The same, just different

My recent travels to New Zealand & Singapore highlighted more similarities (concerns on geopolitics, inflation) than differences between Asia & Europe

The reduced frequency of these notes over the past few weeks has been due to my being on the road in New Zealand and Singapore, my first trip back since the pandemic.  The long flights provided ample opportunity to reflect on my conversations and observations.  So this note provides my take on some observed similarities and differences between Europe and Asia.

Airports, Covid, & the recovery

One clear difference, evident before departure, was the functioning of airports!  Arriving at Schiphol well before 7am, I encountered snaking queues already forming outside the short-haul terminal.  I was fortunate: it only took a couple of hours to get through.  But the labour market stresses in a strongly rebounding European economy were clear.

In contrast, Singapore’s Changi Airport was its usual paragon of efficiency.  And New Zealand airports were quiet, partly because borders hadn’t yet fully reopened.

The second obvious difference was policy approaches to Covid.  Although infection rates in Si…