Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Nouriel Roubini: The risk of a double-dip recession is rising
The global economy is starting to bottom out from the worst recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression, writes Roubini, professor of economics at the Stern School of Business, NYU . But there are now two reasons why there is a rising risk of a double-dip W-shaped recession.
Analysis: Local difficulties – Muni bonds
As regulators rewrite rules governing everything from energy futures and short-selling to executive compensation and credit ratings, they are also taking a hard look at municipal bonds — which have revealed a patchwork of regulation that leaves dangerous gaps, write Nicole Bullock and Joanna Chung.
Wolfgang Munchau: How toxic finance created an unstable world
This has been a crisis of economic policy first and foremost. The financial crisis was necessary for the economic crisis to occur but it was not sufficient on its own. Each depended on the other. Once the US stimulus expires, and the budget deficit starts to narrow, global demand will settle at a new lower level. This is why we should be worrying more about global economics right now than about global finance
Tony Jackson: A comeback for the conglomerate model?
Both Warren Buffett through his Berkshire Hathaway company and General Electric, another old conglomerate, have proven that the classic strategy of diversification has been doing its job, writes Jackson. This prompts a broader thought: maybe the conglomerate model, discredited for decades, is due for a comeback.
Lex on ubiquitous computing
Computers are being crammed into all manner of formerly dumb devices, with big implications for business models, warns sLex
Video: Japan’s economy and the election
Takatoshi Ito, University of Tokyo professor, and Robert Feldman, Morgan Stanley’s head of Japan economic research, debate whether the outcome of Japan’s August 30 general election will be a turning point for the world’s second-largest economy.
Online Q&A – Ask the expert: Gold
Will an inflation surge or renewed dollar weakness break gold out of its current torpor? Suki Cooper, a member of BarCap’s commodities research team, will answer readers’ questions online.
Book review: Communication Power
Manuel Castells, author of “Communication Power”, has shaped himself into the most prominent and influential theorist and analyst of the modern communications and network age, writes FT columnist John Lloyd. His latest book, an analysis of the media of communication, shows how new technology has empowered governments, companies — and activists.