• OPINION

  China needs to eliminate its market contradictions

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 11/01/2016

  » Another tumultuous week for China's stock markets has dealt yet another blow to global confidence in Beijing's policy makers. Each tripped circuit-breaker and policy reversal has underscored the inherent contradiction China faces -- between the leadership's desire for the certainty of state control and the benefits of free markets.

• OPINION

  Confucius' guide to foreign trade

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 12/08/2016

  » Confucius was once asked if there was a single word that could act as a guide throughout one's life. "Reciprocity", the sage responded. He then preached a form of the Golden Rule: "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."

• OPINION

  Is Japan simply too scared of becoming a success?

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 02/11/2016

  » Of all of the scary economic data that routinely streams out of Japan, this statistic should terrify you: $800 million (about 28 billion baht). That's the total value of venture capital deals completed in Japan in 2015, according to accounting firm Ernst & Young. Compare that to $72 billion in the US and $49 billion in China. Even tiny Israel managed $2.6 billion in deals.

• OPINION

  Protests point to more than scandal

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 02/12/2016

  » The first big story I covered as a young correspondent in South Korea was a corruption scandal. Two former presidents were found guilty of, among other things, amassing fortunes with payoffs from the country's major business groups, called chaebol. That was 1996.

• OPINION

  Anti-trade policies would make the poor poorer

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 25/01/2017

  » Without question, the most exciting economic story of the past half century has been the dramatic, and probably unprecedented, decline in global poverty. In a recent study, the World Bank estimated that in 2015, just over 700 million people remained trapped in desperate poverty, or 9.6% of the world's population. Those sound like big numbers until you compare them to 1990, when nearly two billion people languished in poverty -- a staggering 37% of the global populace. Such progress has raised the real possibility that extreme poverty can be eradicated in the not-too-distant future.

• OPINION

  Asia's strongmen not strong enough

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 21/02/2017

  » Across Asia, the world has supposedly been witnessing the return of the strongman. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been grasping more and more control in his own hands since claiming power in 2012. Two years later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India and President Joko Widodo (known as "Jokowi") in Indonesia won office by selling themselves as forceful economic and political reformers. All three were heralded as the firm hands these giant developing nations needed to rejuvenate their promising but troubled economies.

• OPINION

  Zombie firms threaten Asia's future

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 04/04/2017

  » Any horror aficionado knows that the only good zombie is a dead zombie. Don't risk trying to bring one back to life. It'll just come back to bite you.

• OPINION

  Trump and Xi could well break the global system

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 07/04/2017

  » The world's two most powerful leaders appear to come from different planets. Real estate billionaire Donald Trump craves media attention, loves golf and governs through Twitter. Communist Party boss Xi Jinping evades the public, shutters golf courses and bans Twitter. Sure, at their first meeting at Mr Trump's Florida club this week, the two men may discover some mutual interests -- say, a shared contempt for The New York Times. But they seem unlikely to hit it off.

• OPINION

  China takes enlightened approach to technology

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 28/04/2017

  » Amazon's Jeff Bezos has made a career of being first in e-commerce. But in one critical area, he's falling behind -- thanks to Washington. While Mr Bezos has been eager to deliver orders to customers in the United States with drones, Amazon's efforts have so far been stymied by outdated regulations.

• OPINION

  South Korea's next leader must focus on growth

  News, Michael Schuman, Published on 10/05/2017

  » So much attention is being lavished on the nuclear-edged tantrums of Kim Jong-un in North Korea that the presidential election on the southern half of the Korean peninsula has gone practically unnoticed. But the outcome may be nearly as critical for the region's future as the fate of Mr Kim's weapons programme.

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