Joseph Belbruno Blog

  TAIWAN, NUMBER ONE! Taiwan’s President Takes on China, and His Opponents, in Speaking Tour Lai Ching-te is ramping up his warnings about China’s threat to Taiwan. Critics say he is stoking divisions, and risking blowback from Beijing. Listen to this article · 5:51 min  Learn more President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan attending the coast guard annual drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in June. Credit... Ann Wang/Reuters President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan has been on a speaking tour that he says is aimed at uniting the island against threats from China. But critics say the campaign risks backfiring, deepening political divisions at home while provoking an angry response from Beijing. Mr. Lai is battling on two fronts: China, which claims Taiwan as its territory and threatens to take it by force, and Taiwan’s opposition parties, which control the legislature and have tried to curb his administration’s policies and powers. The president’s response has been what he calls “Ten Speeches on Natio...

  A (very short) history of global reserve currencies Keynes knew © Reuters Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Michael Pettis is a senior fellow at the Carnegie-China centre The US dollar, analysts often propose, is the latest in a 600-year history of global reserve currencies. Each of its predecessor currencies was eventually replaced by another, and in the same way the dollar will eventually be replaced by one or more currencies. The problem with this argument, however, is that there is no such history. The role of the US dollar in the global system of trade and capital flows is unprecedented, mainly because of the unprecedented role the US economy plays in global trade and capital imbalances. The fact that so many analysts base their claims on this putative history only shows just how confused the discussion has been. It’s not that there haven’t been other important currencies before the do...