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The lawmakers are co-sponsors of the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act. That's why we've joined forces to jumpstart a national project to restore American manufacturing leadership. This committee would be charged with developing a National Development Strategy, recommending investments to improve national security, strengthen domestic manufacturing, create good-paying jobs and develop new technologies. Second, our proposal — the National Development Strategy and Coordination Act — would give this committee the authority to direct the Department of Treasury's Federal Financing Bank to achieve its goals. This would bring overdue strategic coordination to our federal loan system and inject much-needed long-term capital into critical industries.

Underlining the bleak return prospects at home, hedge funds with Greater China strategies have lost 12.9% for the year to end-November - on track for their worst year since 2011, according to Eurekahedge data. Rich Chinese are also fretting about Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" drive to reduce income inequality, asset managers said, adding that they are looking at overseas private equity and property investment opportunities in countries like the United States and Japan. Although investing outside of mainland China is not a new development, a significant chunk of that wealth has usually been invested in Chinese assets such as Chinese securities listed in the offshore markets. The Boston-based asset manager has been receiving many queries from Greater China family offices to learn about U.S. economic policies and investment rules, he said. The U.S. consulate told Reuters that it frequently explains investment and economic trends in the United States to a wide variety of audiences.

☆ China steps up support for private sector to boost Covid-hit economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —Beijing has vowed to go all out next year to save its Covid-hit economy by boosting consumption and loosening control over private industry, including the struggling tech and property sectors. Covid infections are surging in China after leaders unexpectedly eased its restrictive Covid policy earlier this month. Stabilizing economic growth is the top priority for 2023, according to an official readout following the conclusion of the Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC), a key annual meeting of top leaders, which ended Friday. “We need to encourage and support the private sector economy and private enterprise in terms of policy and public opinion,” the statement said. A shopping mall is decorated with rabbit stickers to welcome the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit, on December 10, 2022 in Beijing, China.

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., December 16, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzWASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden met Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso on Monday to discuss efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the United States as the White House faces increased pressure over its immigration policies. Together we've made historic strides on migration," Biden told reporters. "We have talked about migration and migration as a consequence of the economic problems of many countries in Latin America. Lasso visited the White House after former U.S.

☆ ‘Adam Smith’s America’ Review: Wealth of a Nation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Barton Swaim | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Admirers of Adam Smith may be surprised to learn that there is an entire academic industry dedicated to the proposition that the great Scottish economist was not a proponent of free-market capitalism. Scholarly articles on Smith and the economic ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment frequently contain lengthy explanations of how he really didn’t promote amoral capitalism and unfettered markets but believed rather in a virtuous society that placed moral concerns above the market. Academic debates aside, the basic point about Smith’s economic views isn’t in doubt. They recruited Smith, in other words, to make the case against central planning and high taxation. His metaphor of an invisible hand, in their view—the self-interested merchant going about his business is “led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention”—exploded the fantasy that faraway planners were best equipped to create widespread prosperity.

☆ China's economy picking up but "arduous efforts" needed to sustain momentum - state planner
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Dec 16 (Reuters) - China's economy is expected to pick up, but "arduous efforts" are needed to sustain the recovery in growth due to an adverse external environment and the global economy's loss of momentum, the country's top state planner said on Friday. "At the same time, we are aware that the economy is facing a more complex and severe external environment, and weakened growth momentum for the global economy," the spokesperson said. As investment in the property sector slumped significantly, the NDRC said the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors shored up fixed asset investment growth with their capital formation accounting for 26.7% of China's economic growth in the first three quarters. As the Lunar New Year holiday season approaches, the state planner vowed to release state pork reserves in a timely manner in order to keep prices stable. To spur a COVID-hit economy, China has set out plans to expand domestic consumption and investment, state media reported on Wednesday.

☆ Biden says he’ll travel to Africa soon as he announces billions in new commitments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“I’m eager to visit your continent,” Biden said to the nearly 50 leaders attending the conference. “The United States is all in on Africa and all in with Africa,” Biden said Thursday. He said “African voices, African leadership, African innovation” were all necessary to addressing a host of global challenges. It’s not the first time African leaders have heard a similar message from an American president. China has worked to grow trade relations with African nations and has developed major infrastructure projects there.

☆ Spanish prisoners craft Christmas 'pooper' figures of world leaders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FIGUERES, Spain, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Inmates at a prison north of Barcelona have produced thousands of clay figurines of world leaders and celebrities with their pants down and defecating, in keeping with a tradition from the north eastern Catalonia region of Spain. [1/7] Catalan traditional figurines "caganers" representing Putin and Zelenski are displayed in a shop, which symbolise defecation and fertilisation of the earth, and are believed to bring prosperity and luck for the coming year, in a shop in Barcelona, Spain, December 14, 2022. REUTERS/ Albert Gea 1 2 3 4 5Originally the "caganer" (pooper) figures were shepherds hidden among nativity scenes, to be spotted by family and friends, but the tradition has expanded to include famous figures in the headlines over the past year. The Puig les Basses prison taught inmates how to make the statuettes in collaboration with a private family business, Caganer.com, which this year added Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to its collection of more than 600 models, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, the late Queen Elizabeth II and her son and successor King Charles III. Reporting by Horaci Garcia; writing by Charlie Devereux; editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden welcomes African leaders for summit as China and Russia expand influence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —President Joe Biden welcomes nearly 50 leaders from Africa on Wednesday for a summit intended to reset Washington’s commitment to a region where China and Russia are also working to expand their influence. Four nations’ leaders were excluded from the summit invite list following recent coups. It’s not the first time African leaders have heard a similar message from an American president. President Barack Obama held his own US-Africa Leaders Summit in 2014, complete with gala dinner under a tent on the White House South Lawn. China has worked to grow trade relations with African nations and has developed major infrastructure projects there.

☆ North Korea Wants Dollars. It’s a Sign of Trouble.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Choe Sang-Hun | Pablo Robles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +18 min

Media Korean Studies 2016 2008 New Finished New buildings Repainted TAEDONG RIVER TAEDONG RIVER Pyongyang in 2008. Media Korean Studies 2008 2016 New Finished New buildings Repainted TAEDONG RIVER TAEDONG RIVER Pyongyang in 2008. Under Mr. Kim, North Korea has opened a new terminal at the city’s international airport, renovated subway stations and opened new amusement parks. Missile tests this year alone cost North Korea hundreds of millions of dollars, according to estimates by South Korean and American researchers. An array of cell phones, assembled in North Korea with components imported from China, is on sale and advertised on state TV.

HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The pandemic has helped Chinese authorities to keep a lot of money at home. With expectations rising for a full reopening of the country, including its international borders, capital outflows could be Beijing’s next headache. The People’s Republic supposedly has strict controls with cross-border cash transfers for citizens capped at $50,000 per year. Even so, jet-setting travellers splurged $255 billion abroad in 2019, boosting hotel revenue in Thailand and designer handbag sales in Paris. With pent up demand for spending overseas likely to be high, China might be tempted to look for benefits from keeping its borders shut.

His centre-left Social Democrats, the Greens and liberal Free Democrats, have had to wrangle to reach compromises, sometimes delaying decisions. Some European allies say the focus on domestic challenges and internal politicking have distracted Berlin from regional cooperation and especially the key German-French motor that traditionally drives the European Union. Relief measures worth hundreds of billions of euros have helped Scholz's coalition stave off serious social unrest due to soaring energy prices in the wake of the Ukraine war, but recent polls suggest it has lost its majority. MIXED MESSAGESTo be sure, Germany's allies have welcomed the Zeitenwende after years of warning the country of complacency on security. The government may for example not reach the NATO spending goal until 2025, a spokesman said this week.

☆ Israel's next finance minister brings religion to the front of economic strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Israel's incoming finance minister has said his economic strategy will be infused with religious beliefs laid out in the Torah, predicting that this would help the country prosper. Bezalel Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said that as finance minister he would delve deep into the inner workings of the economy. Smotrich was tapped by prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu to serve as finance minister for two years. At the same time, only about half of ultra-Orthodox men work, according to government data. Israel's central bank has said this is a drain on the economy and has recommended incentives to draw more ultra-Orthodox men into the workforce.

☆ FTSE Russell, Ping An jointly launch China ESG indexes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Global index publisher FTSE Russell and Chinese financial conglomerate Ping An announced a partnership on Thursday to promote sustainable investment, launching a series of China indexes integrating environmental, social and government (ESG) considerations. The FTSE Ping An China ESG Index Series, which combines Ping An's China-specific ESG approach into FTSE Russell's China indexes, shows how Chinese and western institutions can join hands in sustainable investment, despite tensions over sensitive areas such as human rights and Communist Party control. The initial index launch will target onshore investors, but the multi-year partnership aims to ultimately serve international investors as well, said FTSE Russell, a unit of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L). "It's really about leveraging the market-specific insights" that Ping An brings, said Helena Fung, Head of Sustainable Investment, APAC at FTSE Russell. In China, however, internet censorship is not factored into ESG considerations by domestic institutions.

☆ Friendshoring makes sense if done in the right way
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

These examples explain the enthusiasm for “friendshoring”, an idea U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is pushing. First, it could provoke an all-out trade war – causing the kinds of disruptions that friendshoring is intended to prevent. Things would be different if China was the West’s implacable enemy in the way that Putin’s Russia is. Using friendshoring in a defensive rather than aggressive way means focusing on strategic products. While it makes sense to cut its dependency on China, that doesn’t mean going all the way to zero.

☆ How Elon Musk Could Use Money From Tesla to Prop up Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Vicki Bryan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Whatever you might think of Twitter, it's hard to watch Elon Musk clumsily flay it alive to "save it." But siphoning cash from Tesla, Musk's only profitable company, just as serious competition is toppling its dominance, should concern Tesla's investors. And given his obsession with Twitter, they may well ask: How far will Elon go to save Twitter at Tesla's expense? How Musk could use Tesla to try and save TwitterMusk cobbled together his Twitter funding primarily by selling off a major chunk of his stock in Tesla and taking out huge loans. Saving Twitter won't kill Tesla anytime soon, and Twitter might not survive unless it does, but Musk is draining Tesla's capacity to weather what could be its toughest challenges ahead.

☆ Elon Musk gambled big on Twitter. Tesla is going to pay the price.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Vicki Bryan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Whatever you might think of Twitter, it's hard to watch Elon Musk clumsily flay it alive to "save it." Having observed Musk in action for years there is one troubling option I suspect he may pursue: raid Tesla. But siphoning cash from Tesla, Musk's only profitable company, just as serious competition is toppling its dominance, should concern Tesla's investors. And given his obsession with Twitter, they may well ask: How far will Elon go to save Twitter at Tesla's expense? Tesla's stock is down more than 50% this year — evaporating nearly $700 billion in market-cap value since its peak in late 2021.

☆ Pope: migrant deaths 'unacceptable and almost always avoidable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Migrant deaths in the Mediterranean are "unacceptable and almost always avoidable," Pope Francis said on Friday, renewing a call for policymakers across the region to address the issue in a manner "beneficial to all." "The inability to find common solutions [on migration] continues to lead to an unacceptable and almost always avoidable loss of lives, especially in the Mediterranean," Francis said in a message to Rome Med 2022, a foreign policy conference. Insisting that migration towards Europe "cannot be stopped", he urged all parties involved to find a solution that can be "beneficial to all, guaranteeing both human dignity and shared prosperity." According to data from the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, around 136,500 migrants have reached Europe via Mediterranean sea crossings this year, and more than 1,800 have died or gone missing. Reporting by Alvise Armellini Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China accuses UK lawmakers of "gross interference" over Taiwan visit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Kylie Maclellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - China on Thursday accused a committee of British lawmakers visiting Taiwan of "gross interference" in China's internal affairs and threatened a forceful response to anything that undermines Chinese interests. The Chinese embassy in Britain issued a statement responding to the ongoing visit to Taiwan by British parliament's Foreign Affairs committee, calling it a "flagrant violation" of the one-China principle. China claims the self-ruled, democratic island of Taiwan as its own territory, part of its "one China" policy. "Moves of the UK side that undermine China's interests will be met with forceful responses from the Chinese side." The spokesperson said the visit sent the wrong signal to those who want Taiwan to be independent.

☆ Analysis: As economy stutters, China's youth seek safety of civil service
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The wishes of Lau's parents that she had a "safe" civil service career suddenly made more sense. Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, says the preference for civil servant jobs has surged. On social media, young Chinese refer to the civil service as "the end of the universe," meaning the safest place around in such an environment. "Being a civil servant gives you a lot of stability," she said. “The present state of the job market has definitely increased my desire to become a civil servant," she said.

☆ The bubble in predicting the end of the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Edward Chancellor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers says the world faces the “most complex, disparate and cross-cutting set of challenges” he’s ever encountered. In his wittily titled “The End of the World is Just the Beginning”, the geopolitical strategist suggests that a number of countries from Germany to China face insuperable demographic challenges. The threat to America’s global hegemony from China is the subject of Ray Dalio’s “The Changing World Order”. The U.S. stock market bubble has only partially deflated, bond yields around the world trail below inflation, and global property markets are exposed to rising interest rates. The Assyrian who forecast the world would end in 2800 BC was wrong.

Latino voters are expected to be consequential in determining who Georgia will send to the Senate. Latino voters provided a roughly 80,000-vote net advantage for Warnock on Election Day, according to Barreto. On the GOP side, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is trying to give Walker an edge with Latino voters through its Operación ¡Vamos! Canvassers from GALEO, a Latino nonprofit, knock on doors in Georgia ahead of the Senate runoff election on Tuesday. Ahead of the Senate runoff election, Voto Latino identified 175,000 Latinos in Georgia who are young, low-propensity voters who participated in the last election.

☆ Covid protests escalate in Guangzhou as China lockdown anger boils
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

TwitterSocial media posts said the clashes took place on Tuesday night and were caused by a dispute over lockdown curbs. China Dissent Monitor, run by U.S. government-funded Freedom House, estimated at least 27 demonstrations took place across China from Saturday to Monday. In Zhengzhou, the site of a big Foxconn factory making Apple iPhones that has been the scene of worker unrest over Covid, officials announced the “orderly” resumption of businesses, including supermarkets, gyms and restaurants. Data on Wednesday showed China’s manufacturing and services activity for November posting the lowest readings since Shanghai’s two-month lockdown began in April. Chinese stocks were steady, with markets weighing endemic economic weakness against hopes that the public pressure could push China to eventually reopen.

☆ U.S.-Backed Researchers Use AI to Probe for Weaknesses in Drug Supply Chains
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has approved research that will use artificial intelligence to delve into drug supply chains and probe for weaknesses, including foreign influence. Any overreliance on foreign inputs in drug supply chains could leave the U.S. open to dire shortages in the event of conflict or natural catastrophe. PREVIEWThe DHS-backed dive into drug supply chains will examine to what extent the supply of drugs might be susceptible to disruption. The new DHS-backed study will try to map out supply chains several layers deep, and potentially uncover previously hidden issues, Mr. Tuchman said. Consultant Steven Lynn says the pandemic opened people’s eyes to issues inherent in far-flung pharmaceutical supply chains.

☆ Jiang Zemin made China richer and more unequal
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jiang Zemin, who died on Wednesday, catapulted China into the modern world. And his death comes at an inconvenient time for the current president, Xi Jinping. Chosen as party chief weeks before the violent 1989 suppression of Tiananmen Square protesters who demanded economic and political reforms, Jiang inherited a system riven by infighting. While numbers can deceive in a state-led economy like China’s, Jiang still notched up some encouraging stats. Follow @johnsfoley on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSJiang Zemin, the former president of China, died on Nov. 30.

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