Armistice in the currency war

STEPHEN GRENVILLE, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia suggests a middle path in the ongoing currency hostilities, away from export dependence. In an economic briefing for the Australian Financial Review, "A road map for global 'currency peace'", he states that Asian countries could encourage more foreign direct investment while simultaneously discouraging short-term pro-cyclical foreign capital inflows with foreign exchange reserves used to cope with the volatility of capital flows.

Yet another East Asia grouping

Stephen Grenville and Mark Thirlwel, fellows at the Lowy Institute for International Policy advocate the creation of a caucus of the six East Asian members of the G-20; China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, India and Australia, arguing that doing so would provide an opportunity to pool resources for research and the preparation of policy papers in turn helping the region promote an agenda at the G-20 that would support regional interests and establish G-20's relevance.In a Policy Brief, "A G-20 caucus for East Asia", they conclude that the establishment of an East Asian caucus would offer economies of scale in policy research and development and also contribute positively to the development of a regional economic architecture.