Thursday, 17 March, 2005

REPORT: CHINA, RUSSIA TO 'REHEARSE INVASION OF TAIWAN' I typically do not add news during the day, but considering today's theme of CHINA, I could not pass this up. We had better start playing hardball with these guys or the invasion will start a war. MOSCOW, March 17. (RIA Novosti)-Yesterday, Chief of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky left for China to settle a scandal over the first Russian-Chinese military exercise, Commonwealth-2005, which is due to be held this fall off the Yellow Sea coast, writes Kommersant. The initial plans were to practice operational teamwork in combating terrorism during the exercise. However, Beijing, skillfully changing the format of the exercise, has tried to re-orient the two countries' armies to practicing an invasion of Taiwan. 2:35:58 PM    comment []

17 MAR 05 Erin Go Bragh - News from the Front Today's news economic news was dominated by China. Everyplace I went around the world had China as a lead story - that is a telling fact by itself. FYI - our economic and news search is based upon GEM's Economic Rankings of Economies, we monitor and report news sources from the top two countires on each continent. For specific business news visit our other sites: hyper-growth center for inspired performance Go make some money 8:07:32 AM    comment []

Asian infrastructure crisis seen TOKYO: Developing countries in East Asia need to spend more than $1 trillion over the next five years to improve infrastructure, with 80 per cent of that spending needed in China, international aid agencies said yesterday. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank and the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) said better infrastructure was vital to boost growth, reduce poverty, attract investment, and connect rural and urban areas, which are key to narrow the gap between rich and poor. I guess it is the place to end today's news - China. They fully intend to get the world to pay for things they can afford on their own - perhaps Wolfowitz will add some spine in the World Bank and direct money to economies that can't afford to modernize 8:00:24 AM    comment []

Business all praise for 'light touch' LONDON: Business groups hailed British finance minister Gordon Brown's commitment to deregulation yesterday but warned that public spending is still high, which could result in higher taxes. Brown's pre-election budget speech focused on providing sweeteners to potential Labour voters such as pensioners and families and he also said he would cut red tape to make Britain more competitive. "The best practice risk-based regulation now means more inspection only where there is more risk and a light and limited touch where there is less risk," Brown said in his ninth annual budget speech. Got to hand it to Blair, govern like Thatcher and win a third term - 'light touch' 7:56:31 AM    comment []

Brown pledges robust growth LONDON: British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown unveiled his annual budget yesterday, extolling the country's robust economy which the government hopes will hand it a third consecutive term in office. Brown painted a rosy picture of the British economy, saying he expected it to grow by 3 to 3.5 per cent this year, as he delivered his ninth annual budget since Labour's re-election in 1997. Being half British (along with my 1/4 Irish) - I like these guys but when are they going to get it. Government doesn't grow anything, in fact government couldn't find its ass with both hands. Where is Gladstone when you need him? Why isn't he on the ballot? 7:53:16 AM    comment []

Opec raises output by 500,000 barrels a day ISFAHAN, Iran: Opec ministers decided yesterday to raise their production ceiling from 27 to 27.5 million barrels per day with immediate effect and held out the possibility of a further rise of 500,000 bpd in May. How sweet of them! When will we aggressively pursue oil in our own hemisphere, Canada and Mexico plus our own reserves would reduce this news to the last page of the county newspaper. 7:49:49 AM    comment []

30 policemen guard rape victim's house MULTAN, Pakistan: Pakistan authorities said yesterday they have posted more than two dozen policemen outside a woman's home to guard her after a court freed four of the six men convicted of raping her - an attack ordered by a village council as punishment for her brother's alleged misdeeds. The four men walked out of a high-security jail in Dera Ghazi Khan, 500km southwest of the capital, Islamabad, nearly three years after being convicted of raping 33-year-old Mukhtar Mai. A village council had ordered the attack as punishment for her younger brother's alleged illicit affair with a woman from another family. This news is non-economic but it pissed me off and demonstrates that when the essential elements of a free market society are absent - justice and the rule of law - we are living in Lewis Carol time (Alice in Wonderland) 7:47:13 AM    comment []

Zuma for Talks With Top North Korean Leader THE vice-president of North Korea, one of the world's most secretive countries, arrives in SA today on a five-day official visit. According to the foreign affairs department, Vice-President Yang Hyong Sop will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon and trade ministry director-general Hong Chang Il. Stark contrast the previous story - South Africa run by marxists, oh sorry for the unPC words, lets try this - South Africa and its love of and for command economies. 7:41:41 AM    comment []

South African Companies Use Ghana As Gateway to West Africa Ghana has emerged as the hub for SA companies seeking to do business in West Africa. This is at the expense of the larger Nigeria, which is still seen as a risky investment destination, and Côte d'Ivoire, which descended into civil war two years ago. Great place - I spent a few years doing economic development work for the UN in West Africa - Ghana was my favorite. If any country on that continent can turn itself it a real market economy - it will be here 7:38:05 AM    comment []

Enterprise on the rise says Ulster GEM report Entrepreneurial activity is on the rise in Ulster, it was revealed today. The Northern Ireland GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) Report for 2004 shows activity levels rose last year to 5% from 3.5% in 2002. But the level of entrepreneurial activity in the province is still below the UK average of 6.3%. GEM reports are now available in 34 countries and probe the demographic profile of entrepreneurs, the economic impact of business ventures and attitudes towards entrepreneurship among other things. OK - so I'm Irish and needed something from the ole sod. The celtic tiger remains an economic power house unless they join the EU. You can't be "european"  and low tax - something in their charter says so or is it the air in Brussels? 7:35:02 AM    comment []

In Europe, suspicion and worry on choice PARIS European officials digested the United States' nomination of Paul Wolfowitz as head of the World Bank on Wednesday with a mixture of surprise, consternation and curiosity. Does this really matter - I have personally witnessed World Bank projects in Africa - grandiose projects that do nothing for people in need, just the local politicians - this must be Bush's revenge on old Europe 7:23:49 AM    comment []

Six dealers sign up for American launch of mainland-made cars Malcolm Bricklin, the entrepreneur who brought the Yugo car to the United States in the 1980s, said he has lined up the first six dealers to sell mainland cars there beginning in 2007. Bricklin, who plans to sell 250,000 vehicles in the first year, outlined to the dealers last week his plan to offer high-quality mainland vehicles that ``redefine the price of luxury.'' China's Chery Automobile, which will make the cars, has been accused of pirating a compact car sold on the mainland by General Motors known as the Chevrolet Spark. But Bricklin said the cars they will make for him will offer quality as good as Toyota Motor's Lexus luxury brand. According to the plan, the mainland-built vehicles sold on the US market will cost about 30 percent less than comparable cars. I swear this is a natural occurence - China is dominating all of my international news sources - get it! 7:17:39 AM    comment []

Curbs unable to slow spending Fixed asset investment grew 24.5 percent to 422.2 billion yuan (HK$398 billion) in the first two months of the year, far ahead of the government's forecast for 2005, data showed Wednesday. Perhaps China can screw it up before they become an international menace 7:14:56 AM    comment []

Microsoft Snubs Anti-Trust Claim Microsoft Wednesday rebuffed a complaint filed in South Korea by RealNetworks, accusing the world's largest software maker of violating antitrust laws by bundling audiovisual software with its Windows operating system. Finally some good news - nothing like an old and unrepentant robber baron 7:04:56 AM    comment []

Europeans Save 3 Times as Much as Yanks PARIS (Reuters) - European households on average save three times as much as U.S. households, according to a study by the European Central Bank and the European Savings Institute. As per my last comment about the mattress - I misspoke - call it a sleeping bag 7:02:00 AM    comment []

The dollar may get another short-lived respite but it is heading inexorably down. The question is how much it takes with it What gives with the greenback? In two of the past three weeks, the dollar took a pasting on reports that various Asian central banks, whose purchases of America’s debt help it to go on borrowing and consuming, were planning to diversify their foreign-exchange reserves away from dollars. Bond yields spiked up (ie, prices fell) and shares looked glum too. And I woke up early in a good mood - how do you spell $2.5 trillion budget? how do you spell $42 trillion in total federal obligations in 2015? Hiding money in your mattress will only work if your bed is off shore 6:59:59 AM    comment []

How Long Can Currencies Resist Pressure to Rise? SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Just as belching steam signals that a volcano might be about to erupt, there is ominous evidence that pressure for Asia's currencies to rise is reaching bursting point. China is on course for a current account surplus of perhaps 8 percent of gross domestic product this quarter, according to Goldman Sachs. Malaysia's M2 money supply, bloated by hot money inflows betting on a revaluation, grew at a 25 percent annual pace in January, Lehman Brothers notes. Wasn't China obliagted to tie its currency to the dollar about 5 years ago as part of GATT and most favored trade status? 6:55:43 AM    comment []

China's urban investment jumps TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- China's urban fixed-asset investment in the first two months of 2005 surged far above the government's target, providing more evidence that the nation's economy still is booming despite cooling attempts. OK - I'm not doing this, remember the "trend is your friend" - it must be China day 6:52:27 AM    comment []

FMNN: TAX TIZZY OVER ENCRYPTION U.S. regulators and tax officials are in a tizzy over the recent news that three cryptologists from mainland China have cracked a popular encryption algorithm used in online transactions. The algorithm named Secure Hash Algorhythm-1 (SHA-1) was developed in 1994 and is used to verify the authenticity of secure messages. The reason for the tizzy: U.S. policy on limiting the bit size of encryption keys has apparently limited their viability as well. China, still far behind the US in military technology, may be quickly catching up to the US in computer technology. It must be in the water - why is every relevant business/financial news story about China? 6:49:27 AM    comment []

Venture capitalist seeks biz opportunities Go global, regardless if the company is big or small.His strong belief in the micro-multinational business model is one reason why Promod Haque is in China.The world's leading venture capitalist's investment logic is unique and impeccable."Business is global. Other than focusing on the Chinese market, we go global from day one," said Haque, who last year topped Forbes magazine's annual Midas list of the world's tope 100 venture capitalists. Enough said... 6:45:43 AM    comment []

Betting on Asia's financial centers HONG KONG The city-state of Singapore and the self-governing territory of Hong Kong have earned a global reputation as financial hubs with vibrant entrepreneurial cultures. But with rising costs and more efficient logistics, much of the light industry and many of the services on which their economies were built have migrated inland to China or elsewhere in the region. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist however.......China's play to become the dominate power in Asia and the world is apparent. Add to this their new "law" allowing for the non-peaceful resolution to Taiwan - any guesses what's up? - countries with extensive financial relationships avoid armed conflict. 6:43:27 AM    comment []

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