Economics & Convergence
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Governance as Capital Protection: How UOB’s Board Architecture Reinforces Resilience in Singapore’s Banking System
For a systemically important bank, governance is not a compliance layer. It is a capital-protection system that determines how risk is contained, how incentives are shaped, and how confidence is preserved among depositors, investors, and regulators. UOB’s board architecture offers
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‘Sanaenomics’: The Abenomics 2.0 Shift from Deflation to Security
The economic platform of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, quickly dubbed ‘Sanaenomics’, is not a radical break but a clear continuation and evolution of the policies pioneered by her mentor, Shinzō Abe. Where Abenomics was primarily an aggressive strategy to combat
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The Janus-Faced Banker: Hjalmar Schacht and the Tragedy of German Economics
Hjalmar Schacht, a brilliant economist who rescued Germany from hyperinflation, ultimately became an enabler of Nazi atrocities. This profile explores the complexities of his legacy, examining his undeniable brilliance alongside his deeply troubling complicity with evil. Hjalmar Schacht is one
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Otaviano Canuto: The Global War of Subsidies
US bids to limit tech imports and exports send a message of frustration and fear. Prior to her visit to China on April 4 — her second in nine months — Janet Yellen, US Secretary of the Treasury, sent a
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Dollar Strains — Our Currency, Your Problem: Specialised Investment Research and Analysis from PGM Global Inc.
Unlike their DM counterparts, EM central banks have started to cut rates, in some cases aggressively, to offset weakening growth amid high inflation. The rate cuts and the weaker global growth outlook have hurt EM equities and local currency bonds.
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Otaviano Canuto: Some Economies May Soon Face a Hard Landing
Weaker performance of emerging markets is expected in the immediate future. This year began with simultaneous signs of a slowdown in global economic growth and a reorientation toward tightening of monetary policies in advanced economies. In its latest Global Economic
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Global Imbalances and the Pandemic
The International Monetary Fund’s tenth annual External Sector Report (ESR, August 2021) shows how current account deficits in the global economy widened in 2020 during the pandemic. On the other hand, the ESR also argues that overall, the misalignment between
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World Bank on Sustainable Recovery: The Need for Long-Term Financing
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting every country’s health system and economy to a degree not seen for a century or more. In developing countries, mounting an adequate response to address these simultaneous shocks has created fiscal challenges, especially for those
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Otaviano Canuto: Are We on the Verge of a New Commodity Super-Cycle?
Commodity prices have recovered their 2020 losses and, in most cases, are now above pre-pandemic levels (Figure 1). The pace of Chinese growth since 2020 and the economic recovery that has accompanied vaccine rollouts are driving demand upward, while supply
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Brexit: Fishing in Troubled Waters
It’s perhaps a case of having your fish and eating it too. The number of analogies that may be rallied to describe the current standoff between the European Union and the United Kingdom over the post-Brexit assignment fish stocks is
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