Why India Beat China to Homegrown Smartphone OS

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 7/31/2016 01:16:00 PM
Indus OS accommodates the hundreds of millions of Indians who do not speak English. There's an article in Bloomberg that portrays the success of India's homegrown smartphone operating system Indus OS to harnessing market forces instead of heavy-handed government intervention. To be sure, there are advantages to having one's own operating system instead of relying on off-the-shelf offerings from Apple (iOS) or Alphabet (Android). Aside from being to develop software meeting one's needs and desires, the royalties emanating from software and app sales accrue more to a nation's firms instead of the American tech giants. Whereas...
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No #$%^: IMF Audit Finds Greece Lending 'Politicized'

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 7/28/2016 05:45:00 PM
The IMF's Greek interventions are criticized by its own independent evaluation office. I suppose this one's as stale already as the UK's Chilcot Report released just this year on Britain's rush to join the United States in the 2003 Iraqi invasion, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless given that this is purportedly the international political economy zone. Today, the IMF Independent Evaluation Office which monitors the IMF's conduct released its findings on the post-global financial crisis bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Just as the Chilcot Report found Blair government guilty of a rush to war in 2003, the IMF...
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Take Oil Inventory Data With a Grain of Salt

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 7/27/2016 12:30:00 AM
US oil inventories are more or less known; those of others are a mystery. There is an informative article over at Oilprice.com on the need for a critical eye when interpreting oil inventory reports. While this data can significantly affect spot prices for two crude oil benchmarks--West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent--there are caveats. Essentially, there are concerns over the coverage and accuracy of these figures. Both these factors should make observers more vigilant. Consider first that inventory data is largely US-based. Namely, the weekly series provided by US agency the Energy Information Administration (EIA)....
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The Day Kickass Torrents 'Died'

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 7/24/2016 05:07:00 PM
"Hmm...we may not be watching the latest Game of Thrones episode tonight, dear." Strictly out of [ahem] professional curiosity, I have covered official efforts to crack down on torrent sites distributing copyrighted material for "free," to the outrage of their respective copyright holders. With the most remunerative activities going into intellectual property--and the wealthiest countries being the largest producers of IP--efforts to enforce IP laws will always be there. Most major torrent sites have been harassed or shut down at one point or another--among other: Isohunt, the Pirate Bay, Demonoid, and so on. Despite having...
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Count 'Em! Asia Eclipses N America in Wealthy Folks

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 7/21/2016 06:42:00 PM
Come to where the money is: the Asia-Pacific region. With the world's center of economic gravity heading eastwards, it was perhaps inevitable that the region with the most high net worth individuals (HNWI)--defined as those with $1 million investible wealth or more--would be Asia instead of North America as of 2014. What's more, Asia's HNWI also collectively hold more than their North American counterparts. This happened just last year according to Capgemini's World Wealth Report. Note that unlike the Boston Consulting Group compilation, this one includes Japan: Asia Pacific raced past North America in 2015 to become the...
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The 1 Percenter: 'Japanification' of US Treasuries

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in ,, at 7/11/2016 01:34:00 PM
How low can you go? US Treasuries do the limbo rock. There's a depressing article in Bloomberg in which some Japanese prognosticators believe that US Treasuries are headed to where (negative yield) Japanese government bonds (JGBs) already are. First will come sub-1% yields on the 10-year note. Then will come the coup de grace perhaps of negative interest rates. While this prospect is truly horrifying for what it means for the world economy, the Japanese should know a thing or two about a bond world turned upside down where you get less in return for lending out money: Japan’s biggest bond bulls, seasoned by two decades...
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Brexit & the Beautician: The Unlikeliest EU Champion

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 7/09/2016 03:13:00 PM
Brexit's aftermath has literally had everything, from Tinky Winky to a hairdresser being the UK's would-be savior. You couldn't make it up. It makes the [political drama] House of Cards look like the Teletubbies - Conservative MP Nigel Evans. The  utterly misguided outcome of the UK referendum on remaining in the EU has revealed the true colors of a large collection of heroes, rogues, opportunists and others. Amid once-in-a-lifetime market swings, the character of any number of individuals is becoming evident. For instance, crass opportunism, backstabbing and betrayal have characterized the race to succeed outgoing...
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Brexit Issue 27,024: UK Has Few Trade Negotiatiors

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 7/06/2016 03:43:00 PM
Basically, the UK is throwing all this away and must start anew--while lacking folks with trade negotiation expertise. Let's turn our attention once more to the so-called "United Kingdom". With its nations pulling apart--isolationist England and Wales struggling to keep Europhile Scotland and Northern Ireland from leaving--its self-inflicted wounds are manifold. At the moment, the Financial Times has an incongruously chipper video about the sheer economic stupidity of leaving the EU and alternative trade arrangements that it can now strike with the EU. As you may have guessed, all are inferior to what the UK now has. ...
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European Citizens [Heart] EU More After Brexit

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in at 7/04/2016 06:36:00 PM
Danes are against @#$%ing themselves up, British style. As an inveterate worrier, I feared that the UK voting to leave the EU in an admittedly ill-conceived referendum would make others in the union clamor for something similar. If enough demanded an exit, it would spell the end of the EU as we know it--and likely the euro currency. (In the era of Trump, you never know.) The domino effect would have been started by the British with likely no end in sight among the other 27. But surprises of surprises, what seems to be happening instead is that the others are valuing their EU membership more in the aftermath of the shock...
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Brexit's Biggest Loser: 'Superman' Li Ka-shing?

♠ Posted by Emmanuel in , at 7/02/2016 04:54:00 PM
The person on the left is now trying to mitigate commercial damage from the person on the right's loyal subjects. Hong Kong tycoon Sir Li Ka-shing [he was a crown subject prior to the colony's 1997 handover and can therefore use this designation] is known as "Superman" for his business acumen. It has turned a high school dropout into Asia's wealthiest or second-wealthiest person [check here]. From his home base, his diversified empire has expanded to much of the rest of the world. Needless to say, while he has made some mistakes here and there, Li has seldom been wrong on big things like betting that the PRC would not destroy...
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