Aboriginal politics and an Asian boom promises to redefine Darwin, Australia http://t.co/kNobd9UX -- The Economist (@TheEconomist)
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Indian reform-Finally
AFTER years of drift and sleaze, the Congress-led government of Manmohan Singh has found some pizzazz. The initiatives that the prime minister announced on September 13th and 14th are nothing compared with the “big bang” reforms of 1991 that set India growing and for which Mr Singh, then finance minister, was chiefly responsible. They do not even match the incremental reforms of Mr Singh’s first term as prime minister from 2004-09. Still, from an ageing man whose second-term performance has been feeble, they mark a welcome change. Businesspeople are suddenly less despondent.
Mr Singh began with a small but bold cut in diesel subsidies, which mainly benefit the better-off. As the oil price has risen and the rupee fallen, the subsidy bill has exploded—one reason why budget-deficit targets will be missed by a mile. He has also revived a push to allow foreign supermarkets to operate in India’s spectacularly inefficient retail sector, dominated by small shops. A fragmented wholesale-distribution network spoils a high proportion of fruit and vegetables before they reach the consumer. That hurts both farmers and the hungry.
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Japanese Airlines-From bloated to floated
EVERY three months or so, employees of Japan Airlines (JAL), from the boss to pilots and ground staff, spend a day studying a little white book that is JAL’s turnaround manual. Some discuss it in department meetings every day. It sounds Maoist, but the prescriptions are cheerily Zen-like, reflecting the thinking of the man JAL credits as its saviour, Kazuo Inamori, an aged business guru. One of its mantras is: “Be thankful.” Indeed, JAL has a lot to be thankful for.
On September 10th JAL—lavishly supported by the government—at last emerged from its spectacular nose-dive into bankruptcy, pricing an initial public offering (IPO) at ¥663 billion ($8.5 billion), at the top of a range offered to investors. The price will make it more valuable than its national stablemate, All Nippon Airways (ANA), when it is relisted on September 19th, even though analysts say ANA has long been the better-managed airline. ANA has grumbled about the unfair advantages handed to its better-known rival.
It has shed all its jumbos since then, slashed its number of routes, reduced staff by a third, persuaded its unionised pilots and staff to take big pay cuts, and slashed its pension payouts by up to half. As a consequence, the latest results show its operating profit margin has surged to 17%, from negative territory in 2008. That is higher than some of the most profit-hungry low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair (see chart). It has made JAL, for a while at least, one of the world’s most profitable airlines.In many ways, the turnaround highlights the pros and cons of government intervention. On the positive side, the airline’s return to profitability has been stunning. JAL was one of those blue-blooded Japanese firms that put prestige far above profit: before its bankruptcy in 2010 the company once owned the world’s biggest fleet of jumbo jets, many of which flew half-empty.
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Japan’s energy security-Foot on the gas
WITH doubts running high about how long the Japanese government can survive, its decision last week to phase out nuclear power by the end of the 2030s looked half-baked. Sure enough on September 19th it dropped any pretence of a deadline, leaving open the possibility that at least two reactors under construction could operate until the 2050s.
The ambiguity has much to do with the general election which the prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, has promised to call soon. Polling indicates that since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 public opinion has turned firmly against nuclear energy. Yet big business argues that Japan’s economy will suffer if the phase-out occurs too quickly. Local governors whose prefectures host nuclear power plants also complain about the strategy.
For the time being, the government’s policy appears to be to pay lip service to a phase-out that it is too timid to implement, while also scrambling for alternative sources of energy. Even before the nuclear disaster, Japan was the world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and now consumes nearly a third of global output. But ensuring reliable supplies, as well as securing a good price, is becoming a foreign-policy headache.
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China nixes events to mark 40 years of Japan ties
TOKYO (AP) — Japan says China has canceled events planned to commemorate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, further signaling its anger over a simmering territorial dispute.
Japanese Foreign Ministry official Hiroaki Sakamoto confirmed Sunday that China has canceled the events, planned for Thursday. He did not provide further details.
China’s Xinhua News Agency, citing officials with the China-Japan Friendship Association and another government-affiliated group, reported Sunday that the events would not take place as planned. It said they would be held ‘‘at a proper time.’’
Calls to China’s Foreign Ministry were not answered Sunday.
Relations have sunk to their worst level in years as the two sides spar over islands claimed by both countries.
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