourism. India, not wanting to be left behind, is expected to invest $1.5 billion over the next five years to develop technologies for a manned space flight by 2015 and a moon flight by 2020. - Raja M (Aug 28, '07)

COMMENT
As US sinks, Asia unable to swim
The pending US economic crisis will drag Asia down with it, despite life-saving measures Asian countries could take, such as China allowing full convertibility of the yuan. China's conflicting political and economic systems make such a scenario unlikely, and the region remains vulnerable to an oncoming economic tsunami from the other side of the world - Walter T Molano (Aug 23, '07)

Asia looks for consensuses
The Washington Consensus failed, undermining a dozen economies in a decade. The new models lie in China, where the authoritarian method has brought economic success at the price of the environment and with massive corruption, and India's democratic, gentler "New Delhi Consensus". Asia has to choose. - Scott B MacDonald (Aug 21, '07)

Herd panic pushing bourse bounces
The drastic ups and downs of Asian stocks triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States and the US Federal Reserve's unexpected benchmark rate cut seem to be driven more by pack thinking than reality, as most regional economies have safeguards to stave off a crisis. But perception is the rule, and Asia could still be dragged down in a US slowdown, whether the region deserves to be or not. - Shawn W Crispin (Aug 20, '07)

Panic attack: Asian markets take a tumble
Nervous investors across Asia, driven by fears of global financial market instability triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States, sent stocks plummeting on Thursday. Governments are trying to keep things calm, but concerns over who will shoulder the bulk of the subprime losses continue to fuel the frenzy. (Aug 16, '07)

Asia has nothing to fear except monsters
The crisis engulfing the riskiest level of US mortgage lending has no direct bearing on Asia, and most regional economies are well placed to cope with the domino effect set off by the crisis. Asia appears to have nothing to fear but fear itself ... if there are no horrors lurking in the shadows. - Alan Boyd (Aug 13, '07)

CHAN AKYA
Asia and the vicious cycle of bank bailouts
As with every market crisis, recent upheavals in global markets have claimed a host of victims in both US and European banking. The penchant of central banks to bail out their constituents undoubtedly predicates future crises for such banks as well as their countries. Asians can help end this vicious cycle by cutting their holdings of US and European bonds, and focusing on investments with high total returns. (Aug 10, '07)