Comment, analysis and other offerings from Thursday’s FT,
John Gapper: How not to take care of a brand
Maclaren is a small private company with a big public problem, one that it has not handled well, writes Gapper. On Monday, Maclaren announced that it was issuing repair kits for up to 1m pushchairs it had sold in the US after 12 cases in which children’s fingertips were chopped off in the pushchairs’ hinges. By that afternoon, its website had frozen and its phone lines were overwhelmed. After talking to the chief executive, I concluded that Maclaren does not have a bad story to tell — its safety standards are higher than cheaper rivals. But it has done a poor job of telling it.
Analysis: America and Asia – decline but no fall
China may be chief beneficiary of the financial crisis and the latest challenger to US hegemony, but a dependence on exports limist Beijing’s room for manoeuvre, writes John Plender. As US president Barack Obama begins a tour of Asian capitals, however, the US position as singular superpower and global economic top dog looks increasingly under threat.
Editorial comment: The Senate vs Wall Street
Where Barney Frank, chairman of the US House of Representatives financial services committee, uses a scalpel, Chris Dodd, his counterpart in the Senate, wields a machete. Mr Dodd’s draft financial regulation bill cuts through the regulatory thicket, reserving some particularly savage slashes for the Federal Reserve. It improves on the House version; however, it does not avoid pitfalls of its own.
Lex on the UK economy
The strength of the UK’s economic recovery looks likely to be the single most important factor in determining the scale of any Conservative victory in next year’s elections. The latest data suggest things are moving in Gordon Brown’s favour. However, Fitch’s warning that the UK is the triple A rated sovereign most at risk of a downgrade is a reminder, that the combination of loose monetary policy and fiscal incontinence may be unsustainable for much longer
Gordon Conway: China’s role in the race to go green
China will embark on the road to a low-carbon economy in its next-five year plan. It will be a momentous decision, for China and the world, says Sir Gordon, co-chair of the CCICED task force and professor of international development at Imperial College. China’s leaders are moved by a sense of urgency. Following the traditional economic model is no longer an option.
Insight: Caitlin Long – Reclogging the US credit system
The US financial system faces a daunting challenge in the next five years: $4,200bn of debt that is largely of speculative quality comes due in the commercial real estate and non-investment grade debt markets, writes Long, head of corporate strategy, capital markets at Morgan Stanley. At best, this wall of maturing US debt will strain credit capacity. At worst, it will prolong the credit crunch and restrain economic growth.
FT-dot-comment Blog: From God to Goldman
So Goldman Sachs is “doing God’s work”, says Lloyd Blankfein, its chief executive, leave us alone to make money, he argues, writes James Mackintosh. This didn’t go down well with Goldman’s critics, whose high horses had already been fitted with stilts to attack the $16.7bn it has so far set aside this year for staff bonuses.
The Short View, video: Sterling – looking beyond the rhetoric
Bank of England governor Mervyn King was credited with causing sterling’s sharp fall with his observation that a weak currency was helping the UK economy. But, says Jennifer Hughes, the fall more likely reflected investor apprehension about the longer-term outlook for the UK. And sterling traders are not alone in looking beyond the rhetoric.
View of the Day: Tough times ahead for the rouble
The best of the rouble’s recent rally seems to have passed — and the currency could drop as much as 15 per cent against its trading basket next year, says Neil Shearing at Capital Economics. And, he adds, if our forecast for oil to fall to $50 a barrel by the end of 2010 proves correct, the rouble is likely to test the bottom band of its trading range against the dollar/euro basket