Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
The new system offers a real missile defence
Hillary Rodham Clinton, US secretary of state, writes that Barack Obama’s decision to deploy a stronger and more comprehensive missile defence system in Europe came after a lengthy and in-depth review of our assessment of the threat posed by Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and the technology that we have to confront it. It is a decision that will leave America stronger, and more capable of defending our troops, our interests, and our allies.
Clive Crook: Deal with the banks while they are down
Economic summits are always more about messaging than substance, says Crook. In recent days, officials have been striving, they say, to “lower expectations” about what this week’s G20 summit in Pittsburgh might achieve. I had supposed that expectations could hardly be lower. Usually this would be no great cause for concern, but 2009 is different.
Analysis: G20 summit, a pattern emerges
The FT’s economics editor Chris Giles notes that as G20 leaders prepare to gather in Pittsburgh this week, the world economy is once again growing and talk of a coming depression has disappeared. Yet the road to stability features many obstacles. The G20 leaders may cheer the end of recession, but they know that the hard work in creating a sustainable global recovery is only just beginning.
Editorial comment: Regulating the City in the UK’s interest
“It’s clear to me that the FSA has to be very, very wary of seeing the competitiveness of London as a major aim, and that’s not a popular thing to say. . .” Thus did Lord Turner, chairman of the UK’s FSA, describe the regulator’s future role. He was right, on both counts. So how should the authorities approach financial regulation in Britain?
Tony Jackson: Maybe the banks are in worse trouble than we realise
We may just possibly have it wrong about the banks. Received wisdom says that they are reverting to their bad old ways and that punitive measures are called for – the first being higher capital requirements. With so much in this crisis, timing is everything. But we should beware meanwhile of taking the apparent complacency of bankers at face value. They may just be whistling in the dark.
FTfm, video: Why gold prices have further to go
Evy Hambro, managing director of BlackRock and co-manager of the BlackRock Gold and General Fund, says the most important driver of gold prices has been the decline in production. However, gold prices, he says, must rise further before miners feel it will pay to invest in building new mines.
Lex – Oil production
Even if the “peak oil” theory were geologically sound, should today’s supply forecasts be recalibrated for high prices and human ingenuity?, asks Lex. While the world is farther than it thought from running out of oil, perhaps it is closer to running out of cheap oil than recent headlines about major discoveries suggest.
Lina Saigol: Go easy on ‘put up or shut up’
The “put up or shut up” order is one of the best weapons available to a besieged UK company, says Saigol, but knowing when to use it calls for sound judgement: too soon and shareholders may miss an attractive offer for their company; too late and a company could be damaged after months of uncertainty and lack of focus on day-to-day business.
Book review: Why not Socialism?
FT columnist John Lloyd reflects on a respected Marxist scholar’s last work, Why Not Socialism, by G. A. Cohen, who outlines proposals for a better society and his journey from activism on the streets to Oxford lecture halls. Yet, if optimistic in will, he was intellectually a pessimist, notes Lloyd.
View from the Markets, video: US-China trade relations
Michael Pettis of Peking University discusses US-China trade relations, the Asian growth model and where China may invest its forex reserves.