THE focus of concern of my last column (Oct 5) was how to identify and best manage risk emanating from the great growth deceleration in emerging Asia in the face of “Abenomic” expansionary thrusts and threat of QE (quantitative easing) tapering by US Fed which resulted in a massive withdrawal of funds from Asian markets.
As I write on Oct 16, the threat of fiscal impasse is upon us. Already, US government has been shut down for 16 days and in just another working day, US Treasury’s Oct 17 deadline to raise the debt ceiling (US$16.7 trillion) will pass. At this late hour, US politicians are still grappling with how to re-open the shuttered government and avoid a potentially calamitous failure for the first time to service on time the nation’s debt obligations. The standing of the US (trust in the US signature) is at risk. Five years after the 2008 crisis, the debt stand-off has plunged markets into uncertainty, a showdown not dissimilar to the 2011 brush with calamity.
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