"The evidence only goes to show that the U.S. government rarely looks at itself in the mirror when pillorying and pummeling foreign countries. The United States does not need to befriend Kim Jong Un and the North Koreans—Dennis Rodman can do that. What it needs to do is disengage from the South Korean peninsula and let the now rich South Korea defend itself. North Korea will be much less prone to threaten the U.S. if it is not defending South Korea." Continue reading →
"The resolution expresses 'gravest concern' over the nuclear test and adds three new individuals, a government science academy and trading company to the UN blacklist for a travel ban and assets freeze. The Security Council had also banned exports of luxury goods but this resolution for the first time says that certain jewelery, yachts and luxury and racing cars must be banned. North Korea blasted the United States and South Korea over military exercises which have just started in the South. The North said earlier this week that it would withdraw on Monday from the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War." Continue reading →
"The resolution expresses 'gravest concern' over the nuclear test and adds three new individuals, a government science academy and trading company to the UN blacklist for a travel ban and assets freeze. The Security Council had also banned exports of luxury goods but this resolution for the first time says that certain jewelery, yachts and luxury and racing cars must be banned. North Korea blasted the United States and South Korea over military exercises which have just started in the South. The North said earlier this week that it would withdraw on Monday from the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War." Continue reading →
"This historical context results in North Korea taking the threats of the United States very seriously. It knows the US has been willing to kill large portions of its population throughout history and has seen what the US has done to other countries. In 2003, Libya halted its program to build a nuclear bomb in an effort to mend its relations with the US. Then last year Libya was overthrown in a US-supported war and its leader Moammar Gadhafi was brutally killed. While calling for a world without nuclear weapons, President Obama has instead continued Bush’s plan and has increased the budget for nuclear weapons." Continue reading →
"Real estate prices in the heart of New Delhi, especially for the bungalows built nearly a century ago during the British Raj, are among the highest in the world. The obvious question about the prices, in a country where hundreds of millions of people still live on less than $2 a day, is: Why? To a large degree, India is experiencing the sort of real estate boom common to big, emerging economies. When Japan’s economy was soaring in the 1980s, prices in Tokyo were so frothy that the 845-acre compound of the Imperial Palace was valued at more than all the real estate in California. More recently, China has seen a boom, with values rising in some cities by 500 percent." Continue reading →
"The Japan government's nominee to be the next central bank governor outlined more forceful policy prescriptions on Monday to finally defeat deflation, saying he would not set any limits on the amount of cash the Bank of Japan pumps into the economy. Haruhiko Kuroda told lawmakers the BOJ's current policies were not powerful enough to boost inflation to 2 percent, a target he said the central bank should strive to achieve in two years. Kuroda suggested the most natural central bank stimulus for the economy would be through huge purchases of longer-dated government bonds. The BOJ should also consider kicking off its open-ended asset purchases early." Continue reading →
"Yi Gang, deputy governor of China’s central bank, issued the call after G20 finance ministers last month moved to calm fears of a looming war on the currency markets at a meeting in Moscow. Those fears have largely been fuelled by the recent steep decline in the Japanese yen, which critics have accused Tokyo of manipulating to give its manufacturers a competitive edge in key export markets over Asian rivals. South Korea’s incoming president Park Geun-Hye has also signalled her willingness to step in to stabilise the won and protect exporters battling a stronger Korean currency and a weaker yen." Continue reading →
"FATCA has been created to track down the offshore financial assets of US taxpayers and make the institution concerned reveal details so that tax can be collected. Now China is telling the US that there will be so few US citizens holding Chinese bank accounts that the cost of implementing FATCA outweighs the benefit to the nation’s financial institutions. The Chinese have also pointed out that even the opportunity of signing an IGA which would allow them to get details of Chinese taxpayers in the US would also serve minimal benefit to the government." Continue reading →
"Japan's prime minister is likely to nominate an advocate of aggressive monetary easing - Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda - as the next central bank governor to step up his fight to finally rid the country of deflation. The yen fell on the nomination news to a 33-month low and the yield on five-year government bonds hit a record low as markets moved to factor in bolder monetary policy. Kuroda has long criticized the BOJ as too slow to expand stimulus, and is expected to push for more radical efforts to achieve a 2 percent inflation target set in January." Continue reading →
"For Latin Americans seeking work abroad, traditional magnets like the United States and Spain are losing their appeal because of weak economies, said a report released Thursday. Instead, more and more are looking to countries such as Canada, Japan, South Korea and Australia, according to the study by the Organization of American States. In the US, the number of legal immigrants slipped by four percent over the same stretch, and the decrease was even more pronounced among those who lack proper residency papers, the study said." Continue reading →