A very informative 8-minute interview with Jordan Rochester, head of FICC Strategy EMEA at Mizuho about the impact of recent political development in Japan and France on their respective markets. Given that we have already covered France and are currently covering Japan, this episode seems particularly relevant.
The interview is between the timestamps 8:30 and 16:15.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2025-10-06/bloomberg-surveillance-markets-and-politics-podcast
The Value-Added Taxes (VAT) were first introduced in the early 1950s to help countries increase tax revenue. Since then, almost 200 countries worldwide have used this method to strengthen compliance and generate a more reliable revenue stream. However, the benefits for developed and undeveloped nations differ with VAT, and recent studies show a reassessment is critical. In undeveloped nations with rich resources, it has not been beneficial, as governments have had significant fiscal shortfalls and lost tariff revenues. This framework has caused a "resource curse" in that theory; the cost of extraction has decreased, which has then increased the reliance on unprocessed raw material exports; this is not a money-rich industry.
This has led researchers to find that even if a tax system seems to work for one nation, the concept does not work worldwide. The VAT needs to be altered for developing countries that face budget constraints. In 2024, China stopped VAT reimbursements for 2 major raw goods, and while shipping costs rose, it created incentives to process domestically and keep them within China.
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/how-vat-has-failed-developing-economies-by-rabah-arezki-et-al-2025-10
CNBC published an article last month on buy now, pay later loans threatening Banks. Buy now, pay later loans can be found in apps such as Klarna or Afterpay. According to eMarketer, over 85 million Americans used Buy Now, Pay Later in 2024. When someone uses Buy now, Pay Later, which allows consumers to pay in installments at no interest rate, it's a purchase that could have gone to a credit card lender or bank.
