Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement will be judged in terms of its perceived ability to lift the UK economic growth rate. The signs are not propitious, most economic commentators, taking account of the lack of growth over the past two quarters, are expecting relatively limited growth during the 2024. It is as well to note that...Read More

The economic turbulence that Bangladesh is currently going through has caused a rapid increase in food and energy prices. This has affected low and middle-income families who spend a large share of their income on food. With huge uncertainties, how will Bangladesh cope with the global supply-side shocks? Over the last few years Bangladesh has...Read More

Several Southeast Asian leaders were feted by Russian President Vladimir Putin at last week’s Belt and Road Forum in Beijing as part of his pivot to Asia, elevating the importance of the region’s political centrality and economic vitality to Russia’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This was Putin’s second official foreign trip since the International Criminal Court issued an...Read More

The European Union’s call to investigate Beijing’s use of state subsidies in the production of Chinese electric vehicles, along with the possibility of tariffs on EV exports to Europe, comes as Chinese carmakers diversify their manufacturing of EVs into Southeast Asia. Chief among Chinese EV makers’ prospective hubs is Thailand. The country has by far the largest automobile...Read More

What the USA has labelled the Indo-Pacific (I-P) has become a central arena in the USA’s conflict with China. A conflict that has rapidly developed over the last 5 years from a trade dispute to a broad and increasingly ideologically based attempt to counter and constrain China at all levels. This is seen by the...Read More

In his party conference speech, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt painted a rosy picture of our future leadership in technology sectors. His words didn’t match the scale of the economic challenge. In the Labour conference, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves avoided the trap of major economic policy commitments, and her vision may be too pedestrian. Rod Dowler writes...Read More

The recently published Bank of England (BoE) update on its secondary objectives: a secondary competition objective (SCO and a secondary competitiveness and growth objective (SCGO), both delivered via the Bank’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) role is a significant annual event (BoE 2023). This is also the week when the Bank has announced its decision on...Read More

The recent meeting of the BRICS in South Africa, or to give its full title – The BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Universal Security, and Innovative Growth – witnessed its substantial enlargement, from the initial five countries of Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa to 12 countries. The enlarged BRICS now includes the UAE,...Read More

Bangladesh, a country of 165 million people has an annual road traffic accident fatality rate per capita that is twice as high compared with high-income countries and five times that of the best-performing countries globally. Incidents rise sharply during Eid holidays, so what can the government do about road safety? Road traffic accidents (RTA) that...Read More

There is little doubt that on October 7th, 2022, by intensifying and widening its export controls the US engaged in a “hot war” against China by attempting to destroy that country’s  capacity to develop further its semiconductor industry. The US has effectively unleashed a campaign of industrial sabotage against China across this crucial industrial sector....Read More