[Daniel Moss] Asia’s aversion to bank accounts a big deal

There’s a flaw in the forecast for an ever-rising Asia: a vast gap in the financial system. Big slices of the population don’t have a bank account.It’s hard to see the region reaching its full potential, let alone surpassing the US as an economic superpower, until this bridge is crossed. An economy without broad use of banks cannot grow into a superpower.East Asia and the Pacific seem to be making progress on this. Seventy-one percent of adults have a bank account or equivalent at a mobile money

Sept. 30, 2018

[Ferdinando Giugliano] Italy’s extraordinary act of self-harm

The budget that the Italian government is about to pass is a remarkable act of economic self-harm. The measures defy the rules of prudent debt management in order to fund outlays that will do little to improve Italy’s competitiveness. Most important, they tell investors that the populists have the upper hand in government. Italy’s creditworthiness is now that of its ruling parties: the League and the 5-Star Movement.The Italian government aims to run a budget deficit of 2.4 percent of gross dome

Sept. 30, 2018

[Anjani Trivedi] China racing to top in income inequality

During China’s greatest period of economic growth, fed by widespread industrialization that lifted millions out of poverty, inequality has also increased -- at the fastest pace and to the highest level in the world. It may get worse.China’s Gini coefficient, a widely used measure of income dispersion across a population, has risen more steeply over the last decade than in any other country, according to an International Monetary Fund working paper. Some inequality is to be expected with industri

Sept. 27, 2018

[Trudy Rubin] 4 reasons why declaring peace on the Korean Peninsula is a bad idea

US President Donald Trump appears eager to declare that peace has come to the Korean Peninsula.　The president has deluded himself that North Korea is well on its way to getting rid of its nuclear weapons. Last week, he excitedly tweeted: “North Korea recommits to denuclearization -- we’ve come a long way.”　Yet Trump looks eager to overrule his top advisers, who warn of the risks of declaring peace before North Korea gets serious about eliminating its nuclear arsenal.　Instead the president may li

Sept. 26, 2018

[Shuli Ren] Crazy-rich Asians are so yesterday in China

There’s a new breed of spender in charge of China’s wallets, and it’s not crazy-rich Asians.The rise of Pinduoduo Inc. and the decline of JD.com Inc. are good proxies for this shift. Founded three years ago, the e-commerce site Pinduoduo processed transactions worth 262 billion yuan ($38.3 billion) in the second quarter, just 40 percent shy of JD’s gross merchandise volume. The smaller company now has more annual active users than JD, China’s second-largest e-commerce provider with 16 percent of

Sept. 26, 2018

[Ann McFeatters] Trump never appeals to our better angels

There is growing worry that Americans may be becoming less compassionate.There is a sense the dog-eat-dog world of national politics is filtering down. People are being worn down by crisis after crisis, by being pounded over and over by rhetoric that the US must be selfish and upend the world order to get what is best for it.US President Donald Trump was cheered by a certain section of citizens when he stood in front of Americans who had lost everything in two hurricanes -- including 2,975 of th

Sept. 26, 2018

[Pankaj Mishra] What Economist gets wrong about liberalism

Last weekend in London, the Economist braved angry protesters to host Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, and white nationalist, at the magazine’s Open Future festival. The week before, outrage on social media and threatened cancellations from invited speakers had forced the New Yorker to cancel a similar public interview with Bannon.The Economist has been a self-conscious flag-bearer of Anglo-American liberalism since it started publication 175 years ago. As its editor wrote

Sept. 20, 2018

[Editorial] Denuclearization in sync

The steps North Korea vowed to take to denuclearize after this week’s summit with the South are moving in the right direction, but leave much to be desired.　South Korea’s efforts to improve inter-Korean relations are moving too fast, regardless.　It is somewhat meaningful for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to have mentioned “the Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats” in a public place with his own voice. It is the first time that a member of the Kim family, which has ruled

Sept. 20, 2018

[Kai-Fu Lee] AI could devastate developing world

Most studies on the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs and the economy have focused on developed countries such as the US and Britain. But through my work as a scientist, technology executive and venture capitalist in the US and China, I’ve come to believe that the gravest threat AI poses is to emerging economies.　In recent decades, China and India have presented the world with two different models for how such countries can climb the development ladder. In the China model, a nation lever

Sept. 19, 2018

[Tyler Cowen] China not America’s next great enemy

If the lack of an external enemy since the end of the Cold War has made America weak and feckless, as some argue, then can the rise of China give America a newfound vigor and sense of purpose? Probably not.　There are several differences between the former Soviet Union and contemporary China that help explain why the USSR came across as so much more threatening. The Soviets had a string of leaders who were well suited to play movie villains. Stalin murdered millions and radiated evil. Khrushchev

Sept. 19, 2018

[Lionel Laurent] Macron preaches change but pulls his punches

For a nation of supposedly “stubborn Gauls,” as President Emmanuel Macron described his people last month, the French seem to have taken his economic reform medicine with few complaints. This should not be a surprise. Despite the cliches, surveys mainly show that the French approve of public spending cuts and the rhythm of change introduced since Macron took power in 2017.　Yet clearly Macron is not loved, either. His dwindling approval ratings invoke unfavorable comparisons with predecessors lik

Sept. 19, 2018

[Anjani Trivedi] Sanctions threaten to shoot down China’s spyware star

Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology is a rare example of a Chinese national champion that’s also become a global leader. But the very ties to China’s surveillance state that powered the company’s rise now threaten to check its progress.　Hikvision’s footprint has grown in tandem with China’s political agenda. Its cameras dot the western region of Xinjiang, where the government has greatly expanded its security apparatus and faces accusations of human rights abuses. The US is now considering san

Sept. 18, 2018