Offset markets struggle in the face of surging commodity prices
The loamy soil and dense jungle of the Sumatran rainforest in Indonesia can store an average of 282 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare. If a group of climate-conscious airline passengers were to find a hectare of such forest at risk of being cut down for palm oil and were able to stop that happening,…
Even China’s official economic figures look bleak
May 19th 2022 | HONG KONGWhen china was locked down during the first wave of the pandemic in early 2020, economic forecasters had to make two predictions: how much would the economy suffer? And how much of this suffering would the official statistics be allowed to reflect? When China reported a historic 13.5% decline in…
Joe Biden has big plans for his first presidential trip to Asia
May 20th 2022 | DELHI AND SEOULOVER THE past quarter century, American presidents have repeatedly come up with plans to counter China, only to be sidetracked. George W. Bush branded China a “strategic competitor”, but soon became preoccupied with his War on Terror. Barack Obama spoke of a “pivot to Asia”, but was too mired…
Asia’s advanced economies now have lower birth rates than Japan
May 19th 2022 | SINGAPOREThe list of things for which Japan enjoys a global reputation includes delicious food, cutting-edge technology, an oversupply of karaoke bars and an undersupply of babies. In 1990 it published a record-low fertility rate for the previous year—the so-called “1.57 shock”. For years it has been seen as a harbinger of…
Is weak governance harming the African Development Bank?
In the middle of July 2020, Roland Michelitsch slipped out of his home in Ivory Coast, taking almost nothing with him. He quietly got into an armoured Land Rover and drove to a boatyard where he abandoned the vehicle. And then he disappeared. Mr Michelitsch was not a spy or criminal mastermind. He was a…
Is China “uninvestible”?
Few chinese companies have caught the imagination of global investors like its technology firms. But they have suffered a catastrophic spell. At one point in March, they had lost about 70% of their value since their 2021 peak. On March 14th Alex Yao of JPMorgan Chase and his team published a set of gloomy reports…
How to unleash more investment in intangible assets
When russia invaded Ukraine, tangible things at first seemed all too important. Bombs and bullets were what mattered; commodity markets were roiled; supply chains were upturned. As the war has gone on, however, intangible factors have asserted their importance, too. The managerial and logistical know-how of the armed forces on either side, as well as…
Myanmar’s resistance is at risk of believing its own propaganda
May 19th 2022 | CHIANG MAITo spend time on Burmese social media or online news sites is to think the end is near for Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power in a coup last February. Resistance groups, it would appear, are slaughtering the army’s men and occupying the countryside. The regime is seemingly struggling to…
Burmese civilians are caught between the junta and the resistance
May 19th 2022 | SINGAPOREWhen moe moe and hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers just like her went on strike after the Burmese army launched a coup in February 2021, they were promised that the resistance would take care of them. As the movement opposing the putsch became more organised, forming a shadow administration called…
Lebanon’s shock election result shows deep anger at the elite
There was something for everyone in the outcome of Lebanon’s general election—except for a clear outcome. The ruling elite lost some symbolic races but kept its grip on power. Voters plumped for candidates who ran on a platform of change. One winning candidate proudly declared that he had no platform at all.Listen to this story.Enjoy…