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Enda Curran
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 11, 2022
Hong Kong risks everything with ‘impossible’ COVID zero goal
While many countries are winding down pandemic restrictions, Hong Kong is imposing its toughest measures since the virus emerged over two years ago.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2022
Living with COVID-19 proving tough for a gridlocked world economy
Still, optimists argue that the economic hit from omicron will be limited as vaccinations and boosters allow the disease to shift from an acute phase to an endemic one.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2022
Global supply chains brace for impact as omicron reaches China
Beijing’s u2018COVID zero’ strategy meant factories stayed open, but if tougher restrictions are needed there will be knock-on effects at Chinese ports and factories.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2021
What could possibly go wrong? These are the biggest economic risks for 2022
Governments spent heavily to support workers and businesses in the pandemic. Many now want to tighten their belts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2021
Economists wargame how omicron variant will impact global recovery
The new COVID-19 variant has dealt a blow to optimistic hopes of a global economic recovery, but what comes next will be dictated by scientific research.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 16, 2021
China faces GDP growth at 1990s levels amid Beijing’s property crackdown
President Xi Jinping seems willing to accept the lowest growth in three decades in order to reduce the country’s dependence on its property sector.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2021
Mystery of China’s huge dollar surplus baffles global markets
Unprecedented trade surpluses and record inflows into its bond market are giving China a stockpile of dollars unseen since the days of the ‘Asian savings glut.’
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 3, 2021
Headwinds mounting for world economy into final stretch of 2021
Fuel and food costs are soaring worldwide, combining with congested ports and strained supply chains to elevate price pressures.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2021
Tapering doesn’t mean tightening for central bank money printers
In recent weeks, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it will start paring its massive bond-buying as soon as November and the Bank of England hinted that it may raise interest rates this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2021
China’s nightmare Evergrande scenario is an uncontrolled crash
The timing is particularly tricky as China juggles an economic slowdown, a sweeping crackdown on the private sector and rising tensions with Washington.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Aug 26, 2021
Delta deepens global supply-chain challenges, disrupting shipping and hiking prices
Manufacturers reeling from shortages of key components and higher raw material and energy costs are also being forced into bidding wars to get space on cargo vessels.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 25, 2021
China makes risky bet on Taliban, looking to Afghanistan’s $1 trillion in minerals
The war-torn country has deposits estimated to be worth $1 trillion or more, including what may be the world’s largest lithium reserves — if anyone can get them out of the ground.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2021
Even as Beijing’s grip tightens, Hong Kong maintains status as finance hub
More than a year after the crackdown began, signs of an investor exodus are hard to find.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 15, 2021
Millions of missing jobs should make inflation hawks think twice
The global employment shortfall from the pandemic is predicted by the International Labour Organization to be 75 million this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 17, 2021
The world economy is suddenly running low on everything
A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, it’s companies furiously stocking up.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2021
Pandemic will leave deep scars in world economy even after recovery
Just as some patients recovering from COVID-19 suffer long-lasting symptoms, it’s becoming clear that the same will be true for the global economy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 4, 2021
World economy risks ‘dangerously diverging’ even as growth booms
It could take years for swaths of the world to join the U.S. and China in fully recovering from the pandemic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jan 25, 2021
Pandemic-era central banking is creating bubbles everywhere
In 2020, cheap money, gushing in from the world’s major central banks, inflated assets and reshaped how we save, invest and spend.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 15, 2021
A year after COVID-19 began, China’s economy is beating world
China’s enhanced role in a post-pandemic world increases the urgency of debate among the rest of the world about how to engage with Beijing.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 14, 2021
World economy’s fragile rebound boxed in amid shipping logjams
Some factories complain they can’t consider new orders until the clogged pipeline clears.

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