Reflating Japan
The triple disasters of March 2011 – earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear contamination – offered a stark depiction of Japan’s strengths and weaknesses to the world and perhaps to the Japanese themselves.
Erotic Investment: Snowball vs. Goldfinger
“Would you rather be the world’s best lover but have everyone think you’re the world’s worst? Or would you rather be the world’s worst…”
Sayonara to Hard Money: Here Comes Global QE
The Bank of Japan’s decision to adopt an inflation target and double its bond purchases completes the global flight to soft money.
Austerity Fatigue: LePen & Hash-ism
The road to fiscal hell is sometimes paved with the best intentions. As Europe’s politicians seek to win electorates round to brutal budget cuts, they would do well to look to the experience of Japan.
When PIIGS Beat BRICS
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. The biggest surprise for equity investors in 2011 was not the weakness of the crisis-ravaged European markets, but the carnage in the stock markets of the emerging economies.
I am a Digital Cat: A Japanese Future
Here is a manga about Japan’s future written by me and illustrated by the eminent manga artist Toshio Ban, a disciple and former assistant of “the god of manga” Osamu Tezuka. The piece was originally intended for McKinsey’s Reimagining Japan book, but relegated to the webiste at the last minute in the wake of the 3/11 disasters.
Christmas In Havana
In Havana’s Plaza Vieja (old square), a pavement artist produces a sketch of me containing two features that are purely imaginary. One is a nose long enough to stir a mojito; the other is a hat-band proclaiming “Cuba Must Survive.”
Olympus The Movie
If Hollywood were making the movie, the imminent confrontation between Michael Woodford, the former CEO of Olympus, and the directors who…
Going Back To Tohoku
I scan my memory, jumbled and blurred by hangover, jetlag, lifelag. Got it – he’s a media figure, fronts up current affairs programs, TV and radio. A real pro, and a nice guy too. “You’re looking well,” I respond.
The Retreat From Hard Money
Imagine the US economy shrinking by 30% over the past four years, the Chinese economy growing at 2%, not 10%. Imagine UK house prices down 60% and commodity prices sliding back to the levels of the mid-1970s.