Page 8 - Forbes - Asia (June 2018)

FORBES ASIA
SIDELINES

Editor Tim W. Ferguson
Editorial Director Karl Shmavonian
Art Director Charles Brucaliere Tightly Wound
Senior Editor John Koppisch
Wealth Lists Editors Luisa Kroll, Kerry A. Dolan
Photo Editor Michele Hadlow
t Asian meetings in early May,
Statistics Editor Andrea Murphy
I noted that the good but not
Research Director Sue Radlauer
Agreat global economy is akin to
Online Editor Jasmine Smith
Reporter Grace Chung a sturdy old guitar with very taut strings,
Intern Prisca Ang poised to play the inancial chords that
Editorial Bureaus have stopped the international music
Beijing Yue Wang before (think 2008) and remain subject
Shanghai Russell Flannery (Senior Ed.); Maggie Chen to sudden upsets. hough international
India Editor Naazneen Karmali trade has been much in the news with
Contributing Editors the blustery new U.S. positions, leverage Mahathir’s Malaysia is oasis of financial calm.
Bangkok Suzanne Nam and closely interwoven banking relationships pose more acute risks.
Chennai Anuradha Raghunathan
Subsequently, a political scare out of Italy (would it reject the euro?) underscored
Hong Kong Shu-Ching Jean Chen
the point. Markets trembled. Earlier on, indebted emerging economies were the source
Jakarta Justin Doebele
of worry. Some are basket cases from misrule—Venezuela and Iran in the present
Melbourne Lucinda Schmidt
Perth Tim Treadgold and Argentina and South Africa in the recent past—but others are still fundamentally
Singapore Jane A. Peterson functional if seriously hobbled—Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Nigeria.
Taipei Joyce Huang In Asia, the recent fretting has centered on Indonesia, the Philippines and India be-
Vietnam Lan Anh Nguyen cause of foreign borrowings or capital outlows. hey all irmed up as May ended, but
Columnist Ben Sin this was a reminder of how even seemingly robust output records can mask vulner-
Production Manager Michelle Ciulla abilities. In smaller economies in South Asia—Pakistan and Sri Lanka—glaring weak-
nesses remain. he willingness of China to pump loans into precarious client states is
cold comfort in an environment of tightening monetary policies, led by Washington.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Equity and property markets have remained frothy, not yet relecting these gather-
Steve Forbes ing storms. At what point, with rising interest rates, does this end? (hat was a concern
of tycoons with whom I met in Hong Kong.) One ray of sunshine amid these clouds
FORBES MAGAZINE
is the stability of Malaysia even as a political revolution toppled the long-dominant
CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Randall Lane
governing circle. A true housecleaning of the muck of decades of cronyism would ofer
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Michael Noer
ART & DESIGN DIRECTOR Robert Mansield a chance for a legitimate leap to “rich economy” status. hat this would commence
now under Mohamad Mahathir, so much a part of past heavy-handed eforts to elevate
FORBES DIGITAL
Malaysia in the face of inancial lurries, is rich with irony.
VP, INVESTING EDITOR Matt Schifrin
VP, DIGITAL EDITOR Mark Coatney
VP, PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Salah Zalatimo he bigger they get, the slower they rise or fall—usually. hat’s the rule for our
VP, WOMEN’S DIGITAL NETWORK Christina Vuleta annual Global 2000 roster of the world’s largest public corporations. Some
ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS Tturbocharged entries are exceptions. Take three from China: Ping An Insurance
Frederick E. Allen LEADERSHIP
Loren Feldman ENTREPRENEURS (see p. 44) crashes the Top 10, from No. 16 last year. Internet combine Tencent jumps
Janet Novack WASHINGTON from No. 148 to No. 107. And most impressive, new-economy juggernaut Alibaba
Michael K. Ozanian SPORTSMONEY Group makes our 5% pantheon at No. 81, rising all the way from No. 140 last year.
DEPARTMENT HEADS
Mark Decker, John Dobosz, Clay Thurmond
Jessica Bohrer VP, EDITORIAL COUNSEL
FOUNDED IN 1917
B.C. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1917 54)
Malcolm S. Forbes, Editor-in-Chief (1954 90) Tim Ferguson
James W. Michaels, Editor (1961 99) AP PHOTO/SADIQ ASYRAF
William Baldwin, Editor (1999 2010) Editor, forbes asia
globaleditor@forbes.com

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