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July 13, 2025
 

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Daniel Moss
China’s economy shows signs of a possible recovery despite structural challenges and imperfect GDP data, but its future growth and global impact hinge on trade relations with the U.S. and how economic progress is measured.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2025
Taking GDP out of the China equation
There are problems with looking at China’s vitality through the GDP lens — the data is widely perceived to be finessed by officials
A family travels by motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam is grappling with two significant challenges: a declining birth rate, prompting policy shifts to encourage larger families, and the economic threat of U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2025
Vietnam has far bigger worries than its baby bust
Vietnam is grappling with two significant challenges: a declining birth rate, prompting policy shifts to encourage larger families and the economic threat of U.S. tariffs.
Despite doubts and talk of alternatives in Asia and beyond, the dollar remains dominant because there are no viable rivals and it continues to serve as the world’s key safe asset.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2025
The problem with Asia's ‘sell America’ moment
The region’s currencies are enjoying a healthy rally. History warns against anti-dollar triumphalism.
Amid trade war uncertainty, central bankers, including Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, are leaning toward cautious policies, with some signaling potential rate cuts while awaiting the fallout from U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025
Rate cuts anyone? Anyone? Ferris Bueller’s tariff lesson
The collective sense of "we don't know” will give way to either hiking or easing. In Asia, the bias appears to favor the latter.
Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs have dealt a blow to U.S. credibility and the greenback. It’s a bigger leap to project the currency's demise.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2025
King dollar’s reign looks secure — for now
The greenback survived Trump's first term at the pinnacle and will likely endure his second.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is reasserting military influence in politics, pushing fiscal policies that challenge long-standing restraints and accelerating democratic backsliding — moves that are causing economic instability and political unease.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2025
Prabowo tries to remake Indonesia, but at what cost?
The economic and political pillars that emerged after the turmoil of 1998 are in peril. Markets are rightly apprehensive. 
Fertility rates remain low across much of Asia, with past policies to curb population growth proving difficult to reverse, while governments explore adaptation strategies like immigration and AI.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2025
It’s time we adapt to low fertility rates
South Korea’s fertility rate saw a slight increase, but experts doubt it signals a long-term reversal. Similar trends are seen in Singapore and Japan.
Japan has effectively exited deflation, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s reluctance to acknowledge it reflects outdated economic fears rather than current reality.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2025
It’s time for Japan to admit victory over deflation
The last time prices declined was in July 2021, the same month the Tokyo Olympic Games took place.
Southeast Asian economies, once seen as beneficiaries of the U.S.-China trade war, now face challenges as escalating tariffs and trade tensions threaten their growth and regional stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025
Winners of the first trade war may not be so victorious
Stuck between the U.S. and China, Southeast Asia’s challenges this time around are much greater.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after the central bank's policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its rate by a quarter-point to 0.5% that day.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 26, 2025
Japan’s central bank drops the drama and wins on rates
The quarter-point increase, which took the main rate to 0.5%, was probably the most telegraphed this century.
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2025
Ueda’s doctrine for the BOJ is finally emerging
Instead of the Bank of Japan's actions strengthening the yen as once hoped, recent steps have only caused further weakening.
A giant 1000 Indonesian rupiah coin display inside the headquarters of Bank Indonesia in Jakarta
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2025
Indonesia is the latest country to risk a 'Japanification' tag
With markets sniffing out fiscal vulnerabilities in many countries, this would be an inopportune time to lose discipline.
The next 12 months will be more challenging, with some countries pursuing quick interest-rate cuts while others will proceed cautiously.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024
A view to 2025: Enough with the central bank hawks and doves
Interest-rate cuts will be a feature, including at institutions that resisted easing in 2024. But mind the nuances.
South Korea’s currency recovered while its stocks fell Wednesday as investors braced for prolonged political uncertainties following a brief decree of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2024
Capitalism is the unsung hero of South Korean democracy
Capitalism, with its economic pressures and global integration, has been crucial in fostering democracy in South Korea.
The United Nations once projected the world’s population would peak at 10.3 billion in the 2080s, but now expects 700 million fewer inhabitants by 2100.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2024
Why falling fertility is not a crisis
The current population decline mirrors past transitions like the industrial revolution, where smaller families fueled economic growth and innovation.
Beijing’s long-standing line has been a commitment to keep the yuan "basically stable.” But U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s return — and his threat of tariffs — may test that.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 2024
China will send a weaker yuan to the Trump front
Beijing’s long-standing line has been a commitment to keep the yuan "basically stable.” But Trump’s return with his tariff threats may test that.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda can point to Washington all he wants, but his inability to settle on a consistent message is part of what ails his nation's currency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 18, 2024
The yen pays the price for a timid Bank of Japan
Ueda can point to Washington all he wants, but his inability to settle on a consistent message is part of what ails his nation's currency.
While China's recent initiatives signal a willingness to address economic challenges, the road ahead remains difficult as the country's policymakers have yet to offer a clear road to success.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2024
A stimulus is good, but China still faces a hard slog
Beijing is back in investors' good books. To justify the euphoria, it needs some meaty goals.
Looming interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and a new hawkishness on the part of the Bank of Japan can make a claim for the yens recent movements.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2024
Epic yen rally is a lesson in the lost art of FX intervention
Japan's own proactive currency interventions have played a crucial role in the yen's recent recovery.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda "predictably unpredictable" actions and policy shifts highlight the need for improved communication, reflecting modern central banking practices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2024
How long can the BOJ get away with rate shocks?
The BOJ’s shifting policies and Kazuo Ueda’s unpredictable approach reflect the need for better alignment with modern central banking practices.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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