■ Japan
Deflation likely to continue
The Bank of Japan said yesterday it expects deflation to continue through March 2005, although it would be less severe than previously forecast. "The supply-demand gap is likely to shrink slightly during this and the next fiscal year under the expected mild economic recovery, but it is still large and thus has the possibility of retaining downward pressure on prices to some extent," the central bank said in a twice-annual economic assessment. "Consumer prices are forecast to continue posting small declines in this and next fiscal year," that ends in March 2005.
■ Ownership
Family-run firms work better
Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 maker of personal computers, online auctioneer EBay Inc and software maker Oracle Corp are likely to benefit if they remain run by their founders rather than hired executives, Business Week said. About 177 companies, or a third of those in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, have founders or their families involved in operations, often as directors or senior managers, the magazine said, citing a study in concert with executive-search firm Spencer Stuart. The average annual shareholder return for Business Week's group of family run companies was 15.6 percent over the decade examined, compared with 11.2 percent for non-family run companies. Return on assets averaged 5.4 percent for the family group, and 4.1 percent for the non-family group, the magazine said. Companies run by their founder or family retain "their edge," because they have "managers with a passion for the enterprise that goes far beyond that of any hired executive, no matter how much they are paid," Business Week said.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source