Asia-Pacific

The bubble in predicting the end of the world

1 Dec 2022

The globe faces multiple threats to peace and prosperity. Several new books address the challenges of enormous debt, geopolitical rivalries and climate change, predicting disastrous consequences. The best thing investors can do is keep a level head, writes Edward Chancellor.

Capital Calls: Farfetch

1 Dec 2022

Concise views on global finance: Shares of the New York-listed online retailer dropped over 20% as its plan to sell e-commerce services to luxury groups like Salvatore Ferragamo failed to convince investors.

China’s messy options for ending zero-Covid

1 Dec 2022

Protests broke out across the People’s Republic this week as authorities tightened lockdowns to contain the virus. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss the difficulties of walking back a policy that leader Xi Jinping has convinced the country is necessary.

Blackstone mall IPO puts wealthy India on display

1 Dec 2022

Brands like Zara suffer from a dearth of quality shopping centres like those the asset manager is floating. Its portfolio boasts high occupancy rates in both posh and up-and-coming locations. Owners collect rent plus a share of revenue. That’s compelling as the rich get richer.

Taiwan’s Foxconn slowly checks into iPhone detox

1 Dec 2022

The $45 bln electronics maker’s relationship with Apple was a money-spinner. Yet even before protests disrupted Chinese production lines in November, the latter was hedging its dependence on Foxconn, denting profitability. Withdrawal will be gradual, painful and healthy.

Jiang Zemin made China richer and more unequal

30 Nov 2022

China embraced entrepreneurs, developed markets and alleviated poverty under former President Jiang Zemin, who has died aged 96. His pragmatism probably saved the Communist Party. But the inequality his era spawned still haunts his successors.

Capital Calls: DoorDash puts profit on the menu

30 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The food-delivery service’s job cuts should pave the way to a stronger bottom line.

China property bailouts leave most out in the cold

30 Nov 2022

Beijing is letting homebuilders use equity financing again, and state banks extended $220 bln in new credit lines. But policymakers want to avoid propping up the whole market, so only a handful of developers passed the test. The rest face more stress – as do foreign bondholders.

Consumer spending anomalies are the new norm

29 Nov 2022

High inflation and glum sentiment are changing how people use their money. In this edition of The Exchange podcast, Brookings Institution economist Wendy Edelberg explains what shoppers are loath to give up during times of duress and why strange patterns will persist.

Capital Calls: Funky debt shock

29 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: Germany property group Aroundtown won’t be the last to flout bond market convention on hybrid debt.

Private equity’s pay boom may have peaked

29 Nov 2022

The average European buyout partner has 20 mln euros of outstanding carried interest in their current fund, reckons Heidrick & Struggles, up a quarter from 2021. Junior wages soared. Yet a possible fundraising slowdown and layoffs elsewhere in finance will slow the gravy train.

China decoupling takes one step forward, one back

29 Nov 2022

Wealthy nations want to cut their reliance on the country’s factories and consumers. That’s happening in goods like electronics and auto parts, but trade and investment trends show the opposite in electric vehicles and other areas. The world is as dependent on China as before.

Capital Calls: Transatlantic chemicals deal

28 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: A potential acquisition of Univar by $10 bln German chemical distributor Brenntag makes sense, but investors may fear a bidding war.

China Covid ills go from bad to chronically worse

28 Nov 2022

Nationwide protests will pressure Beijing to ease strict lockdowns. Yet officials have dragged their feet for the past two years: some 27 mln elderly are unjabbed and they face a shortage of hospital beds. These failures are quickly narrowing China’s reopening options.

Protests leave China facing a terrible trilemma

28 Nov 2022

Officials’ muddled response to spiking Covid cases has set off unrest spanning cities and social classes. The government, having wasted over two years declaring victory, must now deal with political instability, contain disease and salvage growth. There is no easy way out.

How to design a formula to pay for climate loss

28 Nov 2022

COP27 saw countries agree to a “loss and damage” fund to help states bear the effects of climate change. But it didn’t say how it would work. Hugo Dixon proposes a formula which encourages countries to cut carbon emissions by pinning the cost on the biggest polluters.

Tycoons school banks in Indian retailer debt mess

25 Nov 2022

Thirteen suitors are queuing up to buy Future Retail out of bankruptcy, boding well for creditors’ prospects of resolving $3 bln of claims. Despite new rules, the saga has benefited Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance at the expense of lenders. Big business still has the upper hand.

Crypto winter highlights gold’s warming qualities

25 Nov 2022

The collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has institutional investors fleeing and regulators closing in. True believers argue their vision of decentralised digital money still holds. In a less dystopian world, the yellow metal may have more appeal, says Edward Chancellor.

FTX collapse consigns crypto to fringes of finance

24 Nov 2022

Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed crypto exchange is a huge blow to the ailing sector. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how firewalls helped protect banks, how the saga will embolden regulators, and what the future looks like for digital currencies.

Capital Calls: Fuzzy Fedspeak, Dr. Martens

24 Nov 2022

Concise views on global finance: The U.S. central bank has left traders guessing the meaning of the word “various”; shares in the recently listed British bootmaker fell 20% after sales missed expectations, and a warning that its investment needs will hurt profitability.