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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   1021 thread views

Transnational Thursday for May 2, 2024

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Japan

It appears as though the value of the Yen is currently in free fall. I can't say I know enough economics to explain the causes or potential implications of this, but it seems concerning nonetheless.

Saudi Arabia

Apparently the Saudis have secured funding for their rather adventurous future city concept, or at least a toned down version of it. While I'm all for innovation in the field of architecture, I certainly hope for things that are a bit more practical.

Armenia

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are scheduled to meet in Kazakhstan to presumably formalize the Armenian loss of Nagorno-Karabakh and probably handover of some additional territory in return for economic concessions. Or maybe the talks will break down and we'll have another genocidal war on our hands. Hard to tell.

Canada

The Canadian police have arrested three Indian nationals over the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, continuing the Canada-India dispute that has bemused and disinterested onlookers around the world going "...huh?" and "what the fuck is Khalistan?"

Japan

It appears as though the value of the Yen is currently in free fall. I can't say I know enough economics to explain the causes or potential implications of this, but it seems concerning nonetheless.

Noahpinion had a good (paywalled) article about this: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/is-japan-having-a-currency-crisis

The gist of it was that they're stuck in a hard spot. Nobody wants Japanese bonds because their interest rates are so low. And they can't raise interest rates because they have so much government debt and also a fragile employment situation. Still, "freefall" is an exaggeration. It's low but not that low. They have options, including if necessary, currency controls (forbidding people from selling the currency).

My contraversial opinion is they could solve this through immigration. There are a lot of weebs/retirees/weirdos who would want to move and live in Japan, but can't get a visa. Just let us buy a golden visa and go buy one of the abandoned houses there.

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