© 2016 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University Life in China - A Gambling House and Opium Den at Macao The drop in Chinese stock markets has had more than a ripple effect on world markets—and threatens to produce a bearish environment everywhere. Are the fears of a spillover and world recession justified? A longer-term … Continue reading What’s Driving the Chinese and World Stock Markets? Frugality and Risk-Taking in Chinese Culture Make for a Heady Mix
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Happy Holidays 2015 & Best Wishes for 2016
Dear Readers, Thank you for following GlobalBusiness.me this past year. Please continue to visit us throughout 2016 for more unbiased insights into the current and past events that make up the ever-evolving, always fascinating story of international economics and globalization. As we prepare to say farewell to 2015, we wish all of you around the world the best of … Continue reading Happy Holidays 2015 & Best Wishes for 2016
The Simple Math: How a Mere Quarter-Percent Interest Rate Hike Can Produce Big Swings on Bond Prices and Foreign Exchange Rates
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University Bah! Humbug! What can a mere quarter-percent hike in the Federal Reserve Bank’s interest rate do to markets? It seems so small a change as to be trivial. For two years prior to Janet Yellen’s appointment as Chair in January 2014, her predecessor, Ben Bernanke, and the business … Continue reading The Simple Math: How a Mere Quarter-Percent Interest Rate Hike Can Produce Big Swings on Bond Prices and Foreign Exchange Rates
IMF Elevates Yuan to Elite Currency Status: So what?
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University Governor of the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank) since 2002 and a cautious and methodical bureaucrat, Zhou is the essence of his country’s Mandarin class: canny and understated, but relentless in his objective to elevate China’s economy and currency to elite status. Under Zhou’s watch, China’s exports … Continue reading IMF Elevates Yuan to Elite Currency Status: So what?
Thanksgiving Day and Globalization
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University Image Credit: "Freedom from Want" - The Saturday Evening Post cover of March 6, 1943, by Norman Rockwell See the updated post, Thanksgiving Day: A Story of Globalization, Cross-cultural Influences, and Unity As Americans sit down to their Thanksgiving Day repasts each year, they are taught to … Continue reading Thanksgiving Day and Globalization
Is China a “currency manipulator”? Donald Trump says so
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University After 20 years, the Chinese government must be used to it—being bashed by US politicians and Congress as a “currency manipulator.” Indeed, the exchange value of the yuan (or renminbi [RMB]) is fixed each morning by its central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), with a … Continue reading Is China a “currency manipulator”? Donald Trump says so
International Tax Avoidance: Clarifying Multinational Company Tax Issues
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University The question of multinational companies avoiding taxes is inevitably going to become a hot issue for the US, Europe, and other major economies. Voices from both the political left and right have an ax to grind. Moreover, three separate tax issues—(1) the average tax US-based multinationals actually pay, … Continue reading International Tax Avoidance: Clarifying Multinational Company Tax Issues
Chinese Cyber-Espionage on US Companies: The Asymmetry in the Analogy of the “Pot Calling the Kettle Black”
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University American companies state that their secrets are being stolen by Chinese hackers. US counter-intelligence says it has traced several of these attacks back to outfits sponsored by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA),[1] and that designs stolen from American companies’ computers have shown up—sometimes barely disguised—in Chinese companies’ … Continue reading Chinese Cyber-Espionage on US Companies: The Asymmetry in the Analogy of the “Pot Calling the Kettle Black”
The Refugee Crisis – Does Europe Benefit or Lose? The Angle Not Covered by the Media
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University Put aside, for the moment, the horrific scenes of human suffering, the fears that some ISIS sympathizers may be part of the herd swarming onto European shores, and the large immediate costs of resettling and giving aid to hundreds of thousands of souls. Then consider this question: … Continue reading The Refugee Crisis – Does Europe Benefit or Lose? The Angle Not Covered by the Media
Capital Outflows from China and the Hidden Story in China’s FDI Statistics
© 2015 Prof. Farok J. Contractor, Rutgers University Permission to Reproduce: A version of this post was published as “The Chinese prefer investing overseas; dummy companies may ease transfers and devalue renminbi” by YaleGlobal Online, September 10, 2015; it was the number-one story in a Google search for “China FDI” that day and is also available as a podcast. The global panic … Continue reading Capital Outflows from China and the Hidden Story in China’s FDI Statistics
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