Japan, U.S. to seek cooperation in addressing global imbalances+

In Japan, U.S. Defends Fed Actions
Source: The New York Times KYOTO, Japan — The United States confronted growing restiveness with its Economic Policy on Saturday as leading Asian countries resisted its call to set limits on trade Deficits and surpluses while also warning that the decision to pump more money into the American Economy would have harmful global repercussions. The heightened wariness about United States Policy underscores the difficulties facing the Obama Administration as it experiments with ways to shore up the e...

APEC looks to safeguard growth amid US plan tension
Asia Pacific Finance Ministers pledged to work towards safeguarding growth and not competitively weaken currencies on Saturday, as the US sought to ease tensions over recent Economic proposals. Finance chiefs from the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group including the United States, China and Japan met in Kyoto and adopted wording from an October G20 meeting to avoid "competitive devaluation of currencies". But fault lines had emerged during the two-day meeting over a US proposal ...

APEC looks to safeguard growth amid US plan tension
Asia Pacific Finance Ministers will call on countries to rein in large imbalances to safeguard Growth at an APEC meeting, amid tension over US Monetary Policy and its Economic proposals. Finance chiefs from the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group including the United States, China and Japan met in Kyoto on Saturday, after an October G20 meeting in South Korea vowed to avoid "competitive devaluation of currencies". But fault lines have emerged over a US proposal that countries ass...

APEC looks to safeguard growth, ease currency tension
Asia Pacific Finance Ministers on Saturday pledged to work towards safeguarding growth and to avoid weakening each other's currencies, as the US sought to ease tensions over recent Economic proposals. Finance chiefs from the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group including the United States, China and Japan, met in Kyoto and adopted wording from an October G20 meeting to steer away from the "competitive devaluation of currencies". Fault lines had emerged during the two-day G20 meeti...

Geithner Says U.S. Won't Use Dollar to Gain Competitive Advantage in Trade
Source: Bloomberg News Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the U.S. won’t use The Dollar as a trade weapon and he repeated his support for a “strong dollar” that plays a central role in the Global Economy. “We will never use our currency as a tool to gain competitive advantage,” Geithner told reporters today after a meeting of Finance Ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group in Kyoto, Japan. The Treasury chief said he believes The Dollar, euro and yen are r

At Asia-Pacific Forum, Geithner Defends U.S. Policy
KYOTO, Japan — The United States confronted growing restiveness with its Economic Policy on Saturday as leading Asian countries resisted its call to set limits on trade Deficits and surpluses while also warning that the decision to pump more Money into the American Economy would have harmful Global repercussions. Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, told other Finance Ministers that the United States was not trying to devalue The Dollar. The heightened wariness about United State...

FT.com / China - China tees up G20 showdown with US
China has curtly dismissed a US proposal to address global economic imbalances, setting the stage for a potential showdown at next week’s G20 meeting in Seoul. Cui Tiankai, a deputy Foreign Minister and one of China’s lead negotiators at the G20, said on Friday that the US plan for limiting current account surpluses and Deficits to 4 per cent of gross domestic product harked back “to the days of planned economies”. EDITOR’S CHOICE In depth: G20...

Exporting Our Way to Stability
AS the United States recovers from this Recession, the biggest mistake we could make would be to rebuild our economy on the same pile of Debt or the paper profits of Financial speculation. We need to rebuild on a new, stronger foundation for Economic Growth. And part of that foundation involves doing what Americans have always done best: discovering, creating and building products that are sold all over the world. We want to be known not just for what we consume, but for what we produce. And th...

The Red Chinese Shoes
I agree completely with President Obama’s emphasis on U. S. exports in his op-ed this morning in the New York Times: We need to rebuild on a new, stronger foundation for Economic Growth. And part of that foundation involves doing what Americans have always done best: discovering, creating and building products that are sold all over the world. We want to be known not just for what we consume, but for what we produce. And the more we export abroad, the more jobs we create in America. In f...

Asia-Pacific finance heads agree to shrink trade gaps, deflect currency wars
KYOTO, Japan — Finance Ministers from the Asia-Pacific region agreed Saturday to avoid using their currencies as trade weapons and embrace steps to shrink Global trade gaps, joining the swelling chorus of countries calling for deeper cooperation to safeguard world growth. The two-day gathering of Finance chiefs from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, forum wrapped up ahead of twin summits of Global leaders next week in Asia that will focus on boosting a Global eco...

USFK announces security measures, restrictions ahead of G-20
SEOUL — U.S. Forces Korea personnel are banned from going within a 600-meter radius of the COEX mall and convention center complex Wednesday through Friday, one of several security measures affecting the Military community during the upcoming G-20 summit, U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan officials said Friday. The economic summit will be attended by 32 heads of State and more than 10,000 participants. Protests at previous G-20 meetings have become violent, and delays are expected on all forms of...

APEC ministers meet as doubts grow over U.S. approach
By Stanley White KYOTO, Japan | Fri Nov 5, 2010 11:44pm EDT KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) - Asia Pacific Finance Ministers, including from the world's three biggest economies, met on Saturday amid mounting criticism of U.S. Monetary Policy and its proposals to solve economic imbalances. The Japanese hosts said the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting will issue a statement that is expected to reaffirm commitments to fiscal discipline, Free Trade and infrastructure investment. But the gat...

APEC pledges to safeguard growth
AFP Asia Pacific Finance Ministers pledged on Saturday to work towards safeguarding growth and to avoid weakening each other's currencies, as the US sought to ease tensions over recent Economic proposals. Finance chiefs from the 21-nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group, including the United States, China and Japan, met in Kyoto and adopted wording from an October G20 meeting to steer away from the "competitive devaluation of currencies". Fault lines had emerged during the two-day G20...

CHINA BUSTS U.S. FOR SOCIALISM. And fiscal irresponsibility. Cui Tiankai, a deputy foreign minis
China BUSTS U.S. FOR SOCIALISM. And fiscal irresponsibility. Cui Tiankai, a deputy Foreign Minister and one of China’s lead negotiators at the G20, said on Friday that the US plan for limiting current account surpluses and Deficits to 4 per cent of gross domestic product harked back “to the days of planned economies”. “We believe a discussion about a current account target misses the whole point,” he added,...

Germany criticizes U.S. Fed
Published: Nov. 5, 2010 at 4:20 PM BERLIN, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble harshly criticized the U.S. Federal Reserve's $600 Billion Quantitative Easing program announced Wednesday. Schauble said the United States had broken a promise made in June at the Group of 20 summit in Toronto to tighten Monetary Policy, EUobserver reported Friday. "That was the common Policy, that all developed countries, including the United States … explicitly obliged to undertake," Sch...

Obama showcases importance of Asia trip
AFP President Barack Obama has underscored the importance of his trip to Asia, saying the United States cannot allow itself to be "shut out" of Asian markets. "It is hard to overstate the importance of Asia to our Economic future," the president wrote in an op-ed piece published in The New York Times on Saturday. "Asia is home to three of the world's five largest economies, as well as a rapidly expanding middle class with rising incomes." Obama departed Washington on Friday to begin an Asian ...

Barack Obama in India, New York Times
​President Barack Obama kicked off his Asia trip in India today with a Speech at the Taj Mahal Palace, the very same hotel attacked by Terrorists two years ago, as a symbolic gesture "absolutely" meant to send a message. Obama has made a priority of strengthening ties with India and other Asian countries and so concurrent with his visit he stopped by our local newspaper, the New York Times, to outline his mission in Mumbai and beyond. Knowing full well after the Midterm Elections that a...

The Best World Photos of the Week
As a fresh diplomatic tiff brews with Russia over President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to the disputed islands off Hokkaido, Beijing appears to continue playing hardball with Tokyo over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. more ›› Will Republicans End the Russian Reset? What impact will the shift toward more Republicans in Congress have on U.S.-Russian relations? more ›› While the immediate crisis over Japan's seizure of the Chinese fishing vessel that rammed ...

Falling behind
Is the Japanese Gaming industry in crisis? From Sonic to Solid Snake, Mario to Mega Man, the Japanese love Video Games. While it's taken years for Games to become mainstream in the West, videogames are now as much a part of Japanese popular culture as the Walkman and Anime. Their influence can be felt all over popular Japanese culture but, as Western developers are enjoying unparalleled global success with huge open world Games and first person Shooters, is the Japanese Gaming engine about to ...

US, Australia expand ties with an eye on China (AP)
Melbourne, Australia – The United States plans to expand its Military presence in Australia as the two nations maneuver to rein in an increasingly assertive China. U.S. and Australia are considering a joint or shared base arrangement in which U.S. Troops and assets such as planes or ships would piggyback on existing Australian Military facilities, a senior U.S. Defense official said Saturday. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said wider Military cooperation between the U.S. and longtim...

US, Australia consider joint military bases; look for ways to curb assertive China
Melbourne, Australia — The United States plans to expand its Military presence in Australia as the two nations maneuver to rein in an increasingly assertive China. U.S. and Australia are considering a joint or shared base arrangement in which U.S. Troops and assets such as planes or ships would piggyback on existing Australian Military facilities, a senior U.S. Defense official said Saturday. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said wider Military cooperation between the U.S. and longti...

President Obama arrives in India for start of Asian tour
President Obama arrived in India on Saturday for the start of his four-nation, 10-day tour through Asia. His first stop will be India's financial hub of Mumbai, scene of the deadly terror Attacks of November 2008 that left 164 people dead. His planned commemoration of the Terrorist Attack during his first event there underlines the importance that the U.S. is placing on boosting collaboration in dealing with Terrorism believed to be centered in the region across India's western borde...

In Advance of Foreign Trip, Obama Pens Op-Ed on Foreign Trade
Published in this morning’s New York Times, and coordinated to his arrival in Mumbai this morning, President Obama pens an op-ed titled, “Exporting Our Way to Stability.” The message is one he will be pushing over the next 10 days of his foreign trip which will take him to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan: how the US can benefit economically by foreign Trade to reach his stated goal of doubling US exports in the next five years. “To do that, we need to find new cus...

China tees up G20 showdown with US
China has curtly dismissed a US proposal to address global economic imbalances, setting the stage for a potential showdown at next week’s G20 meeting in Seoul. Cui Tiankai, a deputy Foreign Minister and one of China’s lead negotiators at the G20, said on Friday that the US plan for limiting current account surpluses and Deficits to 4 per cent of gross domestic product harked back “to the days of planned economies”. EDITOR’S CHOICE In depth: G20...

US, Australia consider joint military bases; look for ways to curb assertive China
Melbourne, Australia — The United States plans to expand its Military presence in Australia as the two nations maneuver to rein in an increasingly assertive China. U.S. and Australia are considering a joint or shared base arrangement in which U.S. Troops and assets such as planes or ships would piggyback on existing Australian Military facilities, a senior U.S. Defense official said Saturday. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said wider Military cooperation between the U.S. and longti...