Japan and Italy have quite a bit in common. Both have histories stretching back 2,700 years. More recently, both are underperforming economies that have accumulated colossal debt burdens which rapidly ageing (and in Japan’s case, already shrinking) populations will struggle to pay off. In addition, both countries have weak political systems characterised by dozens of… [Read more]

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond’s proposed referendum for the independence of Scotland is an existential issue for the United Kingdom. Business Monitor Online recently published a primer on the subject, discussing the following questions: What will be the choices on offer to the Scottish electorate? When will the referendum be held? Who will vote in… [Read more]

Business Monitor International (BMI) has just published a comprehensive assessment of global shale oil and oil shale developments, and their implications. The main themes and conclusions are as follows: Shale oil has much stronger prospects than oil shale, as the technology and economics of production are far more favourable for the former. Shale oil is… [Read more]

While investors’ attentions are naturally focused on the meltdown in global financial markets, there are several other noteworthy developments taking place around the world that could add to the sense of global risks. The following are in no particular order: Tensions are once again rising on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea is conducting military exercises,… [Read more]

In Business Monitor Online today, we carry two special features on Standard and Poor’s (S&P)’s downgrade of the United States’ credit rating to AA+ on August 5. In the first article, we answer the following questions: Why has the US credit rating been downgraded? What does it mean to be rated AA+ rather than AAA?… [Read more]

The ongoing sovereign debt crises in the eurozone will have several important political and geopolitical consequences, as I explain in a feature in Business Monitor Online this week. Europe faces its biggest crisis since Yugoslavia’s collapse. Europe seldom has the unity and purpose to tackle major crises. The eurozone was probably too big to begin… [Read more]

Inevitably, many will see the terror attacks allegedly committed by Anders Behring Breivik last Friday as the work of a deranged individual. However, there is no question that Breivik, whatever his personal problems, chose to make his crimes political in nature, first by detonating a bomb in central Oslo near a key government building and… [Read more]