The terrible hits that took place the last few months on the global economy took an especially heavy toll on the emerging countries’ economies. The Chinese powerhouse namely, took a severe hit on the front of jobs, sparking hence some social tensions which we mentioned in our past chronicles. It appeared that a universitarian research institution [...]

Yesterday in a meeting I was asked by an investor why, even while I have been writing maniacally about the crucial importance of global cooperation, I was so consistently pessimistic about the possibility of the major economies arriving at a “grand bargain” that will minimize over the long term the cost of the current crisis. [...]

There is some good news about Chinese retail sales, although I am not sure how useful it is because retail sales numbers in China have always been a little hard to reconcile with other indicators of domestic demand. According to an article in today’s Bloomberg: Retail sales in China rose 13 percent during the three-day New [...]

Just a very quick post today, largely consisting of two news articles.  The first comes from Xinhua.   Yesterday, according to the <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-07/05/content_6821817.htm"& [More...]

As far as foreign direct investment in Asia is concerned, China is still the undisputed leader, drawing approximately $42.78 billion in just the first five months of the year, an increase of 55% from the same period a year ago.

But China is coping with a number of growing pains that include higher wages and a strengthening currency. That has left a void for other emerging markets to step up and take the place of a multinational corporation’s best friend.

China used to be thought of as the world’s factory floor - a haven of cheap labor and minimal regulatory oversight for…