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2. China in the Pacific: the new banker in town
- Author:
- Fergus Hanson and Mary Fifita
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- What is the problem? China is now one of the Pacific\'s major donors. An analysis of its aid program in the region from 2005 to 2009 suggests it is reducing the grant component of its aid and increasing the soft loan proportion. China has pledged over $US 600 million to the Pacific since 2005 and debt burdening will become increasingly pressing as Chinese loans accumulate and the five-year grace periods expire. There appears to have been limited progress improving transparency.
- Topic:
- Economics and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Australia/Pacific
3. Mass poverty in Asia and the GFC
- Author:
- Peter McCawley
- Publication Date:
- 06-2009
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- What is the problem? In addition to the current Global Financial Crisis (GFC), there is a second global crisis: long-term mass poverty in the third world. While the rich world worries about a repeat of the Great Depression, today more than a billion people in Asia live in conditions of bitter poverty which are much worse than those of the 1930s. As a result of the GFC, poverty in developing Asia is now likely to increase.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Poverty, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Asia
4. India's energy needs
- Author:
- Nick Hordern
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- India's exploding demand for energy is confronting New Delhi with two important dilemmas, one internal and one external. India's internal dilemma is that to satisfy its energy needs, India must not only expand but also renovate its energy sector, a huge task. Moreover, New Delhi must balance accelerating the necessary reform of this sector with the need to avoid alienating important domestic constituencies. The external dilemma derives from the fact that India will only be able to meet part of its increased energy demand from its own domestic resources, and therefore will be increasingly forced to rely on energy imports. India is trying to secure its energy supplies in a hostile geo-political climate, since New Delhi's parlous relations with its neighbours make energy cooperation difficult. The resultant fears regarding the vulnerability of India's external sources of energy chime with a core principle of New Delhi's political culture, swadeshi (self-sufficiency), whose influence, while waning, retains its potency. Concerns regarding energy security are particularly prevalent in the case of oil, where India's dependence on imports is becoming acute. The proximity of the Persian Gulf to India's industrialised northwest makes it the main source of growing oil imports. But this in turn increases India's reliance on the unstable Gulf. In order to reduce this risk New Delhi will seek out oil from new energy provinces in the Atlantic Basin, Sudan, Russia and South East Asia. It will also turn to a new energy source - gas - and more imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be one result. India's energy needs have implications for Australia. India's growing demand for energy will see coal continue to dominate the energy mix, and as a result India's demand for imported coking coal, including from Australia, is also set to grow. At the same time, India's quest for diversity of supply means that at least some of India's increased LNG imports are likely to be Australian.
- Topic:
- Economics, Energy Policy, and International Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Sudan, India, Asia, New Delhi, Australia, and Southeast Asia
5. The international economy in 2003: managing economic imbalances in an integrated world
- Author:
- Mark P Thirlwell
- Publication Date:
- 02-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- This Issues Brief suggests that a key theme over the past year has been the management of external imbalances in a world economy that is not only increasingly integrated but which is simultaneously undergoing a sustained geographic shift in the distribution of economic weight towards Asia. Using this theme as an organising principle, it reviews several major economic developments including US current account adjustment, international exchange rate adjustment in response to that process, growing Sino-US trade tensions, the increasing focus on international outsourcing and the stresses facing the current multilateral trading round. The Brief concludes by arguing that many of these same themes will influence international economic prospects over the coming year.
- Topic:
- Economics, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- Asia
6. Revaluing the renminbi: a case of 'déjà vu all over again'?
- Author:
- Mark P Thirlwell
- Publication Date:
- 11-2003
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Lowy Institute for International Policy
- Abstract:
- There are strong parallels between today's US-China tensions over trade and US-Japan economic relations in the 1980s.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Israel, East Asia, and Asia