Malaysia at a Crossroads

Malaysia has been a laggard over the past decade with investors concerned that middle class income and productivity trends (growing at 4.5% annually) have fallen behind countries such as India and Indonesia, let alone China. Although there is some debate over what this actually means in practice, Malaysia’s elections focused squarely on this perceived economic malaise and […]

Countdown to Zero Poverty and Emerging Growth

Brookings Institution provides some interesting (and interactive) perspective on extreme poverty over the 1990 to 2030 estimated period, which it calls the Final Countdown. As extreme poverty (less than $1.25 per day) approaches zero, the remainder of afflicted peoples are in the weakest and most fragile states. Particular comparisons between China, India and Sub-saharan Africa remind us […]

Where are Asian Households Spending Their Money? (Hint: Education)

By 2030 Asia’s emerging middle class is expected to account for over 60 per cent of total world spending and, if past history is any guide, a significant part of family budgets will be spent on education. But what exactly? A recent survey by MasterCard profiled 16 markets in the Asia-Pacific over 2012-13 and asked families how […]

What Will Determine China's Future Competitiveness?

A recent article in the South China Morning Post is the latest to question China’s “competitiveness” through labor and, by extension, the RMB’s consistent appreciation against the US dollar. As many have argued, competitiveness is measured by labor productivity and, more specifically, the size of China’s future workforce as measured by a recent peak in the number […]

Who Will Escape Asia's Emerging Middle Income Trap?

Why do some countries escape the middle-income trap while others languish? Intuitively we know that a more educated population makes for a healthier and more stable economy over the long term. That is why Asian countries, and developing countries around the world, have scambled to build deep and competitive education systems after the initial burst […]

What Multinationals Can Teach Universities Expanding into Emerging Markets

Universities have been around for centuries, and for good reason: they move glacially, if at all. If you were look at a list of the leading American companies in 1920 and try to determine how many have survived to the present day, that number could be counted on both hands. This is not the case for Universities. They […]

Education and Income Inequality in Asia: Is China an Outlier?

A lead in the New York Times focused on the plight and risk of China’s education race to the top among rural families. It ended with the idea that China’s rapid educational attainment at college level over the past decade (from around 8% in 2000 to 23% enrolment rates through last year) may be contributing to income […]

Why Asia’s Real Competitive Race Will Be Brains, Not Arms

In late 2012 the governments of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia followed a long line of Asian countries in calling for the end of “cheap labor.” This was on the back of China’s tumultuous labor issues at Foxconn and elsewhere, which signaled a push toward higher wages and the need for economic “re-balancing.” Yet developing Asia’s […]

Chinese Education Companies: IPO Bombs but Cash Rich

With the exception of New Oriental (NYSE: EDU), nearly every IPO of a Chinese education company has bombed since 2006 and most within the past four years, losing a range of 7% to 77% for investors. Let’s leave aside for the moment the problems with US-listed Chinese companies en masse and focus instead on cash on hand […]