My second favourite Billy Joel offering – save from the (in)famous ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ – is ‘Vienna’. The lyrics begin as such: Slow down you crazy childYou're so ambitious for a juvenile For a ...More
EJ Insight2022-10-28
Judging by the reporting from the Communist Party of China’s 20th National Congress, Xi Jinping, newly anointed to an unprecedented third term as president, is tightening his political grip and streng ...More
EJ Insight2022-10-25
Project Syndicate: In March, you wrote that higher inflation was “inevitable and therefore not regrettable,” because it was “a side effect and a consequence of the robust recovery,” which amounts to a ...More
EJ Insight2022-10-17
For a year now, I have argued that the increase in inflation would be persistent, that its causes include not only bad policies but also negative supply shocks, and that central banks’ attempt to figh ...More
EJ Insight2022-10-07
Walking down a Toronto street recently I saw an ad touting a fossil-fuel company’s net-zero credentials. But to see such belief-straining claims, I would not even need to leave my house. According to ...More
EJ Insight2022-09-27
It has almost become a norm these days that I got cancelled for appointments twice a week from people who either tested positive or stayed in isolation as close contacts. This is also reflected in the ...More
EJ Insight2022-09-07
The US dollar has been on a tear this summer. The Japanese yen and the euro have fallen to their lowest levels against the greenback in two decades; the euro, long worth more than one dollar, is now h ...More
EJ Insight2022-09-02
With so much talk of stagnation, inflation, and stagflation in recent months, it is worth questioning whether the prevailing pessimism is justified. While I have shared in the gloom (warning early on ...More
EJ Insight2022-08-18
Bird cages. High ceiling. Old paintings. How many restaurants are selling pork roast siu mai for their loyal fans who want to get a taste of the Chinese tradition? That was the feeling after the iconi ...More
EJ Insight2022-08-10
Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of giving a few talks and addresses on the intersection of cryptocurrency and geopolitics – at Oxford, in Hong Kong (over zoom), and other platforms. As ...More
EJ Insight2022-07-20
The first half of 2022 has been traumatic. Equity markets have suffered one of their worst six-month periods ever. Government bonds are undergoing a rare, significant decline. And the world of cryptoc ...More
EJ Insight2022-07-13
There is no shortage of commentators, both lawyers and lay people, who feel entitled to criticize Hong Kong’s legal community for what these observers assert is a failure to stand up for the liberal r ...More
EJ Insight2022-06-27
Two months since the reopening, we are back to restaurants and even staycation. But it is far from normal, especially on the service level. That is the conclusion I had after taking my first staycatio ...More
EJ Insight2022-06-15
Pastoral communities live off the land. In northern Kenya, where I grew up, we raised local breeds of cattle, which grazed in the dry rangelands. But our land is more than the basis of our livelihoods ...More
EJ Insight2022-05-26
So! Here comes another round of myth-busting. Prior to that, however, let’s be very clear here – I do not take issue with mentors and advisors working with students through the university application ...More
EJ Insight2022-05-17
A growing crescendo of commentary places the blame for the current surge in US inflation squarely on the Federal Reserve. But much of the criticism is stupefyingly naive about the political pressures ...More
EJ Insight2022-05-10
There are few immutable economic laws, but to my mind there’s at least one: Nothing is free. Everything has a price, even though the cost might not be clear at the time of purchase. Such was the case ...More
EJ Insight2022-04-08
Whether one likes it or not, there are different opinions about the direction in which Hong Kong is being driven. Though it may not have been to everyone’s liking, prior to Carrie Lam’s attempt to int ...More
EJ Insight2022-04-06
As the global economic fallout from the current Western-led sanctions against Russia becomes clearer, are we watching a preview of what a trade and financial rupture with China might look like? Perhap ...More
EJ Insight2022-04-04
On March 7, Russia stated three aims for its invasion of Ukraine: official Ukrainian neutrality, recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea, and recognition of the independence of pro-Russian sepa ...More
EJ Insight2022-03-29
