Showing 11 - 20 of 196
Industry rules are broken, not cryptocurrencies
News, Published on 31/08/2023
» When the Venetian merchant Marco Polo travelled the Silk Road in the thirteenth century, he encountered not only unfamiliar peoples, but also new (to him) forms of finance. In China, he was shocked to learn that Kublai Khan had introduced paper money. It was lighter, easier to transfer and store, and more valuable than the metal coins packed in his purse. After returning to Venice, Marco Polo taught his fellow merchants how to use the Khan's innovation. Even though some rejected the flat, foldable currency, arguing that it was no gold and never would be, paper money would change the world.
Why do I smell tom yum kung cooking?
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 10/08/2023
» Readers who follow my bi-weekly economic column will have no doubt that the tom yum kung I am referring to is not a traditional Thai soup dish but the financial crisis of 1997.
Riots' deja vu raises the stakes
News, Published on 04/07/2023
» A teenager killed by police in a Paris suburb. A wave of anger that morphs into widespread rioting and opportunistic looting. A tough law-and-order response followed by an appeal for unity and calm -- and a political call for action that fades over time.
Time for an Asian Monetary Fund
Oped, Published on 14/06/2023
» Although the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has long been the most prominent global institution for promoting financial stability, calls to create regional alternatives are growing louder.
Japan's giant of central banking
Oped, Koichi Hamada, Published on 16/05/2023
» Haruhiko Kuroda's ten-year tenure at the helm of the Bank of Japan was the most consequential in the central bank's history. Following his departure last month, it is worth reflecting on his record.
The simmering movement towards de-dollarisation
Oped, Published on 25/04/2023
» In the hopes of pressuring Russia to capitulate, the United States implemented a series of punitive sanctions last year, freezing a whopping $300 billion of Russia's foreign currency reserves and booting major Russian banks from the interbank messaging service used for international payments, SWIFT.
Vietnam's 'bamboo' foreign policy clout
Oped, Kavi Chongkittavorn, Published on 25/04/2023
» Vietnam is the only Southeast Asian country at this critical moment to be facing a major challenge as it attempts to juggle the three great powers -- China, Russia, and the US -- simultaneously. It is as if Hanoi is keeping a dagger, a bomb, and a gun in perpetual mid-air flight to ensure the tripartite relations will not crash along the way. It is bamboo diplomacy Vietnamese style, at its very best in keeping these extraordinary allies and friends at bay. In recent years, the bamboo policy description has been widely used due to the country's distinctive diplomacy.
Brazil's Lula throws Brics at the US dollar
Oped, Published on 22/04/2023
» The writing was on the wall. But when Brazil's left-wing president Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva visited China recently, he flamboyantly underscored economic and security ties between Latin America's largest democracy and the world's largest dictatorship. Significantly he took steps to decouple much of Brazil's vibrant commerce from using the US dollar and shifting the trade instead to the Chinese currency, the yuan.
Power corrupts – with help from higher-ups
Life, Patcharawalai Sanyanusin, Published on 13/02/2023
» I don't know whether our tourism will be affected by recent coverage of Taiwanese actress Charlene An's police extortion case. It made big headlines in Thai media for weeks and was reported in many international media outlets as well.
Putting a dampener on Thai recovery
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 26/01/2023
» After three years in which the economy suffered from Covid effects, I am sorry to say that 2023 will not be the year of economic recovery as everyone had hoped. The global economy will still be plagued by inflation threats and several adverse factors such as excessive debt and the Russia-Ukraine war. These negative factors prompted the World Bank to revise its global economic growth prospects downward from 3.0% to 1.7% for 2023. The key point is a marked slowdown from 2.9% growth in 2022.