The Economist (May 21)
“China’s leaders are trying to fix a problem that has dogged the country for decades: how to spread wealth more evenly.” So far the problem is intractable. Per capita GDP throughout the bulk of China (the west and north-east) “is 70,870 yuan ($9,800) and 60,400 yuan, respectively. Along the coast it is 124,800 yuan. China’s richest provincial-level unit, Beijing, is four times wealthier than its poorest, Gansu (see map). And the richest areas are pulling further ahead.”
Tags: Beijing, China, Coast, Disparity, GDP, Intractable, Leaders, Poorest, Problem, Richest, Wealth, Wealthier
Wall Street Journal (May 11)
“In the midst of what many expect to be the most toxic presidential campaign in modern history, American businesses are going to extraordinary lengths to stay off the political radar.” In 2020, business leaders felt “they couldn’t afford to stay silent on social and political issues. In 2024, many hope to take a quieter approach.”
Tags: 2020, 2024, Afford, Businesses, Leaders, Political issues, Political radar, Presidential campaign, Quieter, Silent, Social, Toxic, U.S.
New York Times (April 17)
“If one country defaults on its loans, it’s a big problem for its citizens. If a dozen countries default, it’s a big problem for the world.” Nearing the “verge of yet another debt crisis,” world leaders can still act to prevent it. “They should dust off the tool kit that helped end the Latin American debt crisis, especially the measures that convinced creditors to share the pain and accept less than what they were owed.”
Tags: Citizens, Creditors, Debt crisis, Defaults, Latin American, Leaders, Loans, Owed, Pain, Prevent, Tool kit, Verge
Washington Post (March 9)
European leaders may “attest to a continent fully awakened to the reality of the war. But the truth is that Europe has not taken its defense seriously before now, and it cannot be strategically ‘autonomous’ until it does.” Home to 450 million people with a $17 trillion GDP, defense spending in excess of $200 billion annually, the EU needs to get its act together. “A strong, autonomous Europe benefits the United States as much as it does Europe itself: Partners working in tandem present a more formidable front against any military threat.”
Tags: $17 trillion, Autonomous, Awakened, Defense, Europe, GDP, Leaders, Partners, Reality, Spending, Strategic, U.S., War
Washington Post (March 4)
“Cities across the nation face a dilemma: Downtown office buildings are empty as workers prefer to stay home.” Office-to-apartment conversion is an essential “part of the solution,” but “city leaders aren’t doing enough…. The longer cities wait to get conversions underway, the more tax values drop and crime goes up, and the more people see no value in living in the heart of the city — or even visiting.”
Tags: Apartment, Cities, Conversion, Dilemma, Downtown, Empty, Home, Leaders, Office buildings, Solution, Tax values, Workers
Foreign Policy (November 28)
After engineering “changes in China’s leadership succession rules so that he can preside over his country for life,” Xi is now confronting “a crisis that may come to be seen as an ideal test of the middle-income trap theory.” Deep down, Xi probably realizes “that at some point China’s political system will have to adapt for the country to continue to modernize” and avoid this trap. But for Xi, much like other “leaders who concentrate immense power in their own hands,” the problem is that “no moment ever quite looks like a good one to make serious, substantive change.”
Tags: Adapt, China, Concentrate, Crisis, Leaders, Leadership, Middle-income trap, Modernize, Political system, Power, Rules, Substantive change, Succession, Test, Xi
Washington Post (November 17)
“Republican officials seem to be hoping that their voters will do their dirty work for them and deliver them from Trump — reversing the usual roles of leaders and followers. But it won’t work. The party must put an end to its moral cowardice and finally and frontally confront the cancer within.” These officials must “explain to their voters that Trump is a demagogue who tried to undermine American democracy.”
Tags: Confront, Demagogue, Democracy, Dirty work, Followers, Leaders, Moral cowardice, Officials, Party, Republican, Trump, U.S., Undermine, Voters
The Economist (October 13)
“The Communist Party has always been obsessed with control. But under President Xi Jinping that obsession has deepened. After three decades of opening and reform under previous leaders, China has in many ways become more closed and autocratic under Mr Xi.” The obsessive control is, however, weakening China.
Tags: Autocratic, China, Communist party, Control, Leaders, Obsessed, Opening, Reform, Xi
Los Angeles Times (November 13)
“The key aim of COP26 was to ‘keep 1.5C alive.’ Despite pessimism among many heading into Glasgow, there is still reason to believe that’s possible. But only if the hard work begins now. We need to hold leaders accountable for their pledges and see to it that plans are carried out. Our future depends on it.”
Institutional Investor (September 9)
“The pandemic has made Europe’s top executives smarter… and humbler. From supply-chain issues to unforeseen social and cultural hurdles, business leaders in Europe and around the world have learned hard and valuable lessons over the last two years.”
Tags: Business, Cultural, Europe, Humbler, Hurdles, Leaders, Pandemic, Smarter, Social, Supply chain, Unforeseen
