It looks like François Hollande’s honeymoon will be short indeed. We’re only two months into the first Socialist presidency France has seen in nearly two decades, and already French automakers are facing significant layoffs and plant closures. The FT reports that French manufacturer Peugeot is planning to cut one of its plants near Paris, as […]

Some disheartening news on the religious freedom front from China. Reports the BBC: A newly-ordained bishop is reportedly being held after announcing he was quitting the body that oversees China’s state-sanctioned Catholic Church…Bishop Ma did not return for mass on Sunday and is said to have been taken away to a seminary in Shanghai and […]

One thing the new US policy in Asia hasn’t managed to do is reduce tensions in the waters around China. In fact, tensions between China and Japan in the East China Sea, and between China and it’s neighbors around the South China Sea, are rising. Developing a mechanism to resolve these disputes will be on […]

Should House Republicans be put on suicide watch?Many, Via Meadia included, had hoped that the rise of a Republican majority focused on deficit reduction in the House would be the catalyst to finally cut  farm subsidies—one of the country’s most wasteful and ill conceived programs. At a time when annual farm income has reached a […]

Newly crowned as Egypt’s first democratically elected Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi departed on his first trip abroad this week. The destination? Saudi Arabia. There is a temptation to view this as a trip by one Islamist to visit powerful nearby friends who are also conservative Islamists. In reality, the Saudis have never liked the Muslim […]

A rebel group advancing on the main eastern Congolese city of Gomo is showing no signs of slowing down. Their provenance has yet to be determined. The Congolese government, as well as the UN, says the rebels are backed by Rwanda; Kigali denies the charge. What is clear is that the fighting has displaced at […]

With the easing of international sanctions on Burma’s military junta, the Japanese business elite has wasted little time in jumping on this new opportunity. As the Financial Times reports, Japanese businesses are now looking to get involved in the growing Burmese market any way they can: Three months after Japan agreed to waive much of […]

The economic growth powering Asian countries is also intensifying the competition for resources. The South China Sea in particular has played host to a number of disputes already this year, involving China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. So it is welcome news that the ten ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members have agreed to key elements […]

As we follow the evolving story of collapsing public pensions, one of the trickiest issues is the lack of reliable estimates of future returns on investment. Many of the biggest offenders among pensions assume returns of 8 percent or higher. These numbers may seem reasonable by historical standards, but they’re hopelessly optimistic today. Even plans […]

The financial world has been shaken this month with reports that a number of British banks may be guilty of fixing London Interbank Offered Rates (LIBOR) for their own gain. As LIBOR rates are an international benchmark to which hundreds of trillions of dollars in loans are tied, this is a very big deal that […]