JPMorgan gears up to tap China's energy IPOs
(Mar 10)
(BEIJING) JPMorgan expects to see more deals and new business in China this year, particularly as new energy and natural resource companies aim to go public to finance rapid expansion, the bank's China boss said yesterday.
Taipei may ask banks to raise reserve ratio
(Mar 10)
(TAIPEI) Taiwan's central bank may follow China and order domestic lenders to set aside more deposits as reserves to curb loan growth and cool surging property and stock prices, according to Citigroup Inc and Standard Chartered plc.
High-rise drama in Nanchang
(Mar 9)
The unnecessary demolition of a 10-year-old hotel in south-east China exposes a shallow commitment to low-carbon development, argues Li Taige.It only takes eight seconds to demolish a four-star hotel.
Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province in south-eastern China, which claims it is en route to becoming a “low carbon city”, has done something almost unbelievable. On February 6, the landmark 22-storey, 86-metre high Wuhu Hotel, which only opened in 1997, was dynamited. The hotel was owned by Hong Kong’s Kaimei Group, which bought it in July, 2007 with a view to adding a further three floors – raising the building to a height of 90 metres – and refurbishing the interior to five-star standards.
The changes were approved by the local planning authorities, but the company then changed its mind. According to a city planner quoted in the city’s Information Daily on November 19 last year, Kaimei became nervous about possible subsidence and abandoned its plans. A new proposal was submi...
New York Times: "Educated and Fearing the Future in China"
(Mar 9)
One reason this blog was started was to give advice to Chinese students on where to study in the UK (for economics and finance). See right hand column and scroll down.
One big issue is the real value of education. Education is seen as very important in China and families will save for 20 years to send their only child to take a postgraduate education for 1 year in the UK.
Does this make sense? Are the returns high enough? The New York Times investigates.
A number of opinions are sought. This article makes a number of important points.
Bottom line - the number of high skilled jobs is not matching supply - result - unemployment of highly educated (and expensively educated) workers.
There is a lot of economics that needs to be considered. (1) too few graduates going into self employment, (2) too much concentration in the coastal cities forcing up wages and house prices, (2), education system and what it really teaches, (4), brain drain.
A Few Rules for Succeeding in China
(Mar 8)
Earlier this morning, the following tweet came across from HBS Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter:
1st rule of success in life: Show up. 2nd rule: Speak up. 3rd rule: Partner up. 4th rule: Never give up.
It was a well timed tweet as (1) I had just returned from an opening ceremony in Chengdu to launch our community [...]
The bank of China holds massive foreign reserves. That is agreed. What is far less clear is what these reserves can be spent on. The man in the street might say - "use the money to build hospitals and schools".
Pettis explains how it really works. This is good and well explained economics (certainly better that I could do without spending a lot of time).
It is important that as many people understand the arguments here as possible especially journalists and fellow economists.
What Pettis misses is that whilst the economics is correct he underestimates the importance of the group of losers he labels "exporters" and the associated jobs. Job creation in China is crucial to maintain political stability. These is a cost to maintaining a low RMB value against the dollar but I suspect the Chinese government sees this as a price worth paying (for the time being).
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