china

China Is Moving in the Right Direction on Tariffs

"While U.S. trade policy under the Trump administration has become a confusing mix of bluster, posturing, threats, and uncertainty, China has gone in the other direction, at least incrementally by lowering some of its tariffs unilaterally. On November 24, China’s Ministry of Finance announced that it would cut tariffs on 187 consumer products. The lower duty rate took effect on December 1, so Chinese consumers are now benefitting from more competition and lower prices. This is the fourth tariff cut since 2015."

Continue ReadingChina Is Moving in the Right Direction on Tariffs

Alfred McCoy: The Future of the American Empire

"Alfred McCoy was a young rebel academic who waded into the war zone in Southeast Asia to investigate the relationship between the CIA, crime syndicates, and local drug lords. The result, which the Agency tried unsuccessfully to suppress, was his classic The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. In the 45 years since, McCoy has consistently probed the underside of American global power, analyzing how the United States uses covert interventions, local proxies, torture, and worldwide surveillance to maintain its global empire."

Continue ReadingAlfred McCoy: The Future of the American Empire

James Corbett: The Saudi Purge is a Global Crisis

"The House of Saud is in crisis as MBS consolidates his hold on the kingdom and prepares to transform Saudi Arabia in his image. But what is behind the purge, and how does it relate to the future of the world monetary system. Join James for a classic Corbett Report debriefing on the Saudi purge and the rise of the petroyuan."

Continue ReadingJames Corbett: The Saudi Purge is a Global Crisis

China’s Record Yield Curve Inversion “Spells Disaster”

"The Chinese yield curve has now been inverted for 10 straight days - the longest period of inversion ever. Qin Han, chief fixed-income analyst at Guotai Junan Securities Co., doesn’t mince his words when it comes to the rout in Chinese bonds. 'Considering the pace of the slump, which is very fast, it’s fair to say we are likely in a bond disaster...'"

Continue ReadingChina’s Record Yield Curve Inversion “Spells Disaster”

Some startups find the American dream in China

"Wang is part of a group of Chinese nationals known as haigui or sea turtles, who return to the country after gaining knowledge and skills abroad. Last year, 432,500 Chinese who studied abroad returned to China, an increase of 58 percent compared with 2012, according to the country’s Ministry of Education. The boomerang effect is aided by the strength of China’s economy and the promise of its homegrown tech industry, including social networking giant Tencent, e-commerce firm Alibaba and search engine Baidu. Local governments provide incentives to startups that open offices."

Continue ReadingSome startups find the American dream in China

Baidu AI helps parents find their abducted son 27 years later

"Tens of thousands of kids are abducted in China every year and are either sold to foster parents or to more sinister individuals who'd use them for prostitution or child slavery. Baobeihuijia was created to reunite families torn apart by those abductions. For years, its volunteers would painstakingly compare images uploaded by parents against those uploaded by people looking for their families or by concerned citizens one by one. This March, though, Baidu offered the group its cross-age facial recognition technology, which it's been testing since November last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBaidu AI helps parents find their abducted son 27 years later

The American Dream appears to be more attainable in Mexico and China

"70% of millennials in China and 46% of Mexican millennials own a home versus 35% of young adults in the U.S. Young people in China are benefiting from wage growth that is projected to outpace the rate of home price appreciation set last year. And the U.S. doesn’t just fall behind China — France (41%) also came out ahead. In the United Arab Emirates, only 26% of millennials own a home, and Australia does only slightly better at 28%. (The average millennial U.S. homeownership rate in a separate WalletHub study rested around 40%.)" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe American Dream appears to be more attainable in Mexico and China

Chinese Hotel: 6 Days to Build

"Pay attention to how few workers are visible in any stage of production. There is no way that these techniques will not be adopted all over the world. Nobody is going to give China this kind of competitive edge. These techniques are going to be imitated. It means the end of today’s technology. Today’s technology is labor-intensive. This will not be true by 2030. The next step will be the adoption of these techniques for housing developments. The construction industry will work out the bugs in high-level projects. Then these techniques will be adopted by housing developers as the price of the tools continues to drop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese Hotel: 6 Days to Build