June, 2016

• 13 June

  Vancouver housing boom is squeezing out families, says Canada’s Bill Morneau

  

    Bloomberg Vancouver’s housing boom is squeezing out some families as growth draws in new residents faster than dwellings can be built, according to Canada’s finance minister said. “If you are in Vancouver today, it’s challenging for people to think about how they can get into the market and how their children can get into the market,” Bill Morneau said ...

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• 13 June

  Malabar Exercise: A platform for Indo-Pacific cooperation?

  

    On June 7, the United States, India, and Japan began the twentieth iteration of the Malabar Exercise. In the two decades of its existence, the exercise, which began as a joint U.S.-India naval drill back in 1992, has evolved into not just a key aspect of U.S.-India defense ties, but a key platform for engagement in the Indo-Pacific more ...

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• 13 June

  China’s innovation dream: Mission Impossible?

  

    David Gitter SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS The term “innovation” has been a hot word these days in Chinese politics. It was one of the five high-frequency terms used by General Secretary Xi Jinping in his deliberations at this year’s National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (the others were reform, people’s livelihood, ecology, and work style), ...

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• 13 June

  Economics comes up short in coping with reality

  There are basically four different activities that all go by the name of macroeconomics. But they actually have relatively little to do with each other. Understanding the differences between them is helpful for understanding why debates about the business cycle tend to be so confused. The first is what I call “coffee-house macro,” and it’s what you hear in a ...

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• 12 June

  Obama’s Social Security failure

  

  WASHINGTON President Obama unintentionally damaged his legacy the other day by urging an expansion of Social Security benefits and, thereby, reminding everyone (and particularly future historians) that he failed to deal with one of the largest issues facing the country: an aging society. “It’s time we finally made Social Security more generous, and increased its benefits so that today’s retirees ...

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• 12 June

  Revival of economy can bail out Maduro

    Opponents in Venezuela are pushing President Nicolas Maduro to the wall, accusing him of driving the oil-rich country to the brink of economic collaps. They have launched a marathon process to call a vote on ousting him from office. But Maduro is defiant as he vowed on Saturday that the government would be suing to have the referendum request ...

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• 12 June

  Buying junk debt shows ECB is getting desperate

    Would you lend taxpayer money to Volkswagen AG, the disgraced automaker that’s worth 35 percent less than it was a year ago? How about providing financial succor to Telecom Italia, which both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings regard as a junk borrower unworthy of investment grade status? Those are just some of the unintended consequences of the ...

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• 12 June

  France leads Europe’s changing approach to Asian security issues

    Valérie Niquet SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS According to Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo at the 2016 edition of the Shangri La Dialogue, “Asia Pacific civilization blends in harmony, mutual accommodation is vibrant.” In spite of these reassuring words, the martial tone of the speech, the pursuit of Chinese land reclamations in the South China Sea, and the preemptive rejection of ...

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• 12 June

  Khalifa congratulates Russian President on National Day

    ABU DHABI / WAM President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a congratulatory cable to Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, on the occasion of Russia Day. Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown ...

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• 12 June

  Unauthorised drone forces hour-long closure of DXB

    DUBAI / AFP A rogue drone disrupted air traffic at Dubai International Airport for more than an hour on Saturday, said the operator of one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs. “DXB airspace was closed due to unauthorised UAV activity for 69 minutes resulting in a number of diversions,” Dubai Airports said in a statement on its Twitter account, ...

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