Opinion

The era of the global central bank may have arrived

The hazards of keeping up with the Joneses. The relentlessness with which central banks are increasing interest rates reflects alarm at rising prices — and an aversion to being portrayed as insufficiently courageous at a time of economic peril. With so much hiking, officials should fret about ...

Opinion

George Soros, Mahathir and the legacy of 1997

The implosion that became known as the Asian financial crisis had several chapters. Over the better part of two years in the late 1990s, the economies of Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea crumbled, while Malaysia suffered its deepest recession and rocked the world with capital controls. To appreci...

Opinion

What happens when Singapore runs out of sand?

Barges piled with sand traverse the sea lanes around Singapore, almost as ubiquitous as the semi trucks that ply America’s interstate highways. Aboard a small motor boat one recent afternoon, I catch sight of an imposing green wall rising from the shoreline protecting a huge sand stockpile. As...

Opinion

Time to get Japan out of its ‘straitjacket’

The world’s one-time economic rebel now looks staid. Japan was the first mover in some of the most radical steps in monetary policy, so it’s troubling that officials have done far less than their peers since the pandemic tore through global growth. Time for Bank of Japan officials to for...

Opinion

There’s apparently no way to tackle coronavirus pandemic

Many of the governments once lauded for their textbook COVID-19 responses, replete with strict lockdowns, sophisticated contact-tracing apps and clearly articulated policies, got tripped up by something in the end.In Singapore, it was an outbreak in foreign worker dorms. In South Korea, it was the p...

Opinion

Malaysian turmoil grows with Mahathir resignation

Mahathir Mohamad has been in public life longer than Malaysia has existed as a nation. His greatest service to the country was his return to leadership in 2018, with the stated intention of undoing the damage wrought by his successors in the decade-and-a-half since he’d left office.The nonagen...