Today Trends

Author: Yuri Okina, Japan Research Institute In June 2023, the Japanese government published a revised version of the implementation plan for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ‘new capitalism’ initiative. The original 2022 version, titled ‘Grand Design and Action Plan for a New Form of Capitalism’, had outlined ambitious goals calling for increased investment in people, start-ups, green and digital transformations, science, technology and innovation. These investments were intended to both foster economic growth and solve social problems, such as the long-term stagnation of workers’ wages and climate change. The 2023 revision builds on the original plan by establishing a more concrete strategy to increase wages, improve productivity and achieve a virtuous cycle of sustainable growth and equitable income distribution. To improve productivity, smooth labour mobility into growth sectors is crucial. The prominence of labour market reform as one of the main themes of the 2023 revision i...

Author: Yifei Yan, University of Southampton On 19 May 2023, the Reserve Bank of India announced the withdrawal of its 2000 rupee banknotes from circulation with immediate effect. While framed as a ‘ non-event ’, this move was a clear reminder of the country’s 2016 demonetisation initiative — widely recognised as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship anti-corruption initiative.   Modi’s commitment to combating corruption has continued since then. India’s 2023 G20 presidency will feature a series of anti-corruption working group meetings that seek to bolster international cooperation in this area. Despite his ambitions, Modi’s progress in reducing corruption appears limited. India’s recent performance in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) was disappointing and the Modi administration has faced a spate of criticism over its anti-corruption campaigns. China, India’s neighbour and another member of the G20, has also struggled to realise its ant...

Author: Saima Nawaz, COMSATS Pakistan’s recent US$3 billion Stand-By Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has provided much-needed financial relief alongside the financial aid and investment from several strategic partners, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China. These arrangements could play a significant role in addressing pressing economic crises. While these injections offer temporary fiscal respite, Pakistan faces more complex economic and political challenges. Pakistan is experiencing low economic growth at -0.5 per cent, coupled with 29.6 per cent inflation and 8 per cent unemployment. Additionally, the 22 per cent interest rate has severely damaged the business environment without achieving its intended objective of controlling inflation. Pakistan also struggles with low foreign exchange reserve, with the State Bank of Pakistan holding just US$8.2 billion . Over US$25 billion is needed to manage debt requirements, yet the tax revenue...

Authors: Ulv Hanssen, Soka University, and Linus Hagström, Swedish Defence University NATO engagement in East Asia, to counter China’s influence, is a misguided and potentially dangerous strategy for the alliance’s European members. It is bound to increase tensions between China and NATO and risks binding China Russia closer together. A China containment strategy has no tangible benefits for European security and predominantly serves the interests of a United States that is desperately trying to maintain its global hegemony. While NATO is not currently looking to recruit new members in East Asia, it is forging strategic partnerships with ‘likeminded’ states in the region. Countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are all in the process of transitioning from being NATO’s ‘global partners’ to becoming members of a more tangible arrangement that NATO has labelled ‘Individually Tailored Partnership Programs’. NATO’s strategic cooperation with Japan has increased in...

Author: Alok Prasanna, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy Every few years, India engages in a furious but futile ‘debate’ on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Proponents of a UCC seek to replace India’s religious and customary laws governing marriage, divorce and inheritance with one code that applies to all communities. Opponents question the need for the code and argue that it would destroy India’s diversity. The latest debate was triggered by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who stressed the need for a UCC to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party workers in June 2023. Before this, the 22nd Law Commission of India issued a public notice seeking comments on the UCC. This came as a surprise given the 21st Law Commission, after many months of public discussion, concluded that a UCC was ‘neither necessary nor desirable at this stage’. The 22nd Law Commission’s primary justification for the re-examination was that more than three years had passed since the previous report. While Article 4...

Authors: Assa Doron and Sango Mahanty, ANU, and Rebecca Hamilton, University of Sydney The headline ‘ Dead Chickens ’ is not what one would typically encounter when tuning in to an evening news bulletin, especially the financial segment. But this unconventional title was chosen by established Australian economics commentator Alan Kohler for a broadcast in June 2023. After concluding his usual overview of the day’s global share and commodity markets, Kohler raised the prospect of lab-sourced meat. A recent decision by US regulators has given two companies the green light to start marketing ‘meat’ cultivated from a few cells of a live chicken. Kohler declared lab-grown chicken to be a game changer. He drew attention to the staggering drop in price of this lab-grown meat — from US$480,000 per pound in 2013 to a mere US$6 per pound today. But lab-based chicken is still some distance from competing with the global wholesale price of traditional factory-farmed poultry with a cost of US$...

Author: Lawrence Repeta, Seattle Shinzo Abe’s long tenure as prime minister of Japan is notable for many reasons , but perhaps his most enduring achievements were made in the Diet where he led colleagues in passing several highly controversial bills sure to have an impact for many years to come. Abe’s crusade to rewrite Japan’s Constitution is well-known. Unsuccessful on that front, he adroitly turned to the Diet with a package of national security laws that authorised the deployment of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces abroad for ‘collective self-defence’ and other previously unthinkable missions. This legislation was encouraged and applauded by friends of the Abe administration in Washington and widely reported in the international media . Another area of great significance to the Japanese people has attracted less attention abroad. This is police power. From 2013 to 2017, the Diet passed several landmark laws that increased police authority, including a state secrecy act and laws th...

Author: Robin Vochelet, Singapore On 24 June 2023, crowds came together at Hong Lim Park in downtown Singapore to end the 15th Pink Dot rally with a light-up formation spelling out the word ‘family’ in rainbow letters. This rally — which is Singapore’s main annual pride event — was the first held since the repeal of Section 377A in November 2022. Section 377A was a colonial-era law that prohibited same-sex activities between consenting adult men. Its revocation was warmly welcomed by activists and queer people — marking the culmination of decades of campaigning. But the repeal came with an asterisk in the form of a constitutional amendment enshrining the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, effectively shutting the door on prospects for marriage equality. In response, much of the activism and campaigning from Pink Dot shifted to expanding the concept of family in Singapore. While decriminalisation has helped with societal acceptance of queerness, many with...

Author: Nikhil Joshi and Geethanjali Nataraj, CII The 21-member Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), home to over 2.9 billion people, is a prominent force in shaping regional economic policies, promoting trade and investment and fostering cooperation among its members. Amid global economic slowdown and China’s economic uncertainties, India — the world’s fastest-growing major economy — can bolster global growth by strengthening its regional integration through APEC. India has tried to join APEC since the late 1990s, but it remains an observer until today. India has been expanding trade and investment ties with the region since the 2000s, particularly through the India–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements with Singapore and Malaysia. But some APEC members have reservations about accepting India. India is the world’s fifth-largest economy. Its share of global GDP has more than doubled since 1990. Trade is vital for India’s economy, account...