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SINGAPORE (Feb 11): Climate scientists are sounding the alarm about global warming, but the world is not responding. In October, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned of catastrophic risks to health, livelihoods, water suppli

SINGAPORE (Feb 11): Since the Cold War ended, the West has invested huge amounts of resources in efforts to induce political liberalisation in China, including through programmes to promote the rule of law, civil society, transparency and government accou

SINGAPORE (Feb 11): If you use social media at all, you cannot have missed the rash of #10yearchallenge photos that consumed the internet for the better part of January. For a while, it was impossible to log on to Instagram or Facebook without being assau

SINGAPORE (Jan 21): Will global cooperation finally emerge from the doldrums in 2019? The international community’s recent agreement on a “rulebook” for implementing the Paris climate agreement seems to offer some hope. But opinion polls suggest tha

SINGAPORE (Jan 21): About a decade ago, the Commission on Growth and Development (which I chaired) published a report that attempted to distil 20 years of research and experience in a wide range of countries into lessons for developing economies. Perhaps

SINGAPORE (Jan 21): In the past week, the mood among investors has brightened as the US and China edged away from a suicidal trade war, Chinese policymakers adopted ever more aggressive stimulus and the US Federal Reserve signalled that it would only tigh

SINGAPORE (Dec 31): Keppel Corp ruined my Christmas break last year. On Dec 23, 2017, the company owned up to its involvement in a bribery scandal in Brazil, and unveiled a “global resolution” that would see it pay fines of more than US$422.2 million

SINGAPORE (Dec 24): After a year of wild gyrations in markets, shocking political developments and unexpected economic challenges, some analysts are even wondering whether there is any point in making forecasts for next year. Indeed, the margin of error i

SINGAPORE (Dec 24): When Goldman Sachs was selling bonds issued by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in 2012, a fund manager friend of mine remembers its salespeople emphasising that the securities were a Malaysian “sovereign credit risk”. Yet, the cou

SINGAPORE (Dec 10): As we start thinking about economic prospects for the coming year, it is useful to identify the principal forces that will shape the outlook. It is clear to us that the Chinese economy will be one of the most important of such forces.