A DECADE from now, you might wake up in the morning and: Step on scales that quickly shoot data to a service provider that helps you decide how long and hard to exercise on the treadmill that day. Brush your teeth with a toothbrush that sends data to a local dentist. This will give early […]
Asian Chemical Connections
The Failure Of Abenomics Should Be No Surprise
By John Richardson The steepest decline in Japanese industrial production since March 2011 has shocked some commentators. We cannot understand why. “Industrial output dropped 3.3% in June from May, the trade ministry said today in Tokyo, more than twice the median forecast for a 1.2% contraction in a Bloomberg News survey of 31 economists. The […]
Central Banks Risk Being Behind The Curve
By John Richardson BACK in 2003 the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) predicted that dangerous imbalances were building up in the global financial system. The BIS, a Brussels-based international organisation for central banks, was worried that the Fed and other central banks were compromising long term stability in favour of short-term growth. Sadly, policymakers didn’t […]
China Adjusts To “Zero Inflation” In Textiles
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyester chain business is undergoing a painful adjustment period, as the slide above indicates, as a result of: Expectations that cotton prices will drop to a five-year low in 2014-2015. This is largely the result of China’s decision to directly support farm incomes, rather than buying-up ever more cotton stocks. Cotton […]
Australia At An Economic Crossroads
By John Richardson THERE is no such thing as level playing field when it comes to the chemicals industry and, for that matter, probably any other industry. China has long-subsidised many of its industries through soft loans for new projects, cheap land, cheap electricity and tax breaks in special economic zones. Some projects in Southeast […]
Thailand’s Coup: The Economic Suspension Has Gone
By John Richardson WE are going to feel every political, social and economic bump in the road from now on because the suspension on the proverbial automobile has gone. No longer can Asian economies compensate for their domestic problems in the way they did during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which was largely through raising […]
Demographics Threaten China Property Collapse
By John Richardson THE persistent weakness in China’s petrochemicals markets had mainly been caused by problems in the country’s property sector, according to many delegates on the sidelines of last week’s Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) in Pattaya, Thailand. Here are some worrying numbers that help to explain this view: China’s real-estate sales declined by […]
China’s Urbanisation Myth Bites The Dust
By John Richardson THE blog would again be in the position of being able to afford a yacht in Monte Carlo if it had a dollar, even in an Australian dollar these days, for every time it has heard the phrase “urbanisation will underpin long-term growth in China”. But just as some of the other […]
Europe’s Dinosaur Destiny
By John Richardson DINOSAURS became extinct, scientists think, because of an event beyond their control – either an asteroid colliding with the earth, volcanic activity, an ice age, disease or gradual climate change. With all due respect to the former inhabitants of our planet, they were not the brightest of species. Thus, even if they […]
The US Patient Needs An Operation
By John Richardson THE Fed’s quantitative easing (QE) programme hasn’t worked because, to use an analogy, it has been equivalent to pumping drugs into a patient that needs major surgery in order to fully recover. A steady flow of drugs creates the illusion that the patient is fine, but once the drug supply is reduced […]
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