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December 23, 2024
 

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Howard Davies
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2013
What to do with banks that are 'too big to fail'?
The travails of JPMorgan Chase have reopened the debate about what to do with American and European banks that are 'too big to fail.' The result so far is an uneven playing field.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2013
Margaret Thatcher and the 'Big Bang'
Americans have been surprised at the sharply divided views in Britain over the governance of Margaret Thatcher, a product with more appeal in export markets.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2013
Financial regulators' international variety show
It is hard to identify a correlation between regulatory structure and state success in heading off or responding to the financial crisis triggered in 2008.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2012
Economists in denial as conventional tools fail
In an exasperated outburst, just before he left the presidency of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet complained that, "as a policymaker during the crisis, I found the available [economic and financial] models of limited help. I would go further: In the face of the crisis, we felt abandoned...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2012
Making the eurozone work
Some economists believe that this summer could mark the moment when some of the eurozone's peripheral members may begin to be forced out; others think that such a scenario is inconceivable. All agree that, at least in the short term, a eurozone breakup would be disastrous for jobs and growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2012
Finessing one big banking union for Europe
In the last few weeks, the idea of establishing a European banking union has become the latest remedy advanced as a solution to the long-running euro crisis. But whatever the merits of a banking union — and there are many — proposals to establish one raise more questions than can currently be answered....
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2011
London versus the eurozone: The game is on
Ever since the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community in 1973, after the French withdrew Charles de Gaulle's veto of its membership, Britain's relationship with the European integration process has been strained.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2011
Negotiating Europe's financial wasteland
"April is the cruelest month," wrote T.S. Eliot at the beginning of his great poem, "The Waste Land." But if Eliot had been a professional investor who had observed European financial markets over the last few years, I am quite certain that his choice would have been August.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2011
Chinese finance comes of age
The Chinese financial system's evolution in recent years has been extraordinary. I have observed its transformation as a member of the International Advisory Council of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2010
A moveable financial feast
LONDON — There was a time when league tables were to be found only on the sports pages of newspapers. Now they are a global obsession. There are school and university league tables, rankings of companies on profitability or corporate social responsibility, tables of happiness indicators by country,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2010
The European Central Bank has no clothes
LONDON — The crisis in the euro zone remains far from resolution. Investor worries are now concentrated on the health of European banks, many of which have large exposures to Greece and the other southern European countries with severe fiscal problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2010
A pig's breakfast in Europe
LONDON — The Greek debt problem has been poorly handled by Europe's decision-makers. European Union heads of government, and the European Central Bank, initially rejected the idea of involving the International Monetary Fund, but without a fall-back plan. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that part...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2009
Mistrust carries economic consequences
LONDON — Public trust in financial institutions, and in the authorities that are supposed to regulate them, was an early casualty of the financial crisis. That is hardly surprising, as previously revered firms revealed that they did not fully understand the very instruments they dealt in or the risks...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2009
Are the finance sector's halcyon days over?
LONDON — For at least a quarter-century, the financial sector has grown far more rapidly than the economy as a whole, both in developed and in most developing countries. The ratio of total financial assets (stocks, bonds, and bank deposits) to gross domestic product (GDP) in the United Kingdom was...
Zelenskyy to replace Ukraine ambassador to Japan
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky delivers a speech during a handover ceremony of Self-Defense Force vehicles to Ukraine, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, in May last year.
Bankruptcies and suicides rise as Japanese struggle with mounting debt
Lawyers estimate that personal bankruptcies in Japan are on track to reach the highest since 2012 this year.
Honda and Nissan consider mutual production of vehicles, report says
Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe at the Japan Mobility Show 2023 at Tokyo Big Sight in October 2023.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.

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