Economy

A cab bearing an Uber taxi logo in Tokyo in July 2020: Japan only recently allowed Uber to work through taxi companies. (Photo by Masashi Isawa)
Opinion

Ride-hailing insanity shows Japan is right to shun startups

Investors are starting to notice that losses show no sign of easing

25 March 2022
Children wearing virtual reality headsets play a game at a shopping mall in Shanghai on Jan. 1: there are no serious studies on how much energy will be needed to power metaverse.
Opinion

The metaverse's hunger for energy must be quantified

Powering the virtual world has the potential to worsen climate change

24 March 2022
A screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the rate decision of the Federal Reserve on Mar. 16: average inflation targeting may be responsible for the delay in policy actions.
Opinion

Looking behind the monetary policy curve

A 'policy-induced' forecast error could happen through organizational mechanism

23 March 2022
A tanker carrying U.S. LNG arrives in Japan. (Photo by Ryosuke Hanafusa)
Energy

Replacing Russian LNG from Sakhalin-2 would cost Japan $15bn

Price tag for imports to jump 35% if Mitsui, Mitsubishi pull out of energy project

22 March 2022
The coronavirus pandemic has eased in the U.S., but the slow return of workers is overshadowing the economy's recovery. (Source photos by Reuters) 
Datawatch

U.S. return to work lags Japan, EU in wake of COVID

Labor crunch could stifle economic rebound, stoke inflation

20 March 2022
Prime Minister Kisida announces that Japan will no longer treat Russia as a "most favored nation." (Photo by Uichiro Kasai)
Ukraine war

Japan revokes Russia's 'most favored' status over Ukraine

Kishida mentions Sakhalin-2 LNG project in regard to Japan's energy security

16 March 2022
The Kremlin towers is reflected in a display of McDonald's on Mar 9, which temporarily close all of its restaurants in Russia: the massive actions taken by multinationals will probably bring China to a rethinking.
Opinion

China can see the limits of bailing out Russia's economy

Beijing will support Moscow as long as it does not fall foul of Western sanctions

14 March 2022
As Russia is discovering, the ability to access currency reserves depends on the goodwill of G-7 nations.
Opinion

Japan's banks suddenly hold huge leverage over China's economy

Accessing dollars outside the U.S. is not as easy as it sounds

14 March 2022
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang parried questions about why Beijing had not condemned Russia's invasion.
China People's Congress

China's Li calls Ukraine crisis 'disconcerting' and urges cease-fire

In last news conference, premier says achieving 5.5% growth 'will not be easy'

11 March 2022
Crude oil storage tanks are seen at the Cushing oil hub in in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
Interview

U.S. will not ask Japan to limit Russian oil imports: State Dept adviser

Putin's invasion of Ukraine will 'change the entire landscape of energy'

10 March 2022
Building of the Long Phu 1 thermal power plant has been delayed in Vietnam's Mekong Delta because of U.S. sanctions against a Russian contractor. (Photo courtesy of PetroVietnam's PTSC)
Ukraine war

SWIFT sanctions add twist to Vietnam-Russia coal plant dispute

Hanoi refrains from condemning Ukraine invasion by its old Soviet partner

10 March 2022
Although only a few countries are restricting imports of Russian oil, many companies are shying away from the fuel over logistical and ethical concerns.
10 March 2022
A thick layer of foam generated by contamination floats on the Yamuna River, India, on Jan 24: pollution intensity will disqualify industries in developing countries from ESG funding when they are the ones needing it the most.
Opinion

Current ESG scheme leaves emerging economies' efforts unrewarded

International system favors companies from developed countries

9 March 2022
Vladimir Putin talks with Xi Jinping via video link in December 2021: China wants to reassure Moscow of its support without appearing to do so to the rest of the world. (Handout photo from Kremlin Press Office)
Opinion

China's long game has just gotten a lot harder

Putin's war against Ukraine has upended key assumptions

8 March 2022
A crude oil tanker at Qingdao Port. Crude is one of China's key imports from Russia.
Trade

Chinese trade with Russia jumps 38% in January-February

Beijing seen extending economic hand to Moscow before Ukraine invasion

8 March 2022
Migrant workers from Uzbekistan collect potatoes at a agrarian field in Beryozovka near Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk: their remittances to their families back home are a crucial source of income.
Opinion

Central Asia braces for economic catastrophe

Sanctions aimed at Russia will have serious knock-on effects

7 March 2022
A well head and drilling rig in the Yarakta oilfield in the Irkutsk region, Russia, pictured in March 2019: nowhere is the transformation in national fortunes more dramatic than in Russia.
Opinion

Ukraine war divides global markets

Commodity producers and more self-reliant nations will do better

7 March 2022
U.S. trade restrictions covering products made with American technology could create pitfalls for Asian companies. (Source photo by AP and Ken Kobayashi)
Ukraine war

From Samsung to Sony, Asia tech grapples with Russia sanctions

Complying with U.S. clampdown now could invite China repercussions later

4 March 2022
A cryptocurrency exchange point in Kyiv, pictured on Jan. 24: if the crypto world fails Ukraine, there may not be any future for crypto. 
Opinion

Ukraine war is crypto's biggest test yet

Essential for individuals to accept that freedom comes with accountability

4 March 2022
Liu Daoxue, who lives in the village of Baiping, in central China, has escaped poverty, the government says, thanks to heavy public spending. (Photo by Yusuke Hinata)
The age of 'Great China'

China's aging population leads to predictions of '17-year supremacy'

Leaders need another $7.8tn to realize Xi's 'common prosperity'

4 March 2022
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Nikkei Asia that sanctions against Russia should include blocking its largest bank, Sberbank, and urged Japan to close its ports to Russian ships.
Interview

Russia's top bank must be hit with sanctions: Ukrainian minister

Kyiv seeks not NATO planes and pilots, but 'surface-to-air defense systems'

4 March 2022
President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
Ukraine war

Biden rebukes Russia in State of the Union with Cold War backdrop

Few mentions of China, as president touts battle between democracy and autocracy

2 March 2022
The ruble has collapsed against the dollar over the past several days amid tightening financial sanctions.
Finance

Russia's credit crunch raises specter of default

G-7 finance chiefs pledge more action as debt yields soar and liquidity tightens

2 March 2022
A mural of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Moscow-region town of Kashira. His decision to invade Ukraine is rupturing economic ties between his the country and the West.
Ukraine war

From BP to Daimler, rush of corporate exits isolate Russia further

Beijing can help soften the blow to Moscow -- but by how much?

1 March 2022
Workers produce face masks at a Turkish manufacturer's facility in Istanbul. Exports surged in 2021 as multinational companies turned to the country amid supply chain bottlenecks.
Economy

Turkey posts G-20 topping 11% growth in 2021 as exports surge

Country benefits from supply-chain realignment, despite runaway inflation

28 February 2022