Hi all, it has been a while since I have updated anything for this blog. Starting to get back into it. One of the ideas I had was to write about the happenings of the week, and to compose my thoughts on them. I am thinking of segregating the news into Business/Economics, Current Issues, and a bit on Culture (literature, movies, plays, e-sports, etc). Let’s see how the process goes and I will tweak accordingly. 

Business/Economic News

BOJ to Allow Flexibility in Bond Operations, Adjusts ETF Buying, Bloomberg

I have covered monetary policies in Japan during my Uni days in a paper I wrote here. For a bit of context to this, Japan has been stuck in what the press and economist called a “liquidity trap” (popularised by Paul Krugman) since the crisis in 1992/1993. Inflation has been very low and even turned deflationary during some periods, even with interest rates remaining low. It has been 26 years since then and Japan is still having troubles introducing inflation back to the economy. What the BOJ is doing now is reallocating their asset purchase program to more TOPIX linked products and away from the Nikkei 225 stock average. It has highlighted that inflation forecasts has been revised downwards and that 

“while doing so (keeping JGB 10 year yields at about 10 percent), the yields (JGB 10 year yields) may move upward and downward to some extent mainly depending on developments in economic activity and prices.”

While the US and EURO already are already hiking interest rates, Japan however is stuck at the other side of the spectrum, with no end in sights to their asset purchase program. How long can Japan keep this up? Does it need to find new ways of stoking back inflation? 

Huawei Passes Apple in Smartphone Share for the First Time, Bloomberg

Long story short, Huawei is now second behind Samsung in terms of global shipments of smartphones, overtaking Apple. For context, for the past 7 years, Samsung and Apple held the top 2 positions. 

The End of the Global Housing Boom, Bloomberg

The piece talks about the moderation in house prices in cities around the world ranging from London, Beijing, Sydney, Manhattan and Toronto. The concern here is that the moderation might actually encourage more wealthy portion of the population to buy up more houses, leaving less supply for the segment of the population who needs it the most. Now, in Malaysia’s case, we have been seeing a continued moderation in the Malaysian House Price Index compiled by NAPIC here. House price growth is at 4.1% now, which is one of the lowest growth rates since the 2008 financial crisis. This is actually good news for Malaysia’s affordability situation as houses have always been unaffordable to the masses. Though something to highlight in regards to this, IMF has recently published a study that highlights the high correlation of house prices across different countries here and might pose a global risk if one collapse in a housing market simultaneously affects other countries’ housing market.

Current Issues News

Azmin says oil royalty is not really royalty, as Wee points out dictionary definition, The Star

The crux of the issue, politicians are arguing about Pakatan Harapan’s promise of giving 20% royalty to oil producing states but Azmin is saying the wording is based on a loose definition of the word. It is still unsure on what Azmin means by this as the Opposition has highlighted that royalty according to the Petroleum Development Act means to cash payment of 5% of gross profit per barrel of oil. Let’s just hope that the current government can clarify properly on this.

Govt to abolish UUCA Act within five years as promised, The Star
This is a positive move for the country but I am wary of the idea that Teo suggested as a short term measure

“As a short-term measure, the provision related to students and politics in campus will be repealed to give them more room. Teo said once this was done, politicians from Pakatan and Barisan Nasional could enter campuses without any obstacles to share their views and for intellectual purposes, but not on political issues.”

I really don’t see how this line will not be crossed. How do you distinguish intellectual and political issues? Are they going to be monitored to a fine tooth comb and what should be and what should not be said? 

Syed Saddiq: Youth and Sports Ministry procurement processes will be reviewed, The Star

Another day, and another potential graft issue to be investigated. Move in the right direction to get all procurement process on an open tenders basis. All procurement made via direct tender or limited tender will be reopened for fresh tenders. 

Culture/ Entertainment News

PARENTS ARE GETTING THEIR KIDS FORTNITE TUTORS, IGN

Nice. As absurd as this sounds to people, the parents motivations were mostly based on their desire to connect with their children. And one of the ways to do it, was to get into gaming. Some of them have even procured their own coaches to get better at the game. And food for thought, Epic Games, the creator of Fornite, has recently announced a total of $100m in prize money for Fornite competitions. I think we can move away from the argument that playing video games is a good for nothing activity. I will rather be a professional e-sports player now looking at the prize pool.