Truss must heed Abe’s ghost, not Thatcher’s

By:
On:
In: Asia

TOKYO – As Liz Truss riffs on Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, a more recent failed experiment with supply-side economics leaps to relevance from the region: Japan’s so-called “Abenomics.”

Last week made for an intriguing split screen. On one half, moves by the new – and already embattled – UK prime minister to cut taxes for the nation’s top 1% fell flat in global markets. On the other, a state funeral for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who had bet his legacy on a similar fiscal maneuver.

To be sure, Truss is backtracking on her tax cut plans to scrap the 45% income tax rate – for now, at least. But these zombie ideas never really die. Odds are, Team Truss – led by Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng – will try his ploy again presented in more palatable clothing. And soon.

The rise and fall of Abe’s legend as a great reformer sheds light on why gilt traders just aren’t having the Truss government’s reversion to Thatchernomics. The crux of the problem: just like Abe’s 2012-2020 tenure in Tokyo, Truss in London has a 1985 problem on her hands.

To continue reading, please log in to your AT+ Premium account. Not yet a member? Please signup for AT+ Premium monthly membership, AT+ Premium yearly membership, AT+ Premium yearly membership (educator), AT+ Premium yearly membership (student) or AT+ Premium Access membership.

The post Truss must heed Abe’s ghost, not Thatcher’s appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading

China on course to elude US chip-making equipment bans

By:
On:
In: Asia

Chinese tech giant Huawei’s attempt to make semiconductors without American equipment has generated global headlines as the US-China tech war takes yet another turn. It is one more strong hint – if any were needed – that the US government is in the process of creating a competitor that it won’t be able to control […]

The post China on course to elude US chip-making equipment bans appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading

How IMF turned the world against the British pound

By:
On:
In: Asia, Business, Finance

Everyone from political pundits to people on the street have issued forth on the new UK government’s tax cut-laden growth plan recently. But it was a rare public rebuke from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that really impacted financial markets. Days after the government made its mini-budget announcement, the IMF warned that “large and untargeted […]

The post How IMF turned the world against the British pound appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading

With Nord Stream gone, where will Europe get its gas?

By:
On:
In: Asia

Accusations continue to fly about the cause of major leaks from the two Nord Stream pipelines transporting gas through the Baltic Sea from Russia to Europe. Until this latest development, Russia had maintained that Western sanctions were behind disruptions to supply from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, as maintenance and repair of essential equipment could […]

The post With Nord Stream gone, where will Europe get its gas? appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading

US pushes ‘rule-based disorder’

By:
On:
In: Asia

Upon becoming president of the United States, Joe Biden immediately set forth to promote “rule-based international order,” ostensibly for the world community, but the message was really intended for China. The “world order,” according to Biden, was for Beijing to conduct its foreign affairs in line with Washington’s expectations. Now into the second year of […]

The post US pushes ‘rule-based disorder’ appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading

British pound debacle worsens Asia’s woes

By:
On:
In: Asia, Finance

TOKYO — When Larry Summers says it’s bad, you know it’s bad. Ex-Treasury Secretary Summers made his bones amid the wreckage of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Summers was a key member of the financial fire brigade tending to — and at times making worse — a blazing meltdown that left big scars. As such, […]

The post British pound debacle worsens Asia’s woes appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading

EU talks tough but goes soft on Myanmar trade

By:
On:
In: Asia
A worker at a garment factory in the Shwe Pyi Thar industrial zone in Yangon in a September 2015 file photo. Photo: AFP/Ye Aung Thu

The European Union is preparing to impose a new tranche of sanctions against Myanmar’s democracy-suspending, coup-installed military regime, but behind the new measures, a debate rages about whether Brussels should revoke the benighted nation’s EU trade privileges.  In particular, many European and Myanmar trade unions are calling for Myanmar’s suspension from the Everything But Arms […]

The post EU talks tough but goes soft on Myanmar trade appeared first on Asia Times.

Continue Reading