Breakingviews

Osborne should take King’s naughty fiscal gift

By Ian Campbell

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

Mervyn King is at it again. The governor of the Bank of England backed the government’s austerity policies too explicitly and is now writing its excuses for missing its fiscal targets. That’s outside the scope of King’s monetary remit. But George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, should make the most of the governor’s green light. The weakness of global growth ought to encourage the UK to move its targets, not tighten its fiscal policy further.

China’s “third strike” in 2013 is the one to watch

By Wei Gu

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

China’s leadership change might be a big event, but it is another occasion that matters most for the Communist Party. A new set of leaders will be ushered in during the 18th Party Congress, expected to happen in October. To hear what they stand for, the world may have to wait until the “third plenary”, which brings together around 370 of the Party’s top figures, a year from now.

Obama may find an exceptional friend in Facebook

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

U.S. President Barack Obama might find an exceptional friend in Facebook. The social network’s second-in-command, Sheryl Sandberg, should be on the short list for a top economic job if he wins a second term in office. Yet she’d potentially give up some $130 million in unvested equity to take the job. Her boss Mark Zuckerberg could bridge the gap. But it may cost Facebook shareholders dearly.

South Africa platinum crisis not over yet

By Kevin Allison

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

South Africa’s platinum crisis isn’t over yet. A pay deal struck by Lonmin will, if it holds, end a violent six-week strike that has claimed 45 lives. That’s good for the workforce. And it solves an immediate, potentially existential problem for the world’s third-biggest platinum producer. But it sets up other big challenges for Lonmin and the industry. The big wage hike will hurt already weak margins. And the response may only encourage further strikes.

Consumer boycotts won’t decide Sino-Japan fight

By John Foley

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

Are consumers China’s secret weapon? Not when it comes to winning its ongoing spat with Japan. Even if some Chinese shoppers are giving Uniqlo and Toyota a miss, history shows that consumer boycotts have at best a short-lived effect. Economic warfare looks reassuringly hard to wage.

Leap off fiscal cliff is bad option, but not worst

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

Leaping off the so-called fiscal cliff is a bad option for the United States. But it might not be the worst. If U.S. politicians can’t wrangle a deal first, January will bring tax increases and spending cuts. The economic shock could bring another recession. But it could also improve the political chances of a real fix.

Rome’s war against “lo spread” isn’t over

By Neil Unmack

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

Italians must feel like Hercules fighting the hydra. “Lo spread”, the difference between Italian and German bond yields, hung over Italy’s economy and politics for more than a year. Now, just as the European Central Bank’s promise of bond-buying seems to have calmed markets, the government says it wants to fight another “spread” – the productivity gap.

Markets sagely dismiss China’s anti-Tokyo tantrums

By Wayne Arnold

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

Investors aren’t particularly bothered by China’s anti-Tokyo protests. While smashed cars and shuttered factories are worrying, the two countries have more to lose in trade and investment than to gain from tit-for-tat reprisals. Companies that are big in China like Nissan may suffer in the short-term, but Japan Inc. has more to fear from U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke than from Beijing.

Key ingredient missing for M&A revival

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

Cheap money. Tick. Stable equity markets. Tick. Revenue pressure. Tick. Ideal conditions for a boom in mergers and acquisitions, surely? Spirits seem to be stirring in Europe, of all places, with BAE’s attempted union with defence peer EADS and Glencore’s heated pursuit of fellow miner Xstrata, while August generated a handful of multi-billion dollar U.S. deals. But not all the ingredients are in place to cook up a deal feast.

U.S. Treasury stake not the millstone GM makes out

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

General Motors’ Dan Akerson deserves an A for effort. The automaker’s chief executive and his colleagues reckon the U.S. government’s 26.5 percent ownership hurts the Motown manufacturer’s image and its ability to hire people. But it’s not the millstone they make out.