Breakingviews

Softbank-Sprint tie-up gets bad signal from market

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By John Foley

Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son has received a strong signal from investors. They wiped $6.2 billion in value off the Japanese telecoms operator’s market value on Oct. 12 after it confirmed it was in talks with U.S. rival Sprint Nextel. That’s three times more than U.S. investors added to Sprint’s worth the previous day. No wonder: a takeover would be a financial stretch for Softbank, and could preclude other deals closer to home.

U.S. banking overhaul gets a second wind

By Agnes T. Crane
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

The push to overhaul the U.S. banking sector is getting a second wind. Two years after the 848-page Dodd-Frank financial reform act thudded onto desks across Wall Street, regulators, politicians and even banking grandees are back out on the stump talking up ideas that were left on the cutting-room floor. Fresh on the heels of the hoopla to break up banks, the Federal Reserve’s top cop is advocating capping their size. It’s increasingly evident that too big to fail remains too big a concern.

BOJ’s conundrum is how to be more irresponsible

By Andy Mukherjee

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The Bank of Japan has a conundrum: how to make a credible commitment to recklessly printing more money. The central bank wrote the primer on unconventional monetary policy a decade ago when it pioneered quantitative easing. But as other central banks have embraced loose money, the BOJ has become an increasingly forlorn figure in a crowded rogues’ gallery.

China’s IMF boycott undermines quest for clout

By John Foley

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

If China wants a bigger say at the IMF, boycotting the fund’s meeting in Japan is the wrong way to get it. The head of the central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, withdrew on Oct. 10, amid a territorial dispute between the two countries. Yet the IMF is supposed to be about finance, not border politics. If China doesn’t agree, maybe it isn’t ready for a bigger role.

Romney’s foreign policy doesn’t seem so austere

By Daniel Indiviglio
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Mitt Romney’s foreign policy doesn’t match his thrifty approach to other spending. The U.S. Republican presidential candidate’s speech on Monday suggests a George W. Bush-like interventionist streak, another step away from the party’s pre-World War Two isolationism. That could lead to more Middle East conflict and defense spending. It’s also just as risky as President Barack Obama’s stance.

IMF’s long-term worry: decades of higher rates

By Christopher Swann and Martin Hutchinson

The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.

The International Monetary Fund has a new long-term worry: decades of higher interest rates. Don’t get too comfortable with low borrowing costs, is the downbeat message from the normally overoptimistic fund’s flagship World Economic Outlook. Slightly feebler growth of 3.3 percent for 2012 is the short-term concern. But past fiscal excesses and an ageing population could push up interest rates for a generation.

China’s telco suppliers can’t escape spying row

By John Foley
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Earning the trust of Americans is proving a Sisyphean task for Huawei. The Chinese telecom supplier has consistently fought reports of too-close ties to the People’s Liberation Army and undue influence from Beijing. Now a panel of U.S. congressmen has publicly labelled the employee-owned group and its rival ZTE a security threat. True or not, the accusation is a serious blow.

Review: Lessons for the poor from English history

By Martin Hutchinson
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

It took England centuries to develop a successful industrial economy. Poor countries today want to recapitulate the process in a few decades. In “The Political Economy of Nation Building” development consultant Mack Ott draws some lessons from the English experience.

West still rules in global education

By Edward Hadas

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

In most aspects of current affairs, the world’s traditional economic leaders are losing ground to developing nations. But when it comes to top quality universities, the old powers remain firmly in the lead. Of the top 200 universities in the world, 42 percent are in Europe and another 42 percent in the United States and Canada. Add in the countries which are basically European and American settlements – Israel, Australia and New Zealand – and the West’s share comes to 90 percent. Those countries account for only 50 percent of global GDP.

Even one-sided Chinese investment has its benefits

By Christopher Swann

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Canada wants equal rights for its companies to pile into China.  The country’s opposition leader says his compatriots would be “chumps” if they allowed state-owned CNOOC to buy Canadian oil group Nexen without China granting equal access to its natural resources. Demands for reciprocity seem only fair. But workers and investors in rich countries gain even if the money flows only one way. It’s the Middle Kingdom that misses out by being less welcoming.