Showing 1 - 10 of 73
Our tariff-era dollar, your problem
Oped, Qiyuan Xu, Published on 04/02/2026
» In 2025, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of major currencies, fell by roughly 9.4%. Over the same period, the United States' average effective tariff rate rose by around 14.4 percentage points, from 2.4% to 16.8%, according to the Yale Budget Lab. Taken together, these shifts imply that, in the import trade domain, the US experienced an effective exchange-rate depreciation of around 24%.
Peace board price tag
Oped, Editorial, Published on 21/01/2026
» Thailand has received an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join his newly proposed "Board of Peace", an organisation ostensibly aimed at overseeing the reconstruction and peace process in Gaza following more than two years of devastating conflict.
No-confidence and poll date in flux
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 14/11/2025
» Amid the drumbeats of military conflict with Cambodia, Thailand's political environment is evidently unruly and unsettled. The minority government of Anutin Charnvirakul, the third prime minister from the third largest-winning party since the latest national election in May 2023, is hard-pressed to stay in office beyond the four-month "Memorandum of Agreement" between his Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) and the People's Party (PP), the largest camp in the national assembly.
'Scam-gate' deserves full accounting
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 24/10/2025
» The explosive revelations and allegations of regional cybercrimes and scam networks have hit Thailand head-on and placed the government of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in an awkward and defensive position. As more facts surrounding what looks like a labyrinthine cross-border multibillion-dollar transnational criminal ring come to light, more questions have surfaced with no clear answers. The Anutin government needs to come clean and avoid a "scam-gate" of cover-ups and lies at the expense of countless scammed victims across many countries.
No time to wait for Thai fiscal reform
Oped, Wichit Chantanusornsiri, Published on 17/09/2025
» The daunting mission of the four-month-old government led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is to revive an economy that has been sluggish for a long time. Can the Anutin government deliver? After all, tackling "bread-and-butter" issues requires fiscal sustainability.
China's unbeatable new export is not a product
Oped, Jeffrey Wu, Published on 24/07/2025
» The Chinese "cannot be allowed to export their way back to prosperity", argues US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, who claims that China's economy is the "most unbalanced in history". Such remarks reflect the growing fear in Washington that China's overcapacity, subsidies, and dumping are distorting global trade.
Australia should hope for Aukus to collapse
Oped, Gareth Evans, Published on 19/06/2025
» The Aukus partnership, the 2021 deal whereby the United States and the United Kingdom agreed to provide Australia with at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines over the next three decades, has come under review by the US Defence Department.
Why US Treasury yields are rising
Oped, Dambisa Moyo, Published on 16/06/2025
» Sovereign bond yields have been rising sharply around the world, driven by growing concerns over US President Donald Trump's economic policies and an increasingly uncertain global outlook. In less than a month, the yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped by 50 basis points to 4.6%. And in May alone, the 30-year Treasury rate rose by 30 basis points, briefly topping 5%.
Thailand needs a geostrategic rebalance
Oped, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Published on 06/06/2025
» With two military coups and multiple judicial interventions that combined to subvert election results and weaken democratic institutions over the past two decades, it is unsurprising that Thailand's geostrategic position has leaned increasingly towards China. Naturally, the more Thailand becomes autocratic, the more it will be estranged from established democracies in Europe and North America, as well as Japan and South Korea, with nowhere to turn but to Beijing. But this China orientation is a geostrategic mistake at this time. Thailand should correct its course until clearer signs emerge as to which side of the superpower struggle will come out on top.
US fiscal state is everyone's issue
Oped, Paola Subacchi, Published on 28/05/2025
» As Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" tax bill heads to the US Senate, investors everywhere are growing increasingly uneasy. On May 16, the credit-rating agency Moody's downgraded US sovereign debt from its long-held triple-A status to Aa1 -- following similar decisions by Standard & Poor's (in 2011) and Fitch Ratings (2023). Given the sheer volume of US debt -- which now stands at $36 trillion, or 124% of GDP -- and rising interest costs, these institutions have concluded that US debt metrics are no longer in line with those of similarly rated sovereigns.