Quite possibly not, according to a Deutsche Bank report. However, as the report makes the clear, the same types of imbalances are building in the Chinese economy which led to Japan’s “Lost Decade” of the 1990s. Time to take stock and have a contingency plan?
Asian Chemical Connections
The beginning of the end?
For three wonderful years, petrochemical producers have had the pricing power thanks to tight supply and demand balances and very strong growth economic growth. Now with crude close to pushing past the pyschologically important $100 a barrel barrier and construction sectors in the West slowing down on the sub-prime crisis, the polyvinyl chloride industry in […]
Will free forecasting have its Wiki way?
Now, please be patient – the sting is in the tail. This could have great relevance to your business….. The industry in which I work – the media – has been decimated by the Internet with billions of dollars of earnings and hundreds of thousands of livelihoods sucked out of traditional publishing by online advertising. […]
Asia needs a recesssion
Asian industry leaders are playing lip service to the environmental crisis the world confronts . George Monbiot, the excellent author and journalist, argues that what the West needs is a recession to give the planet a breather.Asia also needs a substantial economic slowdown to give policymakers and technology developers more time.
Asian biofuels face a big crisis
After all the optimism, all the hype and a lot of investors’ money, the industry has shot itself in the foot by failing to build demand ahead of supply. Plus the negativity caused by food versus fuel and environmental counter-arguments to supporting this current generation of technologies is making some Asian governments hesitate on providing […]
The flawed “science” of forecasting
Maybe I’ve been to too many conferences this year, and indeed over the last decade, and have seen too many forecasts go wrong. Call me cynical, or plain wrong, but………..
Can polymers rescue the Mile High Club?
Maybe Singapore airlines has got the wrong end of the stick by trying to ban first class passengers in their new cabins in the sky from indulging in a little hanky panky. Perhaps the answer is to equip the walls of these private cabins with super sound-absorbing polymers (polyurethanes, maybe?). Any suggestions from polymer experts […]
I wish the energy game were as simple as this…..
Click on the link here for a virtual way of boosting your green credentials without having to recycle one actual plastic bag, being knocked into the gutter by a gargantuam-bellied white van driver while cycling to work or cancelling one flight to the other side of the world to broaden your dinner party conversation – […]
Will the next World War be over water?
Please read this – http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/asia/28water.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin Don’t worry, just keep concentrating on the short term – after all, all you have to do is keep your boss happy and make it through to retirement with loads of money in the bank. Or let’s assume you are worried. What can the chemicals industry do to address this […]
Is your glass half empty of half full?
Hopefully, completely empty if you happen to live in China and can only afford to drink tap water. However, it’s not the environment that this is this week being viewed as the biggest threat to the economy, but rather inflation as this article from ICIS news explains.
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