BBC discovers curse of successful institutions
By Edward Hadas
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The BBC is learning one of the hardest lessons of institutional management. The UK broadcaster has never hesitated to report scandal in other organisations. It has told the world about nursing homes which mistreat residents, the Catholic Church’s problems with sexual abuse and oil producer BP’s apparent inability to put safety far in front of profit. But the Jimmy Savile affair shows that self-correction is easier to preach than to practice.
Japan exporters should fear slowdown, not boycott
By Wayne Arnold
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Squabbles over remote islands have sparked a Chinese backlash against Japanese brands. But China’s slowing economy is having an even bigger impact on Japan’s exports. And while China has toppled the U.S. as Japan’s biggest market, both nations face a common economic enemy in the form of plunging demand from Europe.
Indonesia’s Bob Marley economy’s gonna be alright
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
By Wayne Arnold
It sometimes seems like every little thing is conspiring against Indonesia’s economy: poor infrastructure, political corruption, regulatory caprice and bureaucratic inertia. Falling commodity prices threaten to reverse the spread of wealth to poorer parts of the archipelago. But Indonesia’s very immaturity gives it resilience to muddle through.
Bernanke’s Asian defence is an implausible yarn
By Andy Mukherjee
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Ben Bernanke made a bold claim on his trip to Asia. In a speech delivered in Tokyo, the U.S. Federal Reserve chief said money-printing by advanced nations is not the “dominant” force behind surging capital flows to emerging economies, and that these countries are net beneficiaries from stronger demand from the West. If he’s right, Asian central bankers who grumble about the Fed’s quantitative easing should send Bernanke something nice this Thanksgiving.
The system is rigged. Bankers, the middlemen of FED, are completely pessimistic about US domestic. They decided not to do anything and leave those struggling domestic businesses dying away themselves. Simply put, Bankers, the middlemen, are picking up those big oil and big auto attitudes, they don’t see alternatives are necessary. QE3 will become executive bonuses for not rebuilding or not recovering anything but for them to penetrate Asians corporations to spread industrial banking capitalist predator monopoly. If Asians don’t resist this, their economy bases will be infected and rigged against those highly capitalized assets now in Asia. Productivity based credits will start crunching if they don’t defense their productivity based credit system.
China’s IMF boycott undermines quest for clout
By John Foley
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
If China wants a bigger say at the IMF, boycotting the fund’s meeting in Japan is the wrong way to get it. The head of the central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, withdrew on Oct. 10, amid a territorial dispute between the two countries. Yet the IMF is supposed to be about finance, not border politics. If China doesn’t agree, maybe it isn’t ready for a bigger role.
France’s silly stake obsession could kill BAE-EADS
By Pierre Briançon
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
When EADS and BAE went to the French government with their merger project back in July, they were greeted “as if by a Parisian waiter smoking on the pavement, who makes sure patrons understand they’re not welcomed”, says one investment banker involved in the talks. Not that Paris was opposed to the deal. But it made for an unexpectedly important decision to take at a time when the new socialist government’s energy was focused elsewhere.
There have been few mergers over the years which can truly be considered a success other than in superficial terms. Takeovers can work when commercial or financial discipline needs to be brought to bear on a failing target or when an industry needs to thin down and the best bits can be kept in a business with sufficient scale.
Academic studies and stock market results show mergers generally destroy capital and skills. Failures can be all the more sever when dealing with businesses in highly complex industries where established patterns of working might take years to change or integrate.
So why do these two sets of management want it – the easy life! They are each under financial stress and want to hide from reality.
Why do governments want it? Probably a good helping of naivety and gullibility but in the case of the Germans and French and much of the UK political class, the prospect of creating an uber-business for pan-European defense production makes them salivate. It will help them destroy the ability of the UK to have independent forces and advance their cause of an EU superstate.
This is very worrying indeed for those who favour an independent, democratic Britain.
How do India’s markets spell relief? Chidambaram
By Wayne Arnold
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
How do India’s investors spell relief? Palaniappan Chidambaram. Stocks have soared since word broke in June that the urbane lawyer might take a third turn as finance chief. His return in August has proved an antidote to the errors of his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee, and has revived foreign buying. But the rally will only last if the latest reforms boost flagging growth.
Even one-sided Chinese investment has its benefits
By Christopher Swann
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Canada wants equal rights for its companies to pile into China. The country’s opposition leader says his compatriots would be “chumps” if they allowed state-owned CNOOC to buy Canadian oil group Nexen without China granting equal access to its natural resources. Demands for reciprocity seem only fair. But workers and investors in rich countries gain even if the money flows only one way. It’s the Middle Kingdom that misses out by being less welcoming.
Consumer boycotts won’t decide Sino-Japan fight
By John Foley
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Are consumers China’s secret weapon? Not when it comes to winning its ongoing spat with Japan. Even if some Chinese shoppers are giving Uniqlo and Toyota a miss, history shows that consumer boycotts have at best a short-lived effect. Economic warfare looks reassuringly hard to wage.
For Italy, crisis freedom is almost within reach
By Neil Unmack
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Rome is half out of the woods. Italy’s 10-year bond yields have fallen by over a percentage point since European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi hinted at a new bond-buying programme. With yields falling and confidence returning, the need for a bailout is waning.
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