Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Interactive graphic: Bankers’ pay – whose fell the most?
The FT survey reveals that, while many bank chief executives accepted vastly reduced payouts in an effort to defuse mounting public and political anger, those cuts were far from universal. According to data compiled for the FT by Equilar, CEO pay at 17 leading US and European banks dropped 57 per cent, from an average of $14m in 2008 to just over $6m in 2009.
Michael Pettis: The last chance to avoid a global trade war
The world seems to be marching inexorably towards trade war, writes the finance professor at Peking University and blogger. The US trade deficit is surging, for reasons that have nothing to do with domestic consumption and everything to do with policies and events abroad. In the months ahead, the US will be forced to choose either protection or soaring trade deficits with rising unemployment.
Analysis: Asia – displacement activity
With China eclipsing it as the world’s second-largest economy, Japan is coming to terms with dependence on the workers and consumers of its populous neighbour, writes the FT’s Michiyo Nakamoto.
Ralph Atkins: The consensus in favour of Swedish thinking
Sweden’s recent performance is instructive for a Europe plagued with peripheral problems, writes the FT’s Atkins. Back in the early 1990s, the country had its own, near-catastrophic banking and economic crisis. Might what has worked since for Sweden now also work for others?
News analysis: Bond investors tread a delicate path
A loud chorus that investors are buying into a “bond bubble” that will ultimately burst has accompanied this week’s decline in US, UK, German and Japanese government bond yields to record and multi-year lows, write FT reporters. Amid concerns about the outlook for the global economy, investors are pumping money into a sector seen as a haven in uncertain times.
Money Supply: Weber watching
August’s news lull has just been rudely broken by an extraordinary interview Axel Weber, Bundesbank president, gave to Bloomberg Television, notes the FT’s Ralph Atkins. In it, Mr Weber set out what he thought should happen in the next few months with the ECB’s liquidity operations – something what was only supposed to be discussed behind closed doors ahead of the ECB meeting on September 2.
Lex on private equity – greasing for deals
Mixed signals make private equity a tough industry to predict, notes Lex. In some ways, 2010 has been less easy to navigate than the depths of the credit crunch. Back then the market moved in just one direction – down.