Salient to Investors:
William Pesek is writes:
The “Greenspan put” that flooded markets with cash whenever things got dicey has become the default position in Washington, while in Asia there is an even more dangerous escalation of this policy in papering over cracks in economies that desperately need tougher, structural reforms.
Indian stocks have hit record highs, everyone is talking about India turning the corner, despite nothing really changing from 3 months ago when the rupee was plunging to record lows, politicians fumbled at every turn, talk abounded it would become the first BRIC to have its credit rating cut to junk. India’s current-account deficit is still a danger, just temporarily disguised by a charismatic new central banker. India remains politically corrupt, and the odds are that the BJP is no more a force for change than it was in 2004.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average is up 47 percent despite not one of Abe’s restructuring pledges being fulfilled. Japan is just as heavily regulated, uncompetitive and devoid of innovation as it was the day before Abe came to office. All that is new is a stronger punch recipe. Japan has an overpriced, unproductive and shrinking workforce, not to mention an economic structure geared for success in the 1970s.
PBC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan is deluded in believing China that can grow close to 8 percent a year, no matter what Communist Party leaders do or don’t do. President Xi Jinping’s vague pledges to let markets play a bigger role in the economy has made him seem like a Chinese Margaret Thatcher. Yet as China ends a crackdown on fraud and clears the way for over 700 companies to sell shares, the coming boom in IPOs will benefit from a kind of reform halo effect.
The policies of central bankers in China, India and Japan is no replacement for real reforms, like curbing corruption, lowering trade barriers, creating jobs, encouraging entrepreneurship, building social safety nets, promoting sustainable development and reducing their own role in the economy. Monetary policy can cushion the process of fixing flaws in economies, but it is no substitute.
America’s Greenspanization unfolded at a time in the 1990s of relative stability in a very mature economy. Asia’s Greenspanization is happening far too early in the development cycle, and much too broadly. Evidence of governments letting central bankers do their jobs can be found in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-12/irrational-exuberance-overtakes-asia.html
Click here to receive free and immediate email alerts of the latest forecasts.