Breakingviews

China fuels optimists, leaves room for pessimists

By John Foley
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

China’s long-awaited blueprint for reform is epic, ambitious, detailed and vague. A sixty-point document issued by the ruling Communist Party on Nov. 15 covers everything from relaxing the hated one-child policy to opening up the financial sector and squeezing more dividends out of state-owned enterprises. It’s enough to restore investors’ faith, if not yet to help them allocate their assets.

Banks’ bad IPO habits spread to China bond deals

By Una Galani

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

Asia’s investment bankers’ bad habits from initial public offerings have spread to Chinese bond deals. A scarcity of new equity offerings has forced underwriters to crowd onto a dwindling number of issues. Though bond issuance is booming, the pile-up is happening on the debt side too.

QE’s surprising beneficiaries: taxpayers

By Peter Thal Larsen

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Central bank money-printing has produced winners and losers. The biggest beneficiaries may be taxpayers. That’s the conclusion of the McKinsey Global Institute’s new study of who’s up and who’s down after five years of ultra-low interest rates. Though the exercise has its limitations, it’s a welcome antidote to the common idea that quantitative easing has only benefitted the rich.

Nirvana eludes Japan after one year of Abenomics

By Andy Mukherjee

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The economic nirvana promised by Shinzo Abe when launching his bid to become prime minister a year ago continues to elude Japan.

A trio of finance lessons from Bacon’s triptych

By Richard Beales and Rob Cox

The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own. 

The record-busting $142 million sale by Christie’s of Francis Bacon’s triptych of Lucian Freud on Tuesday – not to mention the unprecedented New York auction total of almost $700 million – shows a contemporary art market in heady territory. It’s possible, if a tad tenuous, to extract a matching trio of lessons for the broader world of finance.

BoE can escape its self-made forward guidance trap

By Swaha Pattanaik

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The Bank of England made a rod for its own back in August when it first linked the outlook for monetary policy with the fortunes of the labour market. It now admits it was too pessimistic about how quickly unemployment would fall. However, the central bank seems no keener to raise interest rates than it was then. Governor Mark Carney is trying to nuance the message. But he might do better just to simplify it.

Four ways to tell China is serious about markets

By John Foley 

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

China’s new buzzword is “decisive”. That’s how the ruling party described the role it wants markets to play in the economy. It’s hard to see whether it’s more than just talk. But there are four visible ways to tell whether China means business.

Japan index: Risks to GDP growth recede

By Andy Mukherjee

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Breakingviews’ Abenomics Index rose the most in six months in September. The gain would have been higher but for Japan’s unusual current account deficit. Higher revised values for July and August suggest the risk of a significant slowdown in third-quarter GDP growth has ebbed.

Asian tsunami offers lessons for Philippine repair

By Andy Mukherjee 

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The Philippines could learn some lessons from the Indian Ocean tsunami. Like the 2004 tidal wave, typhoon Haiyan has caused death and destruction. The next challenge is to manage the economic distortions caused by rebuilding.

Doubly dysfunctional press hinders China cleanup

By John Foley

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Graft hurts growth; transparency helps. It sounds simple, but in China, the arrest of a domestic journalist for defamation and heavy-handed treatment of foreign news organisations suggest the message isn’t getting through. A free press can’t make corruption go away on its own. Without one, however, the economic benefits of any clean-up will be limited.