Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
Martin Wolf’s exchange: Could the world go back to the gold standard?
During any period of monetary disorder — the 1970s, for example, or today — a host of people calls for a return to the gold standard, writes the FT columnist. This is not the only free-market response to the current system of fiat (or government-made) money.
Market Insight: Alan Rohrbach – Why QE2 could be just a tempest in a teacup
There are upbeat expectations for US “QE2”, writes the president of Chicago capital markets consultants Rohr International. The hope is that quantitative easing will force long term interest rates to truly abysmal levels, encouraging companies to seek returns via capital spending. But the risk remains that QE2 might not cure the US economy, yet will still weaken the US dollar and push Treasury bond yields up.
Michael Skapinker: Memo to board – we need to talk about BP
The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 people, says the FT columnist. Many assumed BP would staunch the flow and clear up the damage. Instead, the incident spiralled into a crisis so severe that it almost brought down one of the world’s greatest companies.
News analysis: China bubble erodes preference for sons
High property prices and economic development have begun to erode China’s traditional preference for sons, leading to a rise in the number of Chinese parents who say they would prefer a daughter, writes the FT’s Shanghai correspondent Patti Waldmeir.
Robert Rubin: How America can withstand the headwinds
After the worst economic downturn in 80 years, which continues to cause immense hardship, the prospects for the US economy are the most complex and uncertain in my adult lifetime, creating a difficult decision-making environment for policymakers and markets, writes the former US Treasury secretary. There are realistic chances of a healthy recovery in the shorter term. However, we face enormous headwinds.
Analysis: America – Room to improve
Although the housing bust will weigh on voters at Tuesday’s midterm elections, Americans will be paying for sloppy lending practices for years to come, writes the FT’s Suzanne Kapner.