Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Thai-US trade talks are likely to fail
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 15/05/2025
» Don't get too excited over news the temporary trade deal between China and the US will mean friendly negotiations with other countries. The US government still aims for higher import tax income to narrow its monstrous fiscal deficit. As explained in a previous article, Donald Trump would love to see an average tariff rate of around 20% or higher on imports. Higher customs revenue already allowed the US to achieve a budget surplus of US$258 billion (8.5 trillion baht) in April. The figure incorporates only a 10% universal tariff, as full reciprocal tariffs were postponed for 90 days from April 8. Just imagine how nice the US budget position would be with 20% or more import tariff revenue?
20 years of errors can't be fixed easily
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 30/05/2024
» I have a strong feeling that piecemeal measures are what the economy is going to get from the government to combat Thailand's long-standing economic problems.
Stark reality behind economic figures
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 16/05/2024
» At the time of writing this, the official Q1 GDP has not been announced by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC). I expect the growth figure will be around 1.2%. My own estimation, using the Output Approach and actual sectoral production index, gives a growth figure of 0.98%. Detailed data are in the below table.
Structural flaws impede our economy
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 21/03/2024
» It took Japan 17 years to learn that a macroeconomic policy is for stabilising an economy, not stimulating growth. Due to low economic growth in the "lost decade" following the financial crisis in the autumn of 1997, the Bank of Japan adopted an unthinkable monetary policy of a negative interest rate in 2007 by pushing the short-term policy rate down to -0.1%.
Measuring poverty appropriately
Oped, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Published on 18/02/2022
» The 2019 Oscar-winning film Parasite attracted a global audience for its arresting portrayal of South Korea's stark income inequality. The movie's rendering of a low-income household's acute sense of alienation resonated widely, no doubt because similar sentiments are palpable in many other countries. And the gap between the haves and have-nots is growing, thanks to the dual challenges of Covid-19 and climate change.
Food safety: we must all do our bit
Oped, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Published on 09/06/2021
» World Food Safety Day was on Monday and to mark it the World Health Organization South-East Asia region is calling for intensified whole-of-society efforts to prevent, detect and manage the risk of foodborne disease (FBD). Globally, nearly 600 million people fall sick and 420 000 people die every year due to consumption of unsafe food. SE Asia contributes a quarter of the global burden of FBD morbidity and nearly 42% of FBD mortality. Safe food is critical to promoting health and ending hunger, two of the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The use of antimicrobials in farm animals is a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a health and development threat and one of the region's eight flagship priorities. The theme of this year's celebration, "Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow", highlights the benefits of safe food production and consumption for people, the planet and economies. We must all do our part.
Industry 4.0 gives manufacturing a lift
Oped, Kanyathorn Poglad, Published on 07/10/2020
» For Industry Minister Suriya Jungrungraeangkit, the worst of the pandemic gloom seems to be over for the Thai manufacturing sector. The industrial sector has rebounded, with a month-on-month growth in the Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) since June this year.