Focused Thinking

Articles

Economics

Thailand: a fragile investment cycle

The ongoing investment recovery in Thailand is likely to be unsustainable with the election potentially resulting in another adverse political environment, particularly for private investment.

2 min read | September 2018

Central Banks

Damocles: our early warning indicator of exchange rate crises

Despite the lessons learned from past crises, currency crises still occur from time to time and spread contagiously when they happen. After receiving substantial capital inflows, some EM economies are under pressure this year.

3 min read | September 2018

Japan in focus

What can we learn from the history of trade wars?

From the 1950s to the 1990s Japan often found itself in disagreement with the US over trade. Although the trade war in automobiles in the 1980s was to do with the US’s current account deficit, there was significant trade friction from the 1950s to the 1970s related to textiles and steel, which took place before the US had a pronounced current account deficit.

2 min read | August 2018

Economics

Why global bonds are still attractive to Japanese issuers

Issuance hit a record high in 2017 and conditions remain supportive for new issues.

3 min read | August 2018

Volatility

East meets West: How China’s Geely connected with Volvo Trucks

Nomura’s structuring apportioned risk between the various counterparties while ensuring that there was a simple contract to present to the Chinese regulators.

3 min read | August 2018

Economics

Deciphering EM Rate Expectations

What are some of the patterns in Asia with regards to fixing and policy rates? We analyze 14 EM rates markets through the prism of our rates expectation framework.

2 min read | August 2018

Emerging Markets

China FinTech – 2018: survival of the fittest

Artificial Intelligence (particularly machine learning) and big data technology have been widely adopted in the bank and insurance sectors, owing to the need of processing and understanding the growing customer base and industry data. Over the next two years, we anticipate a “survival of the fittest” scenario.

3 min read | July 2018

Economics

DEFCON 4: Financial Risks are Rising. Vigilance Should, Too

The movie WarGames helped introduce the DEFCON system to the public back in 1983 (including a 14-year-old future bank strategist who took his first date to the movie, perhaps explaining why it remains memorable). DEFCON—or defense readiness condition—reflects U.S. military preparedness for war on a rising scale of severity.

4 min read | July 2018

Technology

Asia Pacific technology: bigger wave of the 4th Industrial Revolution

While the first three industrial revolutions transformed our world, the fourth industrial revolution encompasses breakthroughs in robotics, AI, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.

2 min read | June 2018

Economics

No Anesthesia: Asia’s Giant Accepts Reform Pain in Exchange for Sustainability

After decades of double-digit growth, China’s macroeconomic slowdown to more sustainable levels continues to be a key feature of any serious analysis of the global economy. If there’s one immediate challenge in China this year, it's soaring property prices.

3 min read | June 2018

Economics

What are the five key drivers for Latin America FX in H2 2018?

Owing to the recent dollar move, we revisit the main drivers and forecasts for LatAm FX in H2 2018. We have identified the following five key drivers which are likely to continue to be important in terms of currency performance in the second-half of the year.

1 min read | June 2018

Emerging Markets

Digital Disinflation: a Powerful Force Taking Off in Emerging Markets

The first wave of global disinflation came from the globalization of trade. The world is now experiencing a second wave of global disinflation, driven by the digital technology revolution.

2 min read | June 2018

Economics

From the factory to the lab: Central and Eastern Europe’s innovation push

Central and Eastern Europe has been a manufacturing hub for the rest of the continent, but the model is creaking as labour costs rise; will innovation in software and digital write the next chapter in its growth story?

4 min read | June 2018

Economics

ASEAN: One body, many faces

As China’s labour-intensive manufacturing industries fan out across the wider region and local firms flex their muscles in capital-light industries such as ride-hailing and e-commerce, a significant number of blue-chip companies have moved into ASEAN.

6 min read | June 2018

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