Brown and Sarkozy on Darfur

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 8/31/2007 11:58:00 AM
I've got to run, but I just saw a mention about this op-ed in the Times of London by Gordon Brown and Nicholas Saroky on Darfur: There has been important progress on Darfur in the past two months. In July we agreed on the deployment of a robust UN/African Union (AU) force and the start of peace talks. But the situation remains completely unacceptable. In the coming weeks and months, we commit as leaders to redouble our efforts to make further progress. At the end of July the UN agreed to our plan. UN Resolution 1769, passed –– for the first time –– unanimously, was the culmination of intense diplomatic activity over the crisis in Darfur. In the next few weeks, one of the largest UN troop deployments –– this time in partnership with the African Union –– will begin arriving in Darfur. Twenty thousand peacekeepers and nearly 4,000 police will contribute to ensuring the security of Darfur’s people –– as well enabling safe delivery of essential supplies of food. Moreover, on the...
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Sarkozy: Free Market an "Illusion"

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/31/2007 11:16:00 AM
Dontcha just love Sarkonomics? (Or is that Sarkonomiques, mon ami?) While ol' Sarkozy is not one to shy away from talk about globalization, he says France will do it in its unique way, replete with dirigisme, national champions, and other manifestations that the French government still occupies the commanding heights. In other words, while France cannot isolate itself from the winds of globalization, it will not be cowed into allowing markets free rein over the power of government. How typically...Gallic. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, etc. From the International Herald Tribune:In a country that has long resisted...
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Mekong River's Ch-ch-ch-changes

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 8/31/2007 10:40:00 AM
The Mekong River is an important waterway for China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Now, there are risks of water wars emerging over the Mekong as the growing economies that rely on it--especially China--begin to more aggressively claiming a stake through damming and other activities. The problem is that those other countries are downstream of the part which runs through China. In other words, Chinese activities with the river will affect the quantity and quality of water available in those Southeast Asian countries. Here is a snippet of a TIME article covering the consequences of China's activities in the...
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China: Those Wormy US Products

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/31/2007 09:57:00 AM
Here's the latest volley from China in the never-ending US-China product safety tit-for-tat: US wooden packaging contains "microscopic worms" while US vitamins are "substandard." Somehow, I am less inclined to believe that American products are as crummy as the Chinese say; unlike many countries complaining about substandard Chinese products, there is no international outcry against American ones. It seems one country is doing all of the complaining about US products. As I've suggested, it's mostly a face-saving exercise for the Chinese to single out American ones as defective. Citing nematodes in containers is rather picayune--these worms are exceedingly common, and we're not talking about products but product containers, fer crying out loud. From Reuters:China has found microscopic worms in wooden packaging from the United States and uncovered substandard U.S. vitamin pills and fish oil for children, Chinese media said on Friday in the latest volley of cross-border accusations....
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Britain Deals with Subprime Fallout

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/30/2007 03:15:00 PM
What we have here are two stories dealing with the ongoing global fallout from the US subprime disaster-slash-contagion. Both of them focus on the UK. The first from Bloomberg deals with tightened credit standards for prospective homeowners in the UK in response to America's misadventures. It's not a welcome development for the British are already rather fond of debt like their American counterparts:U.K. lenders responsible for 12 percent of the nation's mortgages are tightening standards for loans on house purchases, withdrawing offers and raising the cost for borrowers with less than perfect credit. Merrill Lynch & Co.'s Mortgages Plc unit said yesterday that it raised its interest rates. Northern Rock Plc, the Newcastle upon Tyne building society that had 8.4 percent of the market last year, and Residential Capital Corp.'s GMAC-RFC unit, with a 3.5 percent share, said they stopped some offers and lifted costs for others. Deutsche Bank AG did the same,...
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US Plays Financial Globocop

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/30/2007 03:04:00 PM
Yesterday, I featured an article concerning how the rest of the world is keen on making sure that it isn't the unwitting buyer of US subprime and assorted junk. Today, we have a brace of articles from the Financial Times on how the US is seeking to fine various European financial institutions millions of dollars for doing business with the likes of Iran, Libya, Cuba, and Sudan. Unlike what I viewed as a rather dubious case for the rest of the world meddling in US financial regulation, there may be a more legitimate basis in ensuring compliance from FIs not to engage in business with these regimes as some are subject to UN sanctions as well. Below is the lead-off article:The US justice department and other authorities have stepped up investigations into several large European banks for violating US sanctions against Iran, Libya, Cuba and Sudan.One person familiar with the probes said some banks had started to discuss settlements with the authorities and could agree to financial...
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Will We See Singaporean Seawalls?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/30/2007 02:21:00 PM
The International Herald Tribune has a set of articles out today [1, 2, 3] dealing with Singapore. The first deals with how Singapore's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, is changing along with the times together with Singapore, while the second is an interview with him. I do suggest reading these if you're interested, though the third one about Singapore envisioning the construction of a seawall interests me most. Like many other countries in Asia and elsewhere, low-lying Singapore is vulnerable to rises in the sea level. They've already "gone to the well" by asking the Dutch masters for advice on combating encroachment by the sea to...
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Three Gorges Dam, Enviro-Disaster

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/29/2007 08:35:00 PM
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd be citing the recent boom in Chinese product safety and pollution stories in the American media as a coordinated effort to defame the Middle Kingdom. China has already suggested that the product safety issue serves this purpose. However, as I am not a conspiracy theorist, I'll pluck the more interesting stories about those two issues here. You may recall the furor over the construction of the Three Gorges Dam from not so long ago. The mother of all megadams was supposed to alleviate water scarcity, control flooding, and provide hydroelectric power.According to today's Wall Street Journal,...
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World Wants to Regulate US Finance

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 8/29/2007 02:24:00 PM
This, my friends, is the dumbest idea I've come across in 2007--and I've come up with plenty myself [bada-bing! Thank you, thank you, please take my wife, etc.] The gist of it is the rest of the world wants to participate in the oversight and governance of the US financial industry so that they don't suffer from "collateral damage" when things like the subprime mess blow over. Now, there is a fashion to blame all the wrongs of the world on America--even I engage in such talk on occasion, I confess--but this is going too far. My gripes are too many:If even the Americans themselves can't figure out how widespread and extensive the fallout will be in the States, what more the rest of the world?Who believes rating agencies anymore, anyway? Aren't these the same folks who give debtlodocus americanus a triple-A rating for its sovereign debt? Don't we already have a Bank of International Settlements (BIS) doing some oversight?Haven't the Americans already signed up to Basel II regulations...
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In China, the Internet Ain't for Porn

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/29/2007 01:56:00 PM
There's a song number in the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q entitled "The Internet is for Porn." However, some folks who disagree are China's platoon of 30,000 censors working day and night to keep lascivious, heretical, and subversive thoughts from the minds of comrades and comradettes everywhere. In fact, they've even upped the game as now they've recruited cybercops to tell the citizenry to stay away from assorted filth. These mind police are rather cute and cuddly (see picture)--until real cops prevail to take you away, perhaps. I'm sorry; I can't comment anymore for this is beyond belief. From the Associated Press:Police...
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China's Copycat Cars Cornered

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 8/29/2007 12:42:00 PM
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it appears BMW and DaimlerChrysler aren't too happy with Shuanghuan's knockoffs of their wares as both these German firms are considering mounting legal challenges against the Chinese concern. BMW says that the Shuanghuan CEO (great product name, BTW) resembles the X5 too closely, while the Benz boys say that the Shaunghuan Noble (lame name---there already is a British sports car called the Noble) resembles the Smart ForTwo too closely. What can I say? Guilty as charged. I myself have been up close and personal with a Honda CR-V clone and, from the outside at least,...
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Foreign Insurers' China Gripes

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/28/2007 03:16:00 PM
If you will recall, one of the provisions of Dodd-Shelby, otherwise known as "The Currency Reform and Financial Markets Access Act of 2007," would require the Treasury to report to the Senate Banking or House Financial Services Committee on market access barriers for US financial services firms. Being a China-oriented bill, it is in no small way inspired by difficulties encountered by the US financial services industry to establish a foothold in China. In a previous post, I detailed the onerous requirements put up by the Chinese for foreign banks wishing to do business in China dealing in RMB.Now, it turns out that the insurance industry is also not too happy about the obstacles being placed by China in the way of those who want to provide property and casualty insurance there. Despite the plethora of China trade cases already out there, I believe that financial services may yet become another area of contestation between the US and China. From the Financial Times:When China...
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Making E-Mail Marketing Work

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 8/28/2007 11:11:00 AM
When you think of e-mail marketing, one thing immediately comes to mind: spam. However, the Danish firm Come & Stay has a successful model built not on spam but on "permission based e-mail advertising" wherein it only sends messages to those who have previously indicated a willingness to accept such advertising. Yes, it appears there are such folks for Come & Stay claims to have amassed a database of 270 million addresses. It then earns a commission when it is able to elicit a response from those it sends messages to. From CRM Daily: The Danish city of Odense, on a waterlogged island about 80 miles west of Copenhagen, is not exactly a global media capital. Yet in a villa in a quiet residential neighborhood, a new breed of Internet-based marketer is challenging the traditional advertising business model. Come&Stay, with sales last year of $30 million and a market cap of $78 million on NYSE Euronext, does so-called permission-based e-mail advertising for blue-chip...
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China Does the Product Safety Dance

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 8/27/2007 12:13:00 PM
We can dance if we want toWe can leave your friends behind'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't danceWell they're no friends of mineI say, we can go where we want toA place where they will never findAnd we can act like we come from out of this worldLeave the real one far behindAnd we can danceSaving face is a very important concept in Asian cultures. It involves not embarrassing your counterparty too much even if he/she/it has let you down to some extent. In this context, the response of the Chinese to the current brou-ha-ha over the safety of products emanating from the Middle Kingdom is perfectly understandable. In part, it is a cultural misunderstanding. Western media has mercilessly pounced on Chinese products found to be defective as "Poison Me Elmo" or "SpongeBob PoisonPants." Western firms have also been quick to dump their Chinese partners when product safety questions arise.The Chinese would undoubtedly prefer a less confrontational approach to handling the...
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