Commentary / World Nov 7, 2021
There’s an unseemly rush to power EV batteries
While lithium has been through a similar surge on the back of EVs before, this time there’s a legitimate demand-supply issue with a shortage on the horizon.
Anjani Trivedi
For Anjani Trivedi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Commentary / World Aug 19, 2021
Hong Kong's COVID-19 policies are borderline reckless
The government’s inability to adapt while failing to put in place policies that ensure long-term safety are standing in the way of keeping the public's trust.
Commentary / World Jul 7, 2021
The real reason no one wants to be a banker anymore
Analysts say banks are becoming more like machines, "with less dependency on human capital.”
Commentary / Japan Mar 28, 2021
Japan remade its supply chains after catastrophe. Here’s what it learned.
Japan’s industrial network became more resilient after the tsunami and meltdown catastrophes of 2011, which inflicted more than $200 billion in damage to businesses.
Commentary / World Mar 3, 2021
When the fantasy of better battery science doesn’t match reality
The technical challenges of making better batteries (and therefore, electric vehicles) are enormous and the expectations associated with them are even more fantastical.
Commentary / Japan Feb 19, 2021
Toyota broke its just-in-time rule just in time for the chip shortage
In contrast to the rest of the auto industry, Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. said it wasn’t expecting a shortfall of semiconductors to affect its production.
Commentary / World Jan 7, 2021
Who's on the hook if vaccines go wrong?
Policy makers in developing nations may not have a choice but to take what they can get — cheaply and quickly. But in so doing, they might just be storing up legal troubles for later.
Commentary / Japan Jan 6, 2021
China’s dreams of self-reliance still depend on Japan Inc.
For signs of how China’s ambitions to become a self-made, high-tech industrial powerhouse are faring, look to Japan Inc. The shipment values of Japan’s machinery sector are set to hit record highs, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts. Orders placed by Chinese companies for ...
Commentary / World Dec 18, 2020
While we're waiting for electric cars to fully charge, how about hybrids?
Investors have run up the stock prices of electric car companies and their valuations far higher than the businesses really warrant.
Commentary / World Oct 29, 2020
Can China’s COVID-19 recovery continue?
Unlike previous recoveries, fixed asset investment in the private sphere is rising while growing at a slower pace in the public sector.