Comment, analysis and other offerings from Friday’s FT,
Martin Wolf: The post post-Thatcher era begins
Margaret Thatcher became prime minister of the UK on May 4 1979 and remained in office for more than 11 years. Her government reshaped the politics of the UK and, after the election of Ronald Reagan as president of the US in 1980, these two reshaped the world. But, in the aftermath of the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s, one that centred upon the US and UK, where the world’s two leading financial centres are located, what is left of the Thatcher revolution?
Zaki Laïdi: Why Obama does not want a multipolar world order
As recently as five years ago, it was not possible to talk seriously about the international system without the premise of an American superpower wielding the power of life and death over the planet, writes Laïdi, research director of the Centre for European Studies at Sciences Po. Today, the simplification works the other way round. It has become common currency that the US is in decline and President Barack Obama represents an America that gladly accepts we live in a multipolar world.
Bård Harstad: Trade could hold the key to a climate deal
Our leaders’ recent confession that a legally binding climate agreement is not feasible this year may be no bad thing, writes Harstad, associate professor at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a contributor to the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements. The hope is that the new goal for December – to reach a broader “political agreement” – will establish a better foundation for a future climate deal than we currently have. This is important, since a climate agreement currently faces three significant obstacles. To overcome these, there might be no solution other than to link any deal to new and existing trade agreements.
Insight: Gillian Tett – Trouble for the mighty repo
What is the latest regulatory headache worrying Wall Street? The answer might surprise some non-bankers. For apart from bonuses, capital rules and credit derivatives, the issue currently provoking alarm is the state of the mighty repurchase, or so-called “repo”, market, writes Tett.
Tokyo should not lose its nerve on the yen
Among economic policymakers, it would be the height of uncouthness to say publicly that one rather likes depreciation: allegiance must be pledged to a strong currency while concerns about competitiveness, however pressing, are expressed sotto voce. Japanese policymakers are unusual in that they sometimes seem to mean it. As even the Swiss were losing their nerve – the Swiss National Bank intervened to stop the franc’s rise in June – the Japanese, led by finance minister Hirohisa Fujii, remained remarkably nonchalant about the yen’s rise.
Lex on the Comcast deal
Corporate executives should not behave like hedge fund managers. Yet Comcast’s chief executive Brian Roberts (who controls a third of the company via special voting rights, while owning less than 2 per cent) appears to believe he can invest more successfully than his long-suffering shareholders.
FT Money Supply blog: Bernanke on asset prices
Krishna Guha writes: Bernanke’s comments on asset prices today confirm what I wrote on this blog more than a month ago. The Fed is keeping an eye on US asset prices, even though it does not currently judge them to be overvalued.