September, 2019

• 24 September

  Indonesian economy expected to grow at fastest pace in seven years

  Bloomberg Indonesia’s economy is projected to expand at its fastest pace in seven years in 2020, despite the deteriorating global outlook and rising risks of recession abroad. The economy is forecast to grow 5.3 percent next year, according to the Indonesian parliament. Coming after the government twice revised down its growth forecast for this year, it would mark Indonesia’s fastest ...

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• 24 September

  Hong Kong’s resistance offers lessons for Taiwan

  

  What happens on Hong Kong Island does not stay there. The ongoing tsunami of discontent washes over this island, which, like Hong Kong, is navigating the choppy waters of relations with the same large and menacing mainland neighbour. This nation — which is such psychologically, if not in diplomatic nomenclature — has a presidential election in January that seems certain ...

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• 24 September

  Gates is right to support a wealth tax

  

  In his new book on how to fix inequality, French economist Thomas Piketty may have gone a little too far with a call for a 90% wealth tax for billionaires and multimillionaires, but putting a tax on huge fortunes may well make sense. Bill Gates, the second richest man in the world, thinks so. His case makes it clear why ...

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• 24 September

  Trump’s replacement for John Bolton is also a hawk

  

  In some ways President Donald Trump’s new national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, seems like the opposite of the man he will replace, John Bolton. His current job in government is special envoy for hostage affairs, meaning he has had to negotiate with the sorts of rogues Bolton shunned. Earlier this year he negotiated the release of US citizen Danny Burch ...

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• 24 September

  The world’s oil security blanket has been torched

  The real impact of the attack on Saudi oil installations last weekend goes well beyond the temporary loss of 5% of global oil production: It strikes at the heart of the mechanism that’s guaranteed the security of the world’s crude supply for most of the past 50 years. Ever since the western oil majors lost control of output in the ...

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• 24 September

  Robot wolves and bionic suits might just save Japan

  

  With flashing red eyes and a swivelling head, Yuuji Ohta’s robot wolf bares its white canines and lets out an array of ghastly growls. A matted coat of brown synthetic fur covers its life-size body. This futuristic creature is part of everyday life for Ohta, president of a company that manufactures machine tools in rural northern Japan. While he started ...

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• 24 September

  Thomas Cook’s creditors have the right to feel outraged

  

  Post-vacation blues don’t come much grimmer than this. No one was expecting a particularly bright future for Thomas Cook Group Plc, the UK package-holiday company that filed for administration in the early hours of Monday morning. The way the business came crashing to earth, however, is shocking. Rather than entering insolvency proceedings and attempting to salvage a remnant of the ...

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• 24 September

  This less-known Singapore property play pays 51%

  

  Singapore is a major Asian refining hub, though it doesn’t have a drop of crude petroleum. Now, the tiny country is punching above its weight in data. The upshot for investors: An asset class that pays 51% in a world where earning even zero is increasingly a luxury. There’s a limit to how many bits and bytes even a busy ...

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• 24 September

  Stocks climb on US-China trade optimism, Treasuries edge up

  

  Bloomberg US equity-index futures advanced with European stocks while Asian shares rose modestly as investors weighed hopes for high-level trade talks next month between America and China against mixed economic data from around the globe. The pound rose after a court ruling key to Brexit. Contracts on the three main US equity benchmarks all pointed to a firm open after ...

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• 24 September

  Managers: Philippine stock index to surge above key 8,000 level

  

  Bloomberg Some of the Philippines’ top money managers see central bank easing and low inflation pushing the nation’s equity benchmark back above the key 8,000 level. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index has retreated 5.8 percent since riding a bull market to as high as 8,365.29 on July 15. The gauge has breached the 8,000 mark about a dozen times this ...

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