NRO prints an interesting column criticizing current Federal Reserve policies. The current policy is to control inflation through rate changes.
I’ve been equally critical of the Fed’s policies based on the Greenspan induced recession that ended just after Bush took office in 2001. I am not at all certain that the Fed is managing inflation or [...]

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Chinese pollution is a serious problem, but the reasons for it, and the economy it fuels are a far more serious problem.

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A recap of what I’ve been saying for some time. China has potential oil reserves close by, in the seas off its east coast, and just over the border in Russia. All this potential is controlled by, or disputed by other nations. China’s energy needs will push them into these disputes with greater frequency and with far more need to resolve them in China’s favor.

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Sidney Morning Herald
CHINA says its steel industry cannot afford the 19 per cent price increase secured by Australian and Brazilian producers for shipments of iron ore in 2006-07.
The government-owned China Daily said the US dollar price rise - it follows a 71.5 per cent increase last year - could end the resources boom.
China has fast [...]

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Christian Science Monitor
With American companies departing, Russian and Asian firms are filling the gap. Devon Energy sold its interests in Syria to Gulfsands, its partner in a joint exploration contract. Gulfsands then sold 50 percent of the project to SoyuzNefteGas, a Russian oil and gas company. A Russian company was contracted by the Syrian government [...]

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The Chinese central government is discovering that you cannot eliminate market forces if you choose to deal with the world around you. Adam Smith cares not a wit for the holder of the Peacock Throne.
Times Online
“China is in a macro trap,” said Andy Xie of Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. “The excesses in the economy [...]

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People’s Daily
China’s largest nuclear power generator has been connected to the national power grid, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced Saturday.
The trial launch of the No.1 generator of Tianwan Nuclear Station in Lianyungang City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, marked the success of the largest cooperation project between China and Russia.
The generator is expected to [...]

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People’s Daily
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) gave four reasons Sunday to explain the fast growth of bank loans in the first quarter of this year.
At the end of the first quarter, China reported total loans of 20.6 trillion yuan (2.575 Trillion US dollars), up 14.7 percent over the previous year. The increase rate is [...]

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Via Rantburg

Ernst & Young
The 2006 report does point out though that almost every country covered in the 2004 edition of the report—with the notable exception of China—has managed to reduce its “legacy NPLs” (loans made before 1997). There are signs even in China that transaction activity may be on the rise. China is poised to [...]

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China flexes its muscle in its littoral waters. They’ll do it in steps, and each one won’t be quite enough to provke international reaction. Then…
MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS
China has banned ship traffic around a disputed gas field in the East China Sea that is claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo as Chinese workers lay pipelines and cables [...]

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