Chinese Bank Expands...in Africa

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 10/31/2007 06:49:00 PM
This one caught me somewhat by surprise. I've already coined the term "Yellow Man's Burden" to describe the activities of China in Africa which some say smack of neo-colonialism: tied aid and all that. Well, here's a counterpoint care of columnist Bill Pesek over at Bloomberg. According to him, the world's largest bank by market capitalization, ICBC, is now setting its sights on the African financial services market as a purely business--not political--play:It's rare that a business deal intrigues investors and political scientists alike. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s move to buy 20 percent of Africa's largest...
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Birth Defects and Pollution in China

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 10/31/2007 03:19:00 PM
What is the price of pollution-powered progress? The answer, according to Chinese authorities, includes a rise in birth rate defects likely tied to greater air pollution. In particular, China's boom in coal mines needs to be singled out. You often hear about an environmental Kuznets curve where development is initially accompanied by rising levels of pollution as development progresses but tapers off at later stages once folks become more cognizant of environmental issues. The common worry is that a totalitarian government like China's would not allow such concerns to be voiced. See the example of local authorities jailing an environmentalist for pointing out flagrant pollution. From Agence France Presse:Birth defects in heavily polluted China have increased by nearly 40 percent since 2001, with a deformed baby born every 30 seconds, state media reported on Tuesday.The rate of defects appeared to increase near the country's countless coal mines, which produce the bulk of China's...
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Lay Back and Think of, er, Oil

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 10/31/2007 02:34:00 PM
You may have heard of the "peak oil" theory that petroleum supplies have reached or will soon reach their peak and are set for a long decline. This International Herald Tribune story says otherwise and cites many energy industry experts who point out that there are jillions of barrels yet to be extracted. One of them is Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize, so I am inclined to believe that there's some truth to this story. To them, availability is not an issue but of geopolitics and the economics of extracting the oil. What about alternative energy sources? While they may be less polluting, many believe that their cost-benefit ratios work against their favor. In other words, TINA--there is no alternative (to oil):Energy demand is surging as robust growth in developing economies offsets slower demand in the West. At the same time the scientific warnings are becoming ever starker over the global warming caused by more carbon emissions from fossil fuels.Interest in alternative, sustainable...
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Dubai Dreamscapes & Nightmares

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 10/30/2007 03:48:00 PM
Ah, the wonder that is Dubai. Not only is the emirate reaching for the heavens with towering skyscrapers including one set to be the world's tallest, but it is also attempting to offer any sort of weather condition you want with indoor skiing and man-made beach islands. Pretty much any material thing your heart desires--and your pocketbook will allow--is available in Dubai. But, behind this modern-day tale of an economic boom lie many questions about what exactly is driving it. The Washington Post had a fine politico-architectural commentary [!--read it; I'm not kidding] about the place over the weekend, a brief snippet which...
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"Chinese stocks fairly valued, really"

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 10/30/2007 02:15:00 PM
Which of the following is the world's largest bank by market capitalization?(a) Citigroup(b) Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank(c) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China(d) Bank of AmericaYou may be surprised to know that (c) ICBC, is the correct answer. Given the incredible run-up in Chinese bourses, it was bound to happen sooner or later. In addition, you may know the reason why I threw in (b) Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank in there as well--in 1986, the Japanese bank had surpassed what was then known as Citibank as the world's largest bank in terms of assets. So, is it the same old, same old with China instead of Japan as the flavor of the decade? The following article from Reuters argues no, and gives further reasons as to why Chinese stocks are fairly valued despite their pricey valuations. Basically, it boils down to "China is such a whopping huge market that growth opportunities are humongous."I'm not so sure about that. Certainly there's a bubbly element to these proceedings as Chinese retail...
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China Pushes for FTAs w/ ASEAN

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 10/30/2007 01:39:00 PM
Talk about noodle bowl arrangements galore between China and the ASEAN member countries. Not only is China seeking individual pacts with various ASEAN members, but it is also seeking a regional FTA with ASEAN. With the stalling of the WTO Doha Round, can we expect to see more of these bilateral and regional deals? It seems many countries are still keen on establishing trading ties despite pessimism on a global deal. WTO, we hardly knew ye? From Radio Singapore International:China and ASEAN, should continue to step up dialogue on investment policies and work towards an early conclusion on establishing a free-trade area investment agreement. Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Pei Yan made the call at the start of the Fourth China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit yesterday. Trade between China and its southern neighbours grew to almost US$160 billion last year. China is expected to establish free trade pacts with Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines by...
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EU Steelmakers Call for China Tariffs

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 10/29/2007 11:09:00 PM
This story is a follow-up to a more extensive feature I had on aggrieved Western steelmakers crying foul over China's allegedly subsidized steel exports. It's a noteworthy dispute with EU steel users conflicting with EU steelmakers who are now pressing for China sanctions. Let us recall the side of the EU steel users before proceeding to today's story of metallic woe:European Union steel users sought on Tuesday to counter growing calls by many EU steelmakers for trade barriers against imports from China, saying such measures could drive the industry out of the bloc. European steel executives meeting in Berlin on Monday said they might ask as soon as this month for EU anti-dumping duties against China's fast-growing imports which they say benefit from massive state subsidies.But European engineering association Orgalime, representing national groups whose members include big steel consumers such as Siemens , ABB, and Alcatel-Lucent plus many smaller firms, said China is now vital...
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On Alleged Chinese Scholar-Spies

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 10/29/2007 02:27:00 AM
I usually roll my eyes when I see these sorts of stories concerning Chinese nationals studying and working abroad ferreting trade secrets at the behest of the Communist Party. Too much James Bond cloak-and-dagger stuff I say, the spy who loved me, etc. Not that I deny that this sort of thing goes on--I'm sure it does--but I disavow the more hysterical claims that Chinese scholars and workers should be expelled en masse for this very reason in act of "offensive realism" a la John Mearsheimer to protect national security interests. However, this recent episode has hit pretty close to home. A research fellow at the Chemical Engineering...
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Mundell, Eichengreen on China

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 10/29/2007 01:45:00 AM
The good folks over at Bloomberg, probably noticing my insatiable appetite for all things relating to China's political economy, sent along a note concerning two podcasts of undoubted interest and importance. For your consideration are two segments from Tom Keene's Bloomberg on the Markets program. To start, Nobel Prize in Economics winner Robert Mundell should be known to everyone as the father of the Euro and current advisor to China on handling the renminbi. (I recently featured a Far Eastern Economic Review article on him as well.) In the podcast, Mundell makes four assertions about China that I do not necessarily agree with:Lots of capital is being held back in China by outward exchange controls that will likely ensure that the yuan will depreciate not appreciate if floated;The Chinese banking system is not strong enough to adjust to a slower pace of reserve accumulation; There is little reason to worry about China's sovereign wealth fund buying up foreign concerns for it...
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Kudlow Calls for $ Intervention [!!!]

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 10/28/2007 05:45:00 PM
You know that the debasing and freebasing of the dollar is hitting new lows when even Larry Kudlow, CNBC's champion of free markets, calls for the US government to step in to try and stop the downward spiral. The Kudlowian version of economic history is not one that I necessarily buy or even recognize, but it's undoubtedly one you'll be familiar with. It appears that even Mr. Kudlow isn't buying the Bush administration's "strong dollar" line. Remarkably, he's even calling for concerted action on the part of the US government to stem the decline of the dollar. Gee, Mr. Kudlow, if market forces are telling us that the dollar...
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Can Lake Tai be Saved?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 10/28/2007 05:16:00 PM
The New York Times recently featured a story on how environmental activist Wu Lihong got himself in trouble with local authorities for pointing out the environmental damage being done to Lake Tai in China by industrial pollution. He was eventually thrown in jail for three years. This next follow-up story notes that Chinese officials have now decided to embark on a cleanup of Lake Tai that will cost several billions and--it goes without saying--is by no means guaranteed to work. It is often exasperating how the Chinese government reacts with a "shoot the messenger" mentality over environmental matters not just here but also...
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CSR / the Global Compact Under Fire

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 10/28/2007 04:29:00 PM
It seems activists of various stripes are becoming more skeptical of the whole idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) again. Accusations that CSR is just a PR gimmick and "greenwashing" on environmental matters are resurfacing--see Robert Reich, for example. I've already related the controversy over Berkshire Hathaway / PetroChina. Now, the Economist notes a couple of things. First, various NGOs have expressed dissatisfaction over how John Ruggie--he of "embedded liberalism" fame--has handled the revision of the UN Global Compact concerning CSR matters. Second, many NGOs seem to be retreating from a stance of being willing to work with companies on these matters to a more confrontational stance:The role that business plays in promoting—or abusing—human rights has never been under such scrutiny. As well as Darfur, the uprising in Myanmar has revived criticism of foreign multinationals operating there, such as oil giants Chevron and Total. Meanwhile, more than 3,500 companies...
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UNEP's GEO-4 a Sobering Read

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 10/27/2007 06:20:00 PM
The UN Environmental Program's just-released GEO-4 flagship report puts the state of the environment in blunt terms twenty years after the Brundtland report: There are no major issues raised in Our Common Future for which the foreseeable trends are favourable. Ouch. Once again, the most damning thing about these reports on the state of the environment--unless you're a fundamentalist growth lubber (or Bjorn Lomborg, for that matter)--is that they're likely correct in calling for immediate, concerted action. It's simple, really. No Earth = no political economy or pretty much anything else. The diagram above is UNEP's conceptual...
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On Muslim-European State Relations

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 10/27/2007 05:29:00 PM
The always-insightful Migration Policy Institute (MPI) has just come out with a very topical work concerning how EU states and Muslim communities can work towards a mutually beneficial understanding. Below is the press blurb; you can download the full report too:Two years after urban riots roiled France — and as the European Union’s Year of Intercultural Dialogue approaches in 2008 — a new report provides a roadmap for how European governments can best engage Muslim communities on issues related to religious practice and integration. Islam is Europe’s second largest religion, with at least 15 million Muslims now residing in Europe. In several European cities, the Muslim population exceeds 20 percent. Following current trends, the numbers of Muslims in Europe will continue to grow absolutely and as a proportion of the population. The primary challenges for European governments are to safeguard religious freedoms and to ensure a voice for Muslim populations, while combating...
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Saudi's Foray into Int'l Higher Ed

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 10/27/2007 04:46:00 PM
Sometime ago I featured a series of articles in Newsweek on the competition for supremacy in the realm of international higher education as countries vied for talented scholars and researchers to bolster their science and technology efforts. However, this latest entrant may surprise y'all: the famously repressive Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). King Abdullah is personally overseeing a pricey bid in the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for a piece of the international higher education market to the tune of $12.5 billion--an unimaginable sum by my standards, chump change for the KSA. Like nascent campuses...
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Artificial Reef--Not Reefer--Mania

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 10/26/2007 04:41:00 PM
The Wall Street Journal has a fine feature on so-called "designer reefs" which have been developed to more closely mimic natural reefs. I believe "biomimicry" is the correct term. In the past, creating artificial reefs involved just throwing random stuff into the sea that more often than not just polluted the environment some more. The video clip above describes the work of Todd Barber's Reef Ball Foundation NGO. Elsewhere in the WSJ article, the for-profit efforts of Eco Reefs and others is also described. While these technologies will by no way turn back the tide on dynamite fishing, agricultural runoff, pollution, global warming, and overfishing, they represent innovative efforts to stem widespread loss and degradation of reefs. For those about to reef, we salute you:During a recent dive here, Todd Barber hovered above such familiar tropical sights as red sea sponges, iridescent fish and a half-hidden moray eel. But the coral reefs -- hollow, spherical and made entirely from...
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