France, Germany, Brazil, Spain— who has the best World Cup squad?
Monday 18 June 2018
A4 BUSINESS DAY
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Argentina’ s Treasury minister defends IMF bailout
NATIONAL
Donald Trump’ s trade tirades show his mastery of the message
RANA FOROOHAR
Critics of Donald Trump( me included) need to spend more time watching the US president and perhaps relatively less parsing the details of his policies. I did this last week while he was sounding off for 20 minutes in an impromptu press conference with reporters that covered everything from North Korea(“ there is no longer
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With the IMF set to disburse an initial $ 15bn after its executive board meets on June 20, Mr Dujovne insisted that this would take pressure off the peso, which continued to slide despite the announcement of the IMF deal on June 7, losing more than 10 per cent of its value since then. The continued turmoil prompted the resignation on Thursday of the central bank governor, Federico Sturzenegger, who was replaced by Luis Caputo, the finance minister.
Even so, the newly empowered Mr Dujovne, who will take on Mr Caputo’ s responsibilities as finance minister, argued that the peso’ s slide was“ logical” since it followed several weeks when the exchange rate was effectively fixed by the central bank. Meanwhile, a drop in bond prices over the past week was mostly due to a“ risk-off” environment in emerging markets, he added.
How investors continue to view Argentina in the coming months will determine how much the government will borrow of the $ 50bn that the IMF has made available.
“ It is very probable that in the first quarters we will make use of the option [ to access the quarterly disbursements stipulated in the agreement ], but then as sovereign risk falls and the market has a greater appetite to absorb Argentine debt at low rates, we can [ return to the market ]. But for now the fund’ s rates are very favourable,” said Mr Dujovne.
With investor confidence proving difficult to win back, Mr Dujovne admitted that both Argentina and the IMF had taken a great risk in reigniting their relationship.
“ We are partners in this, without a doubt. We need the credibility provided by a programme with the fund, while the fund needs to show it was not mistaken in supporting Argentina, having had problems in Argentina in the past... it is a very big bet [ for the IMF ].”
Despite Mr Macri’ s political gamble, given that the IMF is widely questioned in Argentina, Mr Dujovne remained“ convinced” that he would be re-elected next year, regardless of the hit to the economy this year as a result of the run on the currency.
He likened the temporary slowdown in growth to a bout of turbulence on an aeroplane which would be overcome by the fourth quarter, with growth picking up more strongly in 2019. He expected a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in infrastructure spending next year, driven by a programme of public private partnerships that is under way.
“ Winning the elections will not depend on whether growth is at 4 per cent rather than 2 per cent, but on whether people continue to want the change this government represents, or to go back to populism,” he said, arguing that the Peronist opposition was“ very far from offering itself as an alternative” for voters. a nuclear threat”) to his legal issues(“ there was no obstruction, there was no collusion”) to tariffs on China. And when you do, you see him as much of middle America does— strong, concise and cogent.
Let me head off those readers who are already starting to draft their complaint letters; I didn’ t say Mr Trump was truthful or correct in regards to any of these issues. And yes, I get upset as any thinking person does watching him salute a North Korean general as he insults America’ s historic allies, while his border patrols remove children from immigrant parents.
But sadly, public opinion is usually formed more on the basis of feelings than facts.
On television, Mr Trump comes across as clear and authentic, at least to himself. And that, as any psychologist will tell you, is what really matters when projecting the characteristic to others. He remains cool and secure in his own views. Reporters trying desperately to clarify facts as they press him on the issues come across as harried and desperate. This is Television 101: soundbites work better than complex data points.
It is tough to overestimate how much optics matter— half of Americans still glean the majority of their news from television,
King Maha Vajiralongkorn’ s decision to take ownership of the portfolio, estimated to be worth $ 30bn, confirms his position as one of the world’ s richest monarchs © EPA
Thai king assumes direct ownership of portfolio worth billions
Assets previously held in royal family’ s name will lose tax-exempt status
JOHN REED
The trust that holds billions of dollars of assets in the name of Thailand’ s royal family said at the weekend it had transferred ownership of a wealth portfolio directly to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, in a move that confirms his position as one of the world’ s richest monarchs.
The Crown Property Bureau said in an announcement on Saturday that its assets previously registered in its name would now be held“ in the name of His Majesty”, marking the latest change made by the new Thai king in the way the royal house’ s vast corporate and real estate holdings are managed.
The body also said that its assets would be subject to the same taxation as those belonging to any other Thai citizen, removing their tax-exempt status.“ The removal of exempted status was accomplished in line with His Majesty’ s wishes,” the statement said.
The Crown Property Bureau’ s portfolio includes stakes in Siam Commercial Bank, a leading lender, and Siam Cement Group, a leading
Throughout the tournament, we’ ll bring you an FT view on the data and the talking points that matter, while FT correspondents from Asia to South America will provide a global perspective on this huge sporting event. Plus there’ ll be links to other FT coverage you might have missed. Stat of the day The news that Spain had sacked their head coach Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the World Cup makes even less sense when you consider they have the strongest squad of players in the tournament.
We came to this judgment by crossing two factors: quality and experience. First, how good a country’ s footballers industrial conglomerate, as well as swaths of land in downtown Bangkok.
The bureau does not make the value of its portfolio public, but Forbes Magazine in 2012 valued the bureau’ s holdings at more than $ 30bn, and based on this estimate described the late King Bhumibol as the world’ s richest monarch. Thailand’ s embassy in Washington wrote a letter reprimanding the magazine, saying the Crown Property Bureau’ s assets were“ held in trust for the nation”.
King Vajiralongkorn, 65, became Thailand’ s monarch in 2016 after the death of his long-reigning father King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Since then he made several changes to how the monarchy’ s wealth holdings were managed.
In July last year, Thailand amended its royal property law to give the new king full control of the Crown Property Bureau. According to a filing with Thailand’ s Securities and Exchange Commission in October, a 3.3 per cent stake worth $ 500m in Siam Commercial Bank was transferred from the Crown Property Bureau on behalf of the new king.
are, based on the“ elo ratings” of the club sides they play for; the theory being that a country with many Barcelona players is better than those reliant on players at, say, Stoke City. Second, how many minutes they have played in elite competition, such as one of Europe’ s“ Big Five” leagues of Spain, England, Italy, France and Germany, and the Champions League, the continent’ s most prestigious club tournament.
That Spain emerge as the strongest squad according to these measures is not a surprise. The national team are made up of stalwarts of Real Madrid and Barcelona, the best club sides in Europe. Spanish teams have dominated their rivals in European competition for the past decade.
Reuters in March reported, based on stock exchange data, that the king had acquired a stake worth $ 150m in Siam Cement, and that the bureau’ s stake had dropped by a similar amount.
Individuals and media outlets in Thailand, including the Financial Times, are restricted in what they can say or report about the royal family under the kingdom’ s strict lèse majesté law, which sets prison terms of up to 15 years for perceived insults to the royal family.
Commentators in Bangkok, speaking anonymously on Saturday, had mixed reactions to the news about the Crown Property Bureau. Some expressed surprise at the king’ s assumption of direct control of its assets, but others welcomed the news they would no longer be tax exempt.
King Vajiralongkorn divides his time between Thailand and Germany, where local media have reported on his activities, including stories that touch on his personal life that would be taboo in his home country. Thailand censors the availability of such reports to internet users in the kingdom.
France, Germany, Brazil, Spain— who has the best World Cup squad?
We’ ve crunched the data to find out who comes out on top in terms of quality and experience
MURAD AHMED AND JOHN BURN-MURDOCH
The national team reflect this, and the current squad are among the very best to appear in any World Cup since 2002, when our data starts. Lopetegui departs with an unbeaten record, having won 14 and drawn six since he took over as coach in 2016.
Blessed with talent, the team’ s playing style was also subtly changed by Lopetegui. Past Spain teams held possession for long periods. This was partly a defensive tactic— the opposition can’ t score if they can’ t get the ball. But it also led to slow and increasingly predictable football. Under Lopetegui, the team have been more direct and decisive. That has resulted in impressive victories in which Spain have blown away tough opponents, beating Argentina 6-1 and Italy 3-0. according to the Pew Research Center. Most of the rest rely on social media.
Timing matters, too. That is another area where the US president has succeeded. While there is no good time for a trade war, this is about as good a moment as any. The US economy grew 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, and some analysts are predicting 3 per cent, or even higher, for the second quarter, which ends this month.
South Korea embarks on war games over disputed islets
Sovereignty of Dokdo remains hot-button issue between Seoul and Tokyo
BRYAN HARRIS
Only days after South Korea and Washington determined that North Korea was no longer a serious enough threat to justify joint military exercises, Seoul has turned its attention to its real enemy: Japan.
On Monday, South Korea will begin two days of war games in which navy, air force, coast guard and marine units will practise defending Dokdo, a collection of tiny islets off its east coast that are controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo.
The move underscores the topsyturvy world of diplomacy in the era of Donald Trump, in which Justin Trudeau, Canada’ s prime minister, briefly became Washington’ s public enemy number one, while Kim Jong Un, a dictator in one of the world’ s most repressive regimes, was treated warmly by the US president and described as“ very talented”.
As part of the exercises to defend against a putative Japanese attack— one that no serious analyst believes is remotely likely— South Korean marines will land on the rocky outcrop, which is home to a lighthouse, police barracks and mobile-phone towers.
Although such maneouvres have happened regularly in the past, one Japanese diplomat reacted with dismay that Seoul should have turned its attention to the supposed Japanese threat.
That it should have done so at the precise time it was stopping war games against North Korea, which has regularly threatened to turn both Japan and South Korea into a sea of fire, is likely to be regarded as doubly puzzling in Tokyo.
“ Japan is the last country on the planet to resort to force to resolve this issue,” the diplomat said, referring to the islets, which are called Takeshima by Japan.“ In terms of resolving disputes with South Korea, Tokyo has always underlined using diplomacy based on international law.”
Bong Youngshik, a North Korea expert at Yonsei university, said:“ What is the point? The islands are clearly not coveted by any other country.” There was, he added, no reason to believe Dokdo had rich mineral desposits or anything else remotely worth fighting for.“ That is all a myth, although nobody dares say it.”
Along with sex slaves— the Korean women who were forced to work in Japan’ s wartime brothels— the sovereignty of Dokdo remains a lingering issue between Seoul and Tokyo.
The timing of the exercises is likely to raise eyebrows after Mr Trump announced last week that he had cancelled long-running joint drills between Washington and Seoul. Those drills, which were ostensibly to defend against North Korean aggression, were deemed“ expensive” and“ provocative” by the US leader.
Japan did not react immediately to South Korea’ s announcement, but has strongly protested similar exercises in the past, calling the last one in 2016“ unacceptable and extremely regrettable”.
Almost no analyst believes Japan would seek to retake control of the disputed islets, also known as the Liancourt Rocks, by force.