Category Archives: China

Obama Bribes Abe to Support the TPP by Unleashing Japanese Military

Obama’s bribe to Abe, of a more muscular Japanese military, has won him over but won’t play as well in Japan and will go down worse in China.

Wolf Richter: Australia Runs out of Luck, Now Needs a Miracle

By Lindsay David, Australia, author of Print: The Central Bankers Bubble, founder of LF Economics. Originally published at Wolf Street. Australia, you have officially run out of luck. While leveraged property investors in Sydney and Melbourne are desperately hunting for a senseless “net-yield” that makes the yield on a German 2-year bund look rewarding, the […]

Michael Pettis: Will China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Eventually Matter?

The financial media has attributed considerable importance to the fact that many of America’s close allies, including the UK, Australia, and Israel, have joined China’s new infrastructure bank against the clearly-stated desires of the US. While these moves seem to signal America’s declining influence, it does not necessarily follow that the infrastructure bank is destined to become a major international institution any time soon.

Michael Pettis deflates some of the hype surrounding this initiative, arguing that it is less significant from a geopolitical and practical perspective than virtually all commentators assume. China is simply not about to become the issuer of the reserve currency any time soon, and that limits how much financial clout it will have.

Pessimistic Views of China’s Economy are Unconvincing

China’s economy has surpassed our expectations, but still has large development space.

China’s Military and Growing Political Power

China has the potential to challenge the US on a military basis at a lower relative cost than many defense analysts assume.

The Coming China Crisis

A high private debt to GDP ratio is a strong indicator of a coming financial crisis. China is well into the danger zone.

Michael Hudson: Europe Tilts East Towards China

The sudden rush of countries joining China’s infrastructure bank, including supposed US allies like the UK, Germany, and France, demonstrates the desire of not just emerging but also advanced economies to have access to international institutions that are not dominated by the US. Whether the infrastructure bank actually winds up being better, as opposed to simply different than existing institutions remains to be seen. But as Hudson describes, the World Bank sets a low bar.

Major American Allies Ignore U.S. Pleas and Join China’s Development Bank

China’s development bank is a salvo at America’s dollar-driven financial hegemony. The US has good reason to worry about its apparent appeal.

Impotent Western Sanctions Fail To Disrupt Russian Energy Exports

Who has won and lost from the Western sanctions against Russia?

Pepe Escobar: New Silk Roads and the Chinese Vision of a Brave New (Trade) World

As much as sightings from on the ground are critical to countering perceptions of China from afar, my experience with Japan leads me to take them with a grain of salt. Japan was seen as similarly insurmountable in the 1980s and it looked as impressive close up as it did from a distance.

Is All Growth Good? The Case of China

Growth versus “groaf” had become a favorite topic of the NC commentariat. This article sets forth some of the ways for differentiating between them, using China as an example.

How the Scammers Behind Virgin Gold Mining Corporation Bit Off More Than They Could Chew (IV)

The last piece in our series on Virgin Gold Mining Corporation, for the moment

Bracing for Another Storm in Emerging Markets

This post dovetails with the Michael Pettis article today. Hot money is the bane of emerging markets, but the opposition to regulating capital flows remains fierce.

How the Scammers Behind Virgin Gold Mining Corporation Bit Off More Than They Could Chew (II)

More shenanigans from Virgin Gold Mining Corporation and its little helpers.

How the Scammers Behind Virgin Gold Mining Corporation Bit Off More Than They Could Chew (I)

First in a series of posts exploring Virgin Gold, an immense ($2Bn?) pyramid scheme with a messy aftermath