As the British Conservative (Tory) Party leadership race nears closure amid gleeful media predictions of a Tory wipeout at the next general election, due in 2005-06, it’s worth looking at what the economic background to that election is likely to be, since it can determine whether the Tory leadership is worth fighting for.

Wall Street now realizes that during 2001 we are likely to see four successive quarters of declining earnings for the companies that make up the Standard and Poors 500 Index, but the Street is still putting the blame primarily on New Economy and tech companies, whose downturn in both earnings and stock prices have been […]

Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi produced a budget last week that cut $24 billion, or about 0.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product, from Japan’s public spending, which he believes, against much “expert” and media opposition, is the solution to Japan’s recession.

The publication of a very interesting new book, Gordon Chang’s “The Coming Collapse of China” (which I shall review tomorrow) has combined interestingly with a sharp downturn in the Shanghai stock market.