Thailand and Vietnam are the first two largest exporters of rice in the world and the latest news indicate Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia have imposed restrictions on their rice exports to assure having enough rice for their domestic consumption.
Vietnam has reduced its rice exports, Cambodia has banned exports of rice altogether and Indonesia has levied a new tax on its rice exports.
Afzal Ali, an Asian Development Bank economist, predicts shortage of rice and its higher price could cause some social tensions and that is the main reason some Southeast Asian countries have imposes restrictions on rice exportation.
Proprietary trading, it says, represents less than 10% of its revenue.
Goldman will do well again in 2010, though perhaps not as well as this year, and its revenue will shift, with more income from fee-based business such as M&A advisory so that the mix approaches the 50-50 fees-to-transactions balance it looks for.
More than most, Goldman’s success is confidence-based.
The firm has come in for unprecedented criticism over its role in the banking crisis and its influence in high places. The effects, if any, will emerge over a number of quarters. Some say a recent idea that Goldman Sachs would buy $3 billion of tax credits from Fannie Mae may have been leaked to the press by the Treasury to see if the idea would fly. It didn’t, and was dropped. Goldman can’t be seen to be overtly benefiting from the crisis.
If FICC activity becomes less profitable and more emphasis is placed on advisory business, will Goldman’s reputational problems come home to roost?
Social tensions can prove to be very dangerous, class tension destabilizes the countries and that is why Southeast Asian countries are so sensitive to the issue, he added.
The Philippines, with 58 million citizens, imports more than 2 million tons of rice annually and more than any other Southeast Asian nation is vulnerable.
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