Breakingviews

QE3 honeymoon may be brief for emerging markets

By Wayne Arnold

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

The QE3 honeymoon may be disappointingly brief for emerging markets. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s promise to buy mortgage-backed bonds into the indefinite future could lift all boats for a while. But the flood of dollars might soon frighten investors, as well as vexing central bankers everywhere but the United States.

Politics and economy cloud China’s Davos

By Wei Gu

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

Skies were unusually clear in the Chinese city of Tianjin this week as the World Economic Forum’s annual summer event took place. But there were two grey clouds: politics and the economy. Worries over both were hard to miss. Like China itself, there was a distinct feeling that the self-styled Asian gathering of the global elite had lost some of its sparkle.

Dutch politics returns to centre – and Europe

By Peter Thal Larsen

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

Dutch politics has reverted to its centrist, pro-European norm. After an extended flirtation with anti-austerity and anti-euro groups, voters have overwhelmingly backed parties from the country’s political mainstream. That’s a relief for euro zone leaders who feared that a radical government might end up ruling a core country of the monetary union. But the noisy campaign will complicate efforts to form a coalition, while fringe voices remain ready to exploit any future unease.

China’s big fiscal guns best left in the holster

By John Foley

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

China’s fiscal guns are ready to fire. Premier Wen Jiabao reminded the world this week that government debt is low, and the country has scope to spend its way back to rapid growth. Investors believe it will: Shanghai’s stock market closed up on Sept.10, even as China showed August exports barely grew year on year.

China’s absent princeling is a mystery not a crisis

By John Foley

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

China’s growth is slowing, and president-in-waiting Xi Jinping hasn’t been seen in public for two weeks. China-watchers are discussing little else. The former issue matters greatly to the world, while the latter is fascinating, but basically unimportant.

For Italy, crisis freedom is almost within reach

By Neil Unmack

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

Rome is half out of the woods. Italy’s 10-year bond yields have fallen by over a percentage point since European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi hinted at a new bond-buying programme. With yields falling and confidence returning, the need for a bailout is waning.

Coal’s slide poses broader risks for Indonesia

By Wayne Arnold

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

Coal’s slide poses a problem for Indonesia. As the biggest exporter of coal used for generating power, the country’s fortunes might seem directly tied to China and India’s economic slowdown. In fact, exports account for only a sliver of GDP. The bigger risk is that falling demand spooks foreign investors, undermines a provincial boom, and hurts poor workers.

U.S. political jamborees alienate Mr. Market

By Daniel Indiviglio and Jeffrey Goldfarb
The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own.

Mr. Market would have felt unwelcome in Charlotte and Tampa over the last couple of weeks. The political jamborees hosted in the two southeastern U.S. cities offered stark differences in tone that mirror the different options Americans face in November’s elections. Eat the fiscal spinach served up by Mitt Romney and the Republicans, or gorge on the pro-worker red meat dangled by Barack Obama and the Democrats. Voters may be tempted by one or the other, but investors will probably turn their noses up at both.

China’s unbalanced path is still the right one

By John Foley

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

So much for China’s rebalancing. President Hu Jintao has extolled the merits of infrastructure investment at an Asia-Pacific summit, even as the government approved some 1 trillion yuan of local projects, from subways to sewers. The goal of consumption rather than investment driving economic expansion has been put on hold. For now, that’s as it should be.

Obama job adds match Bush, Clinton but not Reagan

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

Thirty months after the U.S. jobs nadir, employment has risen by 3.1 percent, according to Friday’s report for August. That’s roughly in line with the post-recession record of the last 2-1/2 presidents – but far short of Ronald Reagan’s 9.8 percent jobs increase. The picture for August alone was also mixed: President Barack Obama, his Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney, and the Federal Reserve can all take something from it.