Breakingviews

Unravelling India: Part 1

By Jeff Glekin and Hugo Dixon

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

Half way into Manmohan Singh’s second term as prime minister, the so-called India Shining story is unravelling. Having weathered the 2008 financial crisis better than almost anyone predicted, projections that the country would soon be growing faster than China at 10 percent or more a year had become the norm. That confidence has come hurtling back to reality with a thump.

Spain’s regions need tough love treatment

By Fiona Maharg-Bravo and Neil Unmack

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

Spanish regions are like teenagers pushing their parents to the limit. The country’s 17 autonomous regions, which are responsible for education and health (over 50 percent of total government spending), missed their fiscal targets again last year, and caused the country to miss its own. Madrid faces the same dilemma as the European Commission when it comes to ensuring compliance of member countries with the stability pact: how to force the regions to follow the rules?

Euro zone’s New Year hopes hit triple downer

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

European governments have suffered a triple setback. Standard & Poor’s has stripped France and Austria of their triple-A ratings, and cut Italy to the same level as Ireland. Greek debt talks have broken down, while the European Central Bank has criticised the region’s fiscal pact. After a brief lull, the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis is back with a vengeance.

At least Obama knows which agencies he’s cutting

By Daniel Indiviglio

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

Choosing which federal agencies to shutter has become a sporting feature of the U.S. Republican presidential campaign. Barack Obama has taken the game a notch further by proposing to consolidate six agencies in a bid to reduce the bureaucracy. While a step in the right direction – and unlike GOP contender and Texas governor Rick Perry, Obama clearly knows which agencies he wants to close – it’s a bitty fix. Repairing America’s finances will require deeper cuts and more creative measures than this.

Carlyle’s big payday does private equity no favors

By Jeffrey Goldfarb

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

Carlyle Group isn’t doing its industry any favors. As part of the private equity firm’s initial public offering process, this week it revealed the lucre reaped by its three founders last year. David Rubenstein, William Conway and Daniel D’Aniello took home a combined $400 million in cash payouts. That’s on top of their nearly $4 million salaries and the profits on $200 million of distributions on personal investments in the firm’s funds. Carlyle’s timing is impeccable.

China will fudge Iran oil sanctions

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

China has a sanctions dilemma. The biggest buyer of Iranian oil imported about 600,000 barrels a day in November, a third of total output. As the United States enacts new sanctions on the Middle Eastern state, and refiners in Europe pull back in anticipation of further curbs, China can choose to flout or follow. Expect it to fudge.

Imagine China chooses all-out disobedience. That would be in keeping with a policy of non-intervention in foreign countries’ domestic affairs. If China just bought, it could take up a big share of the 450,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil which sanction-imposing Europe is no longer taking. It would probably get a cut price – discounts of $30 a barrel are possible – from the desperate seller.

China’s likely finmin choice a win for reformists

By Wei Gu

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

China’s likely next finance minister could be a win for reformists. Lou Jiwei, the head of sovereign wealth fund CIC, is tipped for the job come the next round of leadership changes. He held one of the most global jobs in China’s establishment, and has been a champion for fiscal and other changes. Were he promoted, it would strengthen the pro-reform streak in China’s consensus-driven political machine.

Predictions 2012: Upside down and inside out

By Robert Cole

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

Planet finance has a propensity to turn itself upside down and inside out. It’s up to its old tricks again. A new collection of commentaries from Breakingviews sets the financial agenda for the next 12 months.

China will fudge Iran oil sanctions

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

China has a sanctions dilemma. The biggest buyer of Iranian oil imported about 600,000 barrels a day in November, a third of total output. As the United States enacts new sanctions on the Middle Eastern state, and refiners in Europe pull back in anticipation of further curbs, China can choose to flout or follow. Expect it to fudge. 

Ron Paul’s staying power threatens to alter debate

By Daniel Indiviglio and Martin Hutchinson

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

Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary but Ron Paul’s showing could have as big an effect on the race. After finishing third in Iowa, the Texas Republican placed second in the Granite State, securing nearly one in four votes. That keeps him in the hunt to challenge Romney for now and could inspire him to make a third-party run later. Either way, the longer Paul sticks around, the more the national debate is likely to shift on important economic issues.