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Nikkei Asian Review ,   "Election risks reigniting Philippines inflation: Failure to fix economic bottlenecks leaves country vulnerable to price pressure" What might Milton Friedman make of the Philippines today? The Nobel economist popularized the theory that inflation is "always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon." Since the 1960s, his argument that demand for money controlled all prices won converts from London to Tokyo. Look no further than the Bank of Japan's deflation battle and you see the American's outsized influence 12 years after his death. But events in Manila show that even the great man was not always right. Last month, President Rodrigo Duterte's team demanded that the Manila central bank explain why the nation suffers the highest inflation in Southeast Asia. Though price pressures cooled in late 2018, the 5.2% annualized rate far exceeded the 2.9% gain in 2017. The response from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was to say to Dutert...

Nikkei Asian Review ,   "Apple held hostage by its Chinese puzzle ": How iPhone maker's success manufactured the rise of Huawei TAIPEI/ HONG KONG -- Soon after Tim Cook was hired by Apple's founder Steve Jobs in 1998 to whip the company's U.S.-focused supply chain into shape, he made a bold decision. Within two years he began shutting Apple's U.S. factories and outsourcing production to China. His decision drove down costs and gave Apple the resources it needed to develop its next blockbuster products, the iPod and iPhone. It also created a competitive manufacturing base, capable of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of workers with just a phone call. But eight years after Cook became CEO, this strategy is being called into question. Not only has it left Apple dangerously exposed in the escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing, but the highly complex supply chain that Apple built in China over 20 years has given rise to one of its fiercest compe...

Nikkei Asian Review ,   " Asia shares blame for its export slump " A moment of reckoning for Asia's exporters is a time for somber reflection and for bold action. Since Jan. 1, the region's advanced economies reported export drops thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war. First came news that December overseas shipments by South Korea fell 1.2% from a year earlier. Then it was Taiwan down 3%, Singapore down 8.5%, and now the biggest collateral-damage victim -- Japan down 3.8%. To no surprise, China also had a rough December. Exports slid 4.4%, the steepest decline in more than two years. Asia's biggest economy is, of course, the main target of Trump's protectionist jihad. But as China's neighbors sustain blows, they must accept some of the blame for their difficulties -- and make urgent adjustments.   [link] Vatican Insider,  " Pope Francis’ 'Montini-inspired realism'" The "criterion" of Christian...

From The New York Times

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