-
2 weeks ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
Futurist and world-renowned scenario planner Peter Schwartz, 78, has been working on AI since the 1970s.PHOTO: PATSON GOHPUBLISHED Jun 11, 2025, 05:00 AMDuring his recent visit to Singapore, the futurist and world-renowned scenario planner Peter Schwartz wanted to change the arrangements for his return flight. He tried to do it through the Singapore Airlines app, but that didn’t work for him. So, he turned to the airline’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital agent.
-
1 month ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
In international relations, there is a strategic concept called the “madman theory”. It refers to a leader deliberately acting irrationally and unpredictably to gain leverage in negotiations. The idea is to threaten reckless and extreme measures to force concessions from adversaries.
-
1 month ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
UPDATED May 23, 2025, 05:00 AM
-
1 month ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
So far, most discussions on trade have been focused on trade in goods. Surprisingly little has been said about services, which are not only often closely linked with goods but are also more important for many countries, including Singapore.
-
1 month ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
The Trump administration has pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement on climate change for the second time. It has also withdrawn from the climate loss and damage fund, which is aimed at helping developing countries with their green transition. At home, it has terminated some US$20 billion (S$26 billion) in climate grants and frozen funding of the Inflation Reduction Act which supports climate-friendly tech and products. It is rewriting regulations to favour the fossil fuels industry.
-
2 months ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
Tariffs can no longer be the centrepiece of the US strategy to bring manufacturing back home as the Trump administration imagined until recently, says the writer.PHOTO: AFPPUBLISHED Apr 29, 2025, 05:00 AMAfter all the high drama and bluster on trade during US President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, US tariffs are headed down.
-
2 months ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
Responding to the policy-driven market chaos in the United States, many analysts have, in recent days, been focusing on the fate of the US dollar. The behaviour of the world’s most important currency has, of late, been wayward. To recap some recent history: During the first week of April, soon after US President Donald Trump announced his so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on the world, equity markets fell.
-
2 months ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
Last week, the threat of a US Treasury bond market blow-up forced US President Donald Trump to “pause” many of his misnamed “reciprocal tariffs” except the 10 per cent baseline duties on all countries. But after a series of tit-for-tat hikes, US tariffs on China have soared to 145 per cent, while China’s retaliatory tariffs on the US stand at 125 per cent.
-
2 months ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
Amid the turmoil of the global trade war, there will one small mercy for Singapore consumers: bargain prices because of massive trade diversion from foreign exporters. But the upside may not last. A likely growth slowdown, maybe even a recession later in the year, could take its toll on job and wage prospects. Lower prices will result from several exporters, especially in the region, flooding markets with goods hit by US tariffs.
-
2 months ago | 
straitstimes.com | Vikram khanna
By executive order, US President Donald Trump unleashed a wave of so-called reciprocal tariffs, which left no country unscathed. PHOTO: EPA-EFEApril 2 was heralded as “Liberation Day” for the US economy by President Donald Trump. Whether that turns out to be the case remains to be seen. But for the rest of the world, it was “tariff bombshell day” – the biggest salvo so far in the trade war.
