Nov 21, 2009
- NewsletterApr 10, 1998
‘He came clean,” was “disarmingly frank,” “told it like it is.” Admirable qualities to Americans, but uncomfortable ones in much of Asia where indirectness is an art, public embarrassments are to be avoided, and dirty laundry isn’t aired in public.
- NewsletterApr 3, 1998
Reports of impending U.S. protectionism against Japan may be exaggerated, but all is not well between Washington and Tokyo. Indeed, the economic crisis in East Asia has exposed some significant fault lines in the U.S.-Japan alliance.
- NewsletterMar 27, 1998
Sooner or later, every emerging economy will face two tests: first, how healthy are its economic and financial structures, and second, how well does its government and private sector manage their financial affairs. The latter can usually be measured by the amount of hard currency debt there is, especially those of short term nature.
- NewsletterMar 20, 1998
As the current round of the Four Party Talks wraps up, American policy towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) should be re-examined.
- NewsletterMar 13, 1998
When many people talk about globalization, they make it seem like it is a recent phenomenon. But globalization has been with us throughout history. When Arab traders came to Melaka centuries ago and brought not only their products but also their religion, that was globalization.
- NewsletterMar 6, 1998
The sight of the Secretary of Defense testifying in January before the House Banking and Financial Services Committee was indicative of the many dimensions to the Asian currency crisis. Secretary Cohen accompanied Treasury Secretary Rubin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Greenspan to urge that the Congress expeditiously approve increased funding for the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- NewsletterFeb 27, 1998
I must admit that I was among those who greeted the news of long-time South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae-jung’s selection last December as his nation’s next president with a certain degree of apprehension. Today, following his recent (25 February) inauguration, things look considerably brighter.
- NewsletterFeb 20, 1998
Jakarta: Everyone I talk to here in Indonesia believes that things will get much worse before they get better. Much more difficult to find is anyone who thinks things will start getting better anytime soon.
- NewsletterFeb 17, 1998
As the United States and its closest allies close ranks on the verge of another major crisis in the Gulf, East Asian countries are standing aside. But unlike their stance during the Gulf War in 1991, many East Asians this time are not so much sitting on the fence as sitting on the opposite side of the fence from the United States and its Western partners.
- NewsletterFeb 6, 1998
Jakarta, Indonesia – The farther this country’s currency, the rupiah, plunges in value relative to the dollar, the more urgent becomes the question: Austerity or liquidity? Which policy is more likely to rescue Indonesia from its worst economic crisis in over thirty years?
