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Economics Politics & government

[2640] Welcome back, LDP

I do not understand the intricacies of Japanese politics. I simply do not follow it closely. But I do know that Japan can play a significant role in Asia, if it finally decides to take up that role, which it has not under the uncertain leadership of the Democratic Party of Japan.

The DPJ wanted a closer relationship with Asia and less of the US. Contrary to what it hoped to achieve, a DPJ-led Japan has not successfully engage China and Japan now needs to forge a strong relationship with the United States in time when China is rising and growing more assertive against its neighbors. DPJ’s economic management itself has not been stellar but I think there it is unfair to blame to DPJ for that.

Unhappy with China, I welcome the reelection of the more conservative Liberal Democratic Party and a Japan with a backbone. That is so because it is almost certain that the LDP will strengthen its relationship with the US. With a stronger relationship with the US and a strong US presence in East Asia (and Southeast Asia), hopefully China will think twice in asserting its weight around the region. China has been an irresponsible giant so far, escalating crisis when a mature power would have handled it with care instead. For instance, is it really necessary to send a plane over the Senkaku islands?

A more hawkish (not too much I hope) Japan will tell China that it cannot bully its way through the region any longer. Rather than a hawk-dove strategy, now China faces a hawk-hawk scenario, which is more complicated and may force China to rethink its assertive, bullying regional policy into something more cooperative and amiable.

A hawkish Japan does have its own problem but at the moment, I do want a Japan that is willing to stand up in the region. China needs to learn that its bully tactics does have consequences and an LDP Japan can push back and say, no, play nice.

One big issue with LDP is its economic policy of Japan. First is the government interference in monetary policy. The Bank of Japan is losing its independence with the government trying to force the central bank to target for higher inflation rate. While I do think Japan needs a bit of more inflation, I am unsure how the interference will pan out. Lack of independence can be a recipe for too much inflation. There is some nuance in the interference in the sense that LDP government wants a stricter (but higher inflation) rule for the BOJ to follow but it does create a precedent of interference nonetheless.

On the same track, the LDP government will embark on a massive stimulus program to revive the economy. I prefer monetary to fiscal stimulus. The preference presents me with a problem: BOJ itself is too conservative to my liking and that probably makes the executive infringement into monetary policy somewhat palatable. Nevertheless, with expansive and coordinated fiscal and monetary policies, I suppose you will get inflation.

Finally, while I welcome the return of the LDP, I do not think the election of DPJ was a mistake. The Japanese system needs a shake-up and the DPJ did just that, even if it did not fulfill its promise. Being in power for too long can be dangerous to a political culture because it implants the party into the state apparatus. For a healthy democracy to prevail, the state has to be ultimately separate from the party. In the case of Japan, there is an additional dimension: the civil service is too influential. From my readings, the DPJ did have some successes in reigning the influence of the Japanese civil service, and that is good.

Categories
Economics

[2639] Calculate your personalized inflation rate, the French edition

Remember that one post where I outlined how you can calculate your personalized inflation rate?

Well, it is a bit long-winded and doing math in English is always painful. Words do not have the power to concisely deliver a message like how algebra can. But not everybody works well with algebra unfortunately.

But do you know what is better at delivering the same message than algebra? An application.

The French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (the equivalent of Malaysia’s Department of Statistics, I think) has produced an application to calculate personalized inflation rate. It is here if you want to play around with it.

The only downside with it is that it is in French… and it only works if you live in France.

I think if somebody with great coding knowledge can replicate the same thing for Malaysia, I can supply the data easily.

Categories
Economics

[2638] The market will see through the undisclosed, differentiated Indonesian capital adequacy ratio

Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, has been introducing several new institutional frameworks and rulings in the Indonesian economy. I suppose, that signifies that rate of reform in Indonesia.

One is the introduction of a trust fund. It is established to encourage Indonesian firms with earnings from abroad to keep it in Indonesia, at least for a bit longer than what typically happens now. The ultimate goal is to prevent the rupiah from depreciating further.[1] I do not understand how that will keep the money in. That is a polite way of saying, I do not think it will work too well.

Maybe the Indonesian central bankers know more than me about their economy and I am missing a piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

Another is the introduction of a new differentiated capital adequacy ratio ruling. Soon, different bank will face different ratio requirement based on their risks as determined by the central bank. But according to a report in the Jakarta Globe:

Under the new regulation, Bank Indonesia requires a minimum 8 percent capital adequacy ratio — which measures the lender’s financial strength — for banks with the soundest risk profile but it set a higher ratio for the riskiest. In the previous regulation, the ratio was set at 8 percent, regardless of the risk profile.

Bank Indonesia groups the country’s 120 commercial banks into five risk profiles. It usually updates a bank’s risk profile every 6 months but does not make the rankings or their specifications public to avoid a run on deposits at lower-ranked banks. [Dion Bisara. Bank Indonesia Sets New Rule to Strengthen System. Jakarta Globe. December 5 2012]

Bank Indonesia does not make the rankings or the specification public to avoid a run.

That is tough because as long as one can have access to the accounts of a particular bank, one can try to figure out the ratio faced (or really, ratio maintained) by the bank. From there on, the market can imply the imposed ratio.

In other words, the public can find out exactly what Bank Indonesia tries to not divulge. So, here is a ruling that I think is good but as far as risks, bank run and the differentiated capital adequacy ratio are concerned, I am quite certain that it cannot work. Bank Indonesia is revealing the very information it wants to hide.

To come to think of it, in times of banking crisis, it appears that banks with the highest ratio may face the highest likelihood of experiencing a run (ceteris paribus… and knock on wood).

The simplest and the most effective way to have a good ratio and not tell the market anything about individual banks is to impose a more or less uniform requirement across the board. There are issues with uniform requirement but it will address the problem of information superbly.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved
[1] — The central bank on Friday took another step to retain foreign earnings by setting up a trustee fund that will ensure steady and sustainable flow of overseas earnings that will be repatriated into the country. The move might also help to stem the rupiah’s depreciation against the dollar by holding income earned from abroad over a period of time rather than being withdrawn quickly. [Francezka Nangoy. Dion Bisara. Central Bank Sets Rule to Keep Foreign Earnings. Jakarta Globe. November 24 2012]

Categories
Economics

[2637] The necessity of fiscal austerity, sometimes

This is an excerpt from an old article by Raghuram Rajan. The excerpt is a point on the necessity of having a fiscal austerity program during crisis times even when it is ideal to have it spread over time. It is not a new point, but it is worth to be highlighted as a reminder on why some things are as they are right now.

…Fiscal austerity is not painless and will probably subtract from growth in the short run. It would be far better to phase reforms in over time, yet it is precisely because governments did not act in good times that they are forced to do so, and quickly, in bad times. Indeed, there is a case to be made for doing what is necessary quickly and across the board so that everyone feels that the pain is shared, rather than spreading it over time and risking dissipating the political will. Governments should, however, underestimate the pain that these measure will cause to the elderly, the youth, and the poor, and where possible, they should enact targeted legislation to alleviate the measures’ impact. [The True Lessons of the Recession. Raghuram Rajan. Foreign Policy. May 2012]

Categories
Economics

[2636] Greek buyback program is not ideal

As part of the bailout agreement between Greece and the Troika, the Greek government has agreed to reduce its debt. This is the context behind the latest Greek buyback program, where the Greek government is looking to reduce EUR20 billion worth of debt. While I typically like debt reduction exercise by the public sector, I am unsure how this particular effort at this particular moment is ideal.

The main issue I have with the program is that Greece has no cash of its own. At least they do not have enough. On top of that, the government suffers from primary deficit and that means the government is unable to finance its operations. So, it is dependent on bailout money, provided by the reluctant Troika which includes European governments, which includes even the more reluctant Germany, the country that is really footing in the afterparty clean-up bill.

So, that is a bailout financed by public money of a different country.

The problem here is that the money will be used to buy back debt from private creditors. As you can see, it is a transfer of wealth from public coffers to private individuals and firms. There is something repulsive in doing so.

The factor that may mitigate that sentiment is that a majority of those private shareholders are Greek banks. In some sense, a large chunk of the bailout money used in the buyback program will help strengthen Greek banks and indirectly, the Greek economy. A majority of holders of Greek sovereign debts, apart from the Greek banks, are European of origin. So I suppose the buyback does help stabilize the European market too.

Anyway, while these private bondholders suffered a large haircut recently, the buyback program will mean that these holders will book in some profits according to the Wall Street Journal.[1]

Another factor is that because the offer is slightly above market price of those debts, the price of Greek sovereign debt has increased and that reduces its yield. In other words, that allows for cheaper financing for Greek government. But I do not think anybody will be crazy enough to buy Greek sovereign debt any time soon.

Regardless the mitigating factors, I prefer one thing more than the buyback: more debt haircut but this time on the public side.

Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams. Some rights reserved
[1] — Greece’s debt agency launched a multibillion-euro offer to retire roughly half the debt the country owes to private creditors, part of the latest effort to trim a towering debt burden. Bond markets reacted positively after Greece signaled it would pay a slight premium to buy back that debt, but the higher price and the limited size of the offer raise questions about whether the country will be able to cut its debt as much as its European and international creditors hope. [Alkman Granitsas. Neelabh Chaturvedi. The Wall Street Journal. Greece offers to buy back debt. December 4 2012]