The sheer difficulty of cracking BlackBerry encryption has made several states wary of the Research In Motion service operating in their countries. As a compromise on national security-esque grounds, the Canadian firm RIM has located its servers within the countries that raise such concerns instead of at home--most famously the UAE:Last year, the UAE threatened to suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and web browser services unless RIM worked out a way to locate its encrypted computer servers in the country so the state could get access to email and other data -- the same access it says the United States, Russia and other states have.That concession granted to some, it appears Indonesia is now complaining about how Singapore was made the location of RIM's Southeast Asia servers instead of the region's largest nation and largest user of the popular BlackBerry service. The mooted penalty for this betrayal of sorts is (once again) banning BlackBerry from operating in Indonesia. Via...
Singapore's Fat-Fighting Tool: Military Conscription
Given its sheer girth, the globalization of American-style obesity is not a problem you can sit on and forget about. Industrialized countries already burdened with sizeable health and pensions obligations may, in all likelihood, be underestimating this weighty problem as their citizens become US-huge and encounter all sorts of related problems. Aside from the aesthetic pitfalls of being a nation of fatties, there is an all-you-can-eat buffet of illnesses associated with mega-tubbiness.Venerable medical journal The Lancet recently featured a series of alarming studies about the consequences of what medical types call "obesogenic"...
Like Japan's, I Wish My Gov't Held RMB Bonds
This holiday season has been quite active on the IPE front; enough to keep me on my toes. No sooner did some journalists pooh-pooh China's attempts to revitalize the yuan and I too cast doubt on Arvind Subramanian's idea that the yuan would become the world's dominant currency by 2021 that we come across news that China is redoubling its efforts in internationalizing its currency. They are small moves, yes, but this pattern of gradual experimentation should not be dismissed. After all, this formula appears to have taken China from its pre-1979 state to being the world's second largest economy outright.In any event, the main...
2012 EU Carbon Tax on Airlines: US, China Whine
For some strange reason, the end of the year--especially between Christmas and New Year--is an especially busy one for trade matters. Sometime ago I discussed how Airbus was in danger of losing aircraft orders due to China being wary of impending EU regulations subjecting even foreign airlines to EU carbon limits under the Emissions Trading System (ETS). If you're unfamiliar with it, PriceWaterhouseCoopers has a neat summary as it applies to airlines. At the start of 2012, these emissions laws will come into effect. North American airlines mounted a challenge recently, but were not entertained by the European legal powers-that-be:The...
Bid the EUR Adieu, Re-Enter PTE, ITL, GRD, ESP?
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Credit Crisis,Europe
at 12/25/2011 07:27:00 AM
Respectively, those are the symbols for the (currently) defunct Portugese escudo, Italian lira, Greek drachma and Spanish peseta.The most financially morbid article of 2011 comes from the Wall Street Journal. While we still await the killing off of the euro predicted by the FT's Wolfgang Munchau, EMU hater (more later), it appears that major European banks have wasted no time in paving the way for the return of the alphabet soup of currencies the continent had back in the day. The debate on whether benefits of a single currency outweigh those of having multiple currencies that can be debased at a whim--and which the likes...
Your Top Migration Stories of 2011
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Migration
at 12/23/2011 04:42:00 PM
The Migration Information Source lists its top migration stories for 2011. You have the usual xenophobia. But, the main themes are evenly split between human security issues involving unstable Middle East states and economic migrants fleeing economic, not combat, warzones in traditional migrant-receiving nations that have seen better times in search for greener pastures in faster-growing developing countries--some of which they left in the first place. Things change, my dear:1. Arab Spring and Fear of Migrant Surge Expose Rift in EU Immigration Policy Circles - The Arab Spring exposed critical weaknesses and exacerbated long-held disagreements within the European Union related to asylum, immigration, and external border control policy matters that spilled over into the operation of the Schengen area. 2. Economic Malaise Makes Immigrants a Target for Restrictive Legislation, Public Backlash - With unemployment rates remaining persistently high in the wake...
Filipino Migrant Workers & Middle East Crossfire
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Middle East,Migration
at 12/23/2011 04:15:00 PM
What is the responsibility of a migrant-sending nation to its people overseas during times of trouble o'er yonder? I suppose it depends on the level of encouragement that the nation in question provides to finding work abroad. In the case of the Philippines with its substantial state infrastructure for helping its citizens find work overseas, perhaps a larger burden of ensuring safety when push comes to shove is placed on the government. insofar as the government is seen as a promoter of large-scale migration, its obligations are more extensive. Hence the constantly depressing coverage of seafarers picked off by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.Additionally, something striking has been how overseas Filipino workers manage to find themselves caught in virtually every shakeout in the Middle East in recent years. You name it: Lebanon in 2006; Egypt and Libya in 2011...and this year ain't over yet. Compared to those conflagrations, the situation in Syria has been protracted:The Philippines...
'Nature's Banker' on Proper Environment Valuation
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Environment
at 12/21/2011 08:06:00 AM
A few months ago Pavan Sukhdev delivered a very interesting talk at the LSE concerning 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Diversity' that brought home the point for me that resource finitude and non-renewability violate economic logic. That is, the dismal science of allocating scarce resources did not, on a global level, consider this question to the extent that it should.I subsequently got in touch with Pavan Sukhdev concerning some aspect of his G8-commissioned project since it seemed very fascinating to me. It now turns out that our good man has garnered more of the spotlight as of late. Just today, I received a holiday greeting from him that mentioned how he had recently appeared at the TED conference. Although I am not the biggest fan of the TED shindig, it is nonetheless a good way for him to reach a larger audience with his important message.What is the value of nature? Can you put a dollar value on the Amazon rainforests' environmental services? How about bee pollination?...
Game Over, America: RMB Eclipses $ by 2021
Or so someone now says. Publicity-seeking economic commentators like making bold predictions that sometimes cause them to lose face. Alike various doomsday cult pronouncements that the world will come to an end at a certain date, there is no hiding from being discredited when giving certain dates for things to pass since you can't obviously weasel your way out of them. When you make a public pronouncement, it's on the record. For instance, Wolfgang Munchau is probably eating humble pie at the moment after his 7 December deadline for the euro's abolition came and went with nary a whimper. We're still waiting, bub.I bring this...
Manifold Destiny: PRC Slaps Tariffs On US Autos
You can say that eventual trade war is written in the stars above between the world's two largest nations, though here's another example of a skirmish testing the waters. There I was enjoying the holiday season, watching A Charlie Brown Christmas for the nth time when the Yahoo! front page news item from Forbes caught my eye about how "China Gets Revenge On Obama With Tariff On US Autos." The first few lines provide the gist of the PRC argument against alleged US subsidies to the automotive industry:President Barack Obama hit China automobile tire makers with a trade tariff in 2009 and now Beijing has struck back with a potentially...
Holy Guacamole, Russia Finally Joins WTO Today!
Yikes, it's finally happening: While the WTO ministerial meetings will almost certainly result in nothing substantial, Russia's road to WTO accession is finally over. As you've gathered through my posts over the years, it's been a long, circuitous process [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. In latter times, the requirement that all WTO members assent to Russian membership has been delayed by Georgia naturally feeling aggrieved over border quarrels with Russia over breakaway provinces Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Think of being unfree to conduct trade with parts of your own country due to another's interference and you can begin to appreciate Georgia's apprehension.Yet all things must come to pass. Tonight, a night to end all nights in the history of trade negotiations, Russia joins the WTO:Russia is finally set to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday at a ceremony in Switzerland, after 18 years negotiating its membership. The Swiss brokered a deal between Russia...
Hey Saint Jude: The Lost Cause of the UK in the EU
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Europe
at 12/12/2011 01:54:00 PM
For non-Catholic readers, the apostle Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. (He too features in a lot of trinkets as a commercial racket arising from this fame). Over the past few days, I've been thinking of him in relation to the plight of Britain in the European Union. For, the strains of UK membership in Europe are appearing once more. From chafing against contributing to the system of agricultural subsidies known as the Common Agricultural Policy to not joining the Eurozone, Britain's independent streak has always rendered it a less than fully fledged member of the EU in the eyes of many.By now, I am sure that you have heard of how Britain has managed to further marginalize itself by effectively vetoing an EU treaty change that would entail more enforceable limits on the fiscal deficits Eurozone member countries can run. Which, of course, is churlish since the British famously have not adopted euro currency. nor do they intend to join the eurozone for the foreseeable...
Indian Retail: Mom & Pop 1, Wal-Mart 0
It's somewhat unimaginable for those in Britain for the corner store to politically outmaneuver the likes of mighty retailing giant Tesco, or for those in America to have the Kwik-E-Mart outfox the likes of massive Wal-Mart. Well, in India at least, it seems the little guys have outdone the international retailers at the lobbying game. For, the government has just shelved plans to allow stores to stock more variegated "multibrand" fare that would have paved the way for international retailers alike Tesco, Wal-Mart and Carrefour to begin plying their trade on a larger scale in India.Alike in many other Asian countries, the...
CSR in Iran? My Way or the Huawei (Router Mfg)
There's an interesting article in the WSJ on the recent pullback of Chinese router manufacturer Huawei from doing business with Iran. Given the perceived willingness of Chinese firms to go where Western MNCs dare not roam due to limitations on investing in certain bogey nations alike (yes) Iran, Myanmar and North Korea, this occurrence is eye-opening at the very least. That is, are even Chinese corporations (with government ties, no less) subject to international pressure regarding Iran's alleged nuclear programme, human rights abuses and so forth?Chinese telecommunications- equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. said it...
Multilateralism Ain't Dead: A Climate Deal in Durban
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Economic Diplomacy,Environment
at 12/11/2011 11:33:00 AM
Well here's a pleasant surprise: while the fine print remains to be hammered out and non-ratification by the countries concerned remains a distinct possibility, the broad outlines of a multilateral climate deal are in place. While many economics and even IPE blogs do not cover climate change, it is obviously an important and relevant topic since efforts to combat it (a) indirectly place limits on economic activity, (b) shift the relative attractiveness of more- and less-carbon intensive industries and (c) implicate North-South technology transfer in reducing LDC emissions. As my post title intones, there's also the matter of it (d) indicating appetite for multilateral negotiations in general.Of particular interest it that the world's worst climate offenders, China and the US, have both (tentatively?) assented to having their carbon emissions bound by international law. This result gets around the "if [China; the US] refuses to be involved despite being a major emitter, then why...
Obama, Bushite Climate Obstructionist or Hero?
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Americana,Environment
at 12/08/2011 11:58:00 AM
It's Christmastime, there's no need to be afraid...or is there? One thing for sure is that there will be no snow in Africa this Christmas. Or maybe even a partial deal on combating global warming, for that matter. For the third year running, the end-of-year multilateral agenda is dominated by climate change given that the WTO Doha Development Agenda is in limbo. One of the difficulties with the ongoing meeting in Durban, South Africa concerns establishing a Green Climate Fund. It is meant to, well, fund technology transfer from developed to developing nations for combating climate change. Supposedly, the Durban shindig was...
'China's Reserves Have Fallen 3 Months In a Row'
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in China
at 12/07/2011 11:13:00 AM
Well here's a very positive development from my point of view and perhaps nearly everyone else's. China having an unfathomably huge $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves may prove to be the apotheosis of a supremely wasteful activity. It is, to me, the largest financial folly in world history--and certainly in nominal amounts. This misallocation of capital has obviously not benefited China's citizens much in receiving public benefits but has fuelled wasteful excesses elsewhere such as funding American tomfoolery through the Afghanistan and Iraq misadventures as well as the subprime crisis.While Chinese policymakers have long called for rebalancing their economy towards domestic demand, it has not really been evident over the years. Well things may be changing (at long last). Remember, too, that debates in China happen alike those elsewhere in the world between export lobbies that would like to maintain the status quo of dirt-cheap, essentially subsidized inputs and those...
Yes, the Main Beneficiary of the Euro Was...the UK
♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Credit Crisis,Europe
at 12/07/2011 10:57:00 AM
Probably one of the major irritants in always tense "UK in the EU" relations is the former's ability to corner a lot of the market in trading the currency as well as other euro-denominated instruments. Both are quite interdependent; I would say that London is Europe's financial casino. One observation is the historically close correlation between euro and British pound movements. One can also argue, however, that Britain's status as a top euro-trading centre makes its financial services arguably even more sensitive to fluctuations in that currency's fortunes than those of EMU members.So goes the euro currency, so goes the...