The Asian financial crisis and financial reforms in China

Abstract

Although China has avoided the direct attack of the Asian financial crisis, it has suffered secondary consequences leading to an economic slowdown. More importantly, the plight of its neighboring countries has driven home the urgency of financial reforms as China shares many of the problems at the root of the crisis in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea. This article reviews the reform measures adopted by the Chinese government since the crisis. It analyzes the political dynamics of financial reforms in terms of state preferences and state capacities. In retrospect, the Asian financial crisis may well be seen as a turning point in reforming China's financial system.     

次贷危机及对中国经济的影响

美国的次贷危机已经演变成一场金融危机,作为世界经济的一个重要参与者,中国也肯定会受到影响,简要介绍了此次金融危机的发展过程,探讨次贷危机对中国经济的发展的影响并得到一些启示。     

Nicaragua in crisis

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's political base has eroded, and he is likely to continue brutal authoritarian tactics against a discontented population. The organised internal opposition appears unable to mount effective armed resistance and international pressure so far has been light. In the short term, he will probably be able to maintain effective control over Nicaragua.     

Political secrecy in Europe: crisis management and crisis exploitation

Abstract

This article theorises the relationship of crisis and political secrecy in European public policy. Combining the literatures on crisis management and securitisation, it introduces two distinct types of crisis-related secrecy. (1) Reactive secrecy denotes the deliberate concealment of information from the public with the aim of reducing immediate negative crisis consequences. It presents itself as a functional necessity of crisis management. (2) Active secrecy is about substantive or procedural secrecy employed by authority-holders to implement their interests with fewer restraints. Here, secrecy is an instrument of crisis exploitation, reducing obstacles to extraordinary measures. This distinction is based on an understanding of authority-holders as simultaneous legitimacy- and discretion-seekers whose secrecy politics depend on the constraints and opportunities presented by crises. In order to illustrate active and reactive secrecy, the article uses examples from the euro crisis (Eurogroup summitry, ECB sovereign bond purchases) and the security crisis after 9/11 (terror lists).     

The times make a hero: Street-level policy entrepreneurship in major crisis responses in China

Street-level bureaucrats are often grassroots officials, and they are regarded as passive practitioners of policy with no authority to change policy or innovate, while policy entrepreneurs are usually high-level officials. Based on observations of China's responses to two national crises, this study found that the times do make a hero. When acting as innovative frontline technocrats, major transboundary crisis practitioners, and management savvy operators within the top-down bureaucracy, street-level bureaucrats can become policy entrepreneurs. To innovate and drive policy change, street-level policy entrepreneurs will adopt innovative strategies. They will make efficient use of their expertise and discretion, integrate various resources, strive for attention from superiors, consolidate their achievements, and expand their influence.     

Knowing about crisis

With this brief piece, we raise some questions and suggest some alternative directions for knowing about crisis. In particular, we point to the role of core beliefs in shaping society, including the way in which those held by academics shape research and how knowledge about crisis is produced, as well as the influence core beliefs have on the everyday lives of the people with whom we work. We draw on the work of Miki Kashtan (2014), who identifies three core beliefs that have become persistent themes in our work with communities: separateness, scarcity, and powerlessness. We offer some examples of and reflections on work we have done in the Govan neighborhood of Glasgow, Scotland by way of gesturing toward how we understand core beliefs to work and how they might be engaged with. Our intention is not to denigrate the value of beliefs, but rather to point out the value in recognizing the beliefs that inform our ways of knowing and actions.     

The Rohingya crisis

The mass exodus of some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh, triggered by the Myanmar government's repressive policies, has produced a severe humanitarian crisis and geopolitical disruption in the region. While the international community is responding fitfully to both developments, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's reputation as a liberal reformer has been tainted and Myanmar's international rehabilitation limited.     

Brazil's triple crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with problems in Brazil’s economy and political system, has exposed the vulnerabilities of President Jair Bolsonaro. Dissatisfaction with the president’s response to the pandemic, along with allegations of corruption, may have undercut his political future, though his support in some quarters, notably the military, remains strong.     

The scissors crisis in public finance

The late 1970s saw the beginnings of a “scissors crisis” in public finance, i.e., a growing divergence between the expansion of government revenues and the increase in government expenditures. Unless strong measures are taken, the 1980s threaten to become the age of mega-deficits. The sluggish growth of public receipts and the buoyant development of public outlays are linked to a number of structural tendencies in the economies of the industrialized world. Efforts to close the gap have included both tax increases and expenditure cuts, but as more and more governments gain experience with the phenomenon of “fiscal cannibalism,” i.e., that taxes eat up each other, the main thrust of the counter-offensive has come to be directed against the growth of public spending. Current strategies to reinforce expenditures control include such elements as global norms, new indexing techniques, new methods of decentralizing hard choices, better methods of cash management, well-balanced policy packages, and incentives especially designed to stimulate cutbacks and policy termination.     

The North Korea crisis

North Korea is clearly making rapid progress towards possessing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting the United States mainland with a nuclear warhead. An incoherent US approach involving reckless military threats and economic pressure is not working. The Trump administration should consider diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang before its nuclear ICBM capability becomes a fait accompli.     

The West's financial crisis

Western governments have recently taken exceptional measures to prevent the disintegration of their financial systems following a collapse in banking confidence. Whether these will be sufficient to quell extreme turbulence in money and stock markets is not yet clear. Predictions that the crisis will herald the end of American-style capitalism seem exaggerated. However, signs of a major economic downturn resulting from the financial crisis are already evident.     

The urban refugee crisis

The Syrian refugee crisis has highlighted the urgent need to address the multi-dimensional challenges presented by urban refugees more effectively. In particular, a municipal approach that better coordinates the efforts of national and local authorities, with an eye to increasing local capacity and building social cohesion, is needed.