Dec 31, 2015

The IMF’s decision to formally include the renminbi as one of five hard currencies in its SDR basket, and the half-decade or so of liberalizing reforms leading into it, is likely to be recorded by economic historians with the corresponding level of attention that is devoted to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System almost-exactly a century ago.

Nov 26, 2015

Manilla’s arbitration requests in the South China Sea concern the standing of “historic rights”; the status of certain land features in these waters and the maritime entitlements they are capable of generating; and the lawfulness of certain Chinese land reclamation and law enforcement actions. Likely neither Beijing nor Manilla will walk away dejected, however.

Aug 18, 2015

Shrill forebodings of a return to ‘currency wars’ and irremediable U.S.-China trade quarrels are overblown – although the prognosis on this front is somewhat mixed. A small step backwards (the yuan devaluation on August 11th) might yet come to reflect the biggest leap forward in Asian economic, trade and financial regionalism in the years and decade ahead.

Jun 01, 2015

Protectionist U.S. Congressmen are proposing a series of amendments that would enforce currency disciplines for China-U.S. cross-border trading. Rather than protecting import-sensitive sectors with that would penalize developing country producers, Congress and global policymakers would be better off updating the fraying architecture of the international monetary system.

Jan 19, 2015

The U.S. State Department released a study of China’s “nine-dash line” in December, analyzing the legal basis in maritime law. Sourabh Gupta critiques this analysis, stating that as long as China limits these activities to traditional fishing - not resource development or marine scientific research – and exercises them on a non-exclusive basis, the nine-dash line as a perimeter of China’s is not inconsistent with international law.