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Archive for June, 2010

If Machiavelli was revaluing Chinese currency

Wednesday, 23 June 2010 07:15 Written by Dan Vecchi 3 Comments

The US has come close to labeling China as a manipulator of exchange rates. The undervalued renminbi allows for cheap exports, especially into their largest market: the EU. The last G-20 talks were a concerted effort to pressure China to allow the renminbi to rise, and last week the US got some, but not nearly enough. China has opened up to a crawling peg: a feckless economic move but a highly deft political move.

Since the last G-20 talks, the EU was emasculated by the Greek and Spanish crises, to which the US had to divert efforts away from nudging the Chinese into a more buoyant exchange rate. Even before loosening the exchange rate the renminbi had strengthened to the euro. Why would China allow their exports to become more expensive to their largest markets? China now has left the US flat on its heels with only a week to prepare complaints about the actual topic at hand—doing business in and with China—before the G-20 talks in Toronto, June 26-27. Brilliant timing.

Now, what is China’s end game in this? Obviously, the value of its currency is merely a tool in its larger political and economic strategy. So what does this mean and where is China going?

The farce of energy-independent politics

Thursday, 17 June 2010 19:40 Written by Eric Garland 0 Comments

Jon Stewart slays the past eight presidents for platitudes about moving past foreign oil. Lest you think the current president is serious, ask yourself how his administration reconciles his multi-billion dollar national investment in car companies and highways while also pushing the urgency of getting away from oil.

Also, make sure you stay with this video until the end which details the great number of fantastical technologies that will somehow replace the most dense, transportable, efficient form of energy we have ever discovered. And note how these futurist presidents keep kicking the can of energy independence up the road from 1980 to 1985, 2000, 2010, 2025, 2300, the year 5000.

Understanding the future is about not being glib about the difficulty of the challenges that face us, and yet still moving forward.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

YOU WILL NEVER RETIRE

Thursday, 17 June 2010 19:33 Written by Eric Garland 0 Comments

Retirement will be impossible, but maybe that will be OK in a world of knowledge workers, says Harvard Business review.

Actually, when you read in medical literature that retirement is the surest highway to alcoholism, depression, and death, this may not be that alarming a forecast.

You know what they say, aging is terrible, but it sure beats the alternative.

Brazil: A bright future overcomes inflation fears

Wednesday, 16 June 2010 14:56 Written by Dan Vecchi 0 Comments

Welcome to my first of many dispatches as director of economic risk analysis at Competitive Futures, Inc. I look forward to sharing with you some the insights we provide clients on current economic trends from around the world. Jumping right in: Is Brazil’s economy too hot?

These days, the orthodox view is that economic growth is GOOD, inflation is BAD. Most countries around the world have too little of the former and risk far too much from the latter, mostly from profligate spending and “quantitative easing.” Which is why it’s easy to see Brazil as a bright spot in the global economy. Brazil’s GDP growth is at a scorching 9%- which would normally be so hot as to cause worry of inflation. But wait – Brazil’s inflation won’t cause the same problems that the world will see in all the other countries at risk of inflation due to monster deficits. The land of futbol, caipirinhas and Copacabana is more dynamic and innovative than ever before, and will overcome inflation through investment.

Inflation in hot economies is often caused by a lack of sufficient infrastructure to meet growing demand. In Brazil, this won’t be a problem going forward, to listen to the country’s forward-looking economic policy makers. The country’s economic future appears to be poised to grow past any inflation concerns. The consumer market has grown exponentially for the past 15 years; massive investment opportunities such as the 2014 World Cup across Brazil and the 2016 Rio Olympics will see inflows from across the globe; and mass infrastructure projects in energy, transportation, and extraction (Franco fields and Tupí finds) are increasing. In a world where North America and Europe look backward to find their Golden Age, Brazil is looking at the next decades.

Imagine businesses looking for growing seeing Sao Paolo as a better bet for stability than the ailing eurozone or deficit prone North America. Brazil won’t be “one of the BRIC countries” it might be “where we have our headquarters.”

“This isn’t about growth, it’s about fragility”

Friday, 11 June 2010 11:24 Written by Eric Garland 0 Comments

We couldn’t love  Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s work any more here at CompFutures. His book The Black Swan has become an instant classic for its application of scenario planning to financial markets, showing us that humility and constant skepticism are our constant allies when thinking about future. His work shows us that past performance is not necessarily future reality, and that we probably aren’t as smart as we think we are when making predictions about an ultra-complex, superconnected world.

Plus, he called the financial crisis well before 2008. It’s a small group of contrarians who got that one right. (Ahem.)

For a while, Taleb was in a self-imposed media blackout, terribly weary of having expressed the same ideas time and time again about how “eternal growth” isn’t the only scenario nations and companies should expect. Black swans, he contended in endless interviews, were still on the horizon, circling with plans to challenge the orthodoxies of Keynesianism, Hayekian free markets, or any other old fashioned 20th century notions.

With the new round of economic stimulus, bailouts, and other such faith-based superstitious economic rituals, Taleb is back on the scene to discuss why, contra Krugman, debt-based stimulus packages are making us less safe, giving us growth wrapped in a dangerous package of fragility.

A wonderful, weary, frank interview.


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This is the official trend blog of Competitive Futures, a management consultancy that provides trend research and analysis for business and government around the world. Here, we update you on interesting trends we see as part of our work for our clients.


For managing partner Eric Garland's new author and speaker blog, please consult and bookmark http://www.ericgarland.co

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