Speak carefully

Just what are sell-side economists supposed to do? The story of Andy Xie’s departure from Morgan Stanley provides one answer - not to insult the clients. Singapore might well choose to boycott a bank whose Asian economist believes that the city-state’s prosperity «came mostly from being the money laundering centre for corrupt Indonesian businessmen and government officials». Or that the decision to allow casinos is an effort to «attract corrupt money from China». That was what Xie said in a leak...