Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
Peter Tasker: China is heading for a Japan-style bubble
To anyone who has lived through the rise and fall of the Japanese bubble economy, the hype over China’s growth today should set off alarm-bells, says Tasker, Tokyo-based analyst at Arcus Research. If China continues to follow the Japanese template, the end of the dollar peg will be the trigger event, setting off a Godzilla-sized credit binge. Why would China’s rulers embark on a such a disastrous course? Because the alternative — unleashing deflationary forces stored up over years of mercantilist policies — would be too painful to contemplate.
Edmund Phelps: A fruitless clash of economic opposites
In the theory wars, which are as much wars over policy choices, two very bad kinds of theories are driving out good theories, writes Phelps, recipient of the 2006 Nobel prize in economics and director of the Center on Capitalism and Society at Columbia University. Keynesian economics, once nearly forgotten inside the macro field, has found new voices from outside. Neoclassical equilibrium theory has also found new practitioners. Economics has paid a terrible price for its dalliances with both theories. Now policymakers are being misled by the siren call of these same, hopelessly inadequate views.
In-depth: Mammon and morality
In a series of videos and articles by FT commentators and contributors, FT.com examines higher issues than the bottom line and looks at calls for a moral code to underpin financial activities amid rising public anger over bankers’ bonuses and the role of the financial sector in the downturn.
Ken Costa: Tame the markets to make capitalism ethical
Capitalism has slipped its moral moorings, says Costa, chairman of Lazard International and Gresham Professor of Commerce.. Since the financial crisis erupted, remedies have focused on capital, equity and structure. These are certainly necessary. But it is even more important that we address the deficiency in moral and human spirit which was the real root of the crisis. We are doomed to repeat our mistakes if we do not restore sound ethics to economic behaviour.
Trading Room, video: Charlotte Crosswell, Nasdaq OMX Europe
It has been a year since alternative trading platforms have sprung up to rival European incumbents such as the LSE and Deutsche Boerse. Yet, none are making big money. Crosswell, president of Nasdaq OMX Europe, considers why and explains how her platform plans to compete.
Letters to the Editor
- John Authers need not say sorry
- Recruits must be reminded of the City’s reputation
- Easy to see why Blair is the wrong choice
Interactive graphic: Carbon emissions, past and future
With the Copenhagen summit on climate change fast approaching, FT.com examines which countries and continents have been the largest emitters of CO 2, and who will be in the future, in a global, interactive graphic.