Commentary / Japan Sep 23, 2022

Japan’s intervention underlines its interest rate isolation

The yen is paying the price for the Bank of Japan’s ultraeasy monetary stance. Until the bank shifts, a sustained rally is very difficult.

Commentary / Japan Jul 10, 2022

Abe’s greatest economic policy legacy is looking careworn

The former premier knew what he wanted from monetary stimulus and the person to get him there: BOJ Gov. Kuroda. But does Japan still support those policies?

Commentary / World Jun 16, 2022

Jerome Powell took Ben Bernanke's advice a bit too far

The former Fed chief Bernanke had a famous recipe for setting monetary policy that relied heavily on communication. Officials today would do well to scale it back.

Commentary / Japan Jun 15, 2022

The yen won’t be moved by ‘90s nostalgia

The currency hit its weakest level since 1998, prompting speculation Japan might intervene again. But the world is a very different place today.

Commentary / World May 11, 2022

Marcos Jr.’s rise is grounds for outrage — but hold the shock

It’s troubling enough that a Marcos will again lead the Philippines. Bongbong will need deftness in a world as complicated as any his father faced.

Commentary / World Apr 8, 2022

Singapore and Malaysia reunite, if only for cake

People can finally move freely across the Singapore-Malaysia border. Rather than a big surge in spending, they’re enjoying the small stuff with their families.

Commentary / World Jan 21, 2022

China's got problems, but inflation ain't one

China looks determined to quash — rather than live with — COVID-19. An overly muscular economic response, too, may do as much harm as good.

Commentary Sep 30, 2021

Japan’s new leader is prisoner of the policies he inherited

Prime Minister Suga will lift emergency pandemic restrictions that have hampered the country’s economy, but it will get progressively harder for the new leader from there.

Commentary / World Sep 8, 2021

China's slowdown is just as important as the U.S. jobs shocker

China's V-shaped recovery is showing less vigor. Authorities have gone from worrying about too strong a resurgence to scrambling to put a floor under a new slowdown.

Commentary / World Aug 19, 2021

Singapore's social divisions aren't so clear cut

COVID-19 didn’t create the city's economic and social anxieties, but it brought them to the surface.