Wall Street Journal (February 17)
“The new plan for western companies is ABC: ‘Anything But China.’” Many multinationals had previously tried to correct their overreliance on Chinese suppliers through a “‘China Plus 1’ strategy of augmenting China-based suppliers with those in other countries.” Rising tensions between the U.S. and China are now prompting many tech businesses to instead adopt the ABC strategy. They are “accelerating moves to shift production out of China and look for suppliers elsewhere, signifying a global tech world that is increasingly bifurcated between the two powers.”
Tags: ‘Anything But China, ABC strategy, Bifurcated, China Plus 1, Companies, Multinationals, Overreliance, Production, Suppliers, Tech, Tensions, U.S., Western
Washington Post (March 21)
“The aim of setting the cap on Russian crude at $60, roughly 20 percent below the main international benchmark price, was to whittle away at Russia’s cash hoard while still providing it with sufficient incentive to maintain exports and keep global oil markets stable. It is now time to lower the Western cap further, in increments, to $40 per barrel or less.”
Tags: $40, $60, Aim, Barrel, Benchmark, Cap, Crude, Exports, Incentive, Oil markets, Russia, Stable, Sufficient, Western
New York Times (March 9)
“A week after a chorus of Western executives from Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell and other companies… pledged to pull their companies out of Russian ventures, it appears the turbulence for Russia’s energy industry has only begun.” The industry now looks poised to undergo a “wrenching reworking…. because Russian oil and gas have suddenly become toxic to many buyers.”
Tags: BP, Energy, Exxon Mobil, Gas, Oil, Pledged, Reworking, Russia, Shell, Toxic, Turbulence, Ventures, Western, Wrenching
Reuters (March 23)
“China is consciously uncoupling from Western peers on rates. Its central bank has held lending benchmarks steady as global peers slash…. The People’s Bank of China’s relative immobility has surprised many economists…. The spread between 10-year Chinese government bonds and U.S. Treasuries is nearly two percentage points, its widest since 2015.”
Tags: Benchmarks, Central bank, China, Economists, PBOC, Rates, Spread, Steady, U.S., Uncoupling, Western
The Economist (September 19)
“Corporate profits more than tripled in 1980-2013, rising from 7.6% of global GDP to 10%, of which Western companies captured more than two-thirds. The after-tax profits of American firms are at their highest level as a share of national income since 1929.” Yet a recent study suggests “the golden age of the Western corporation may be coming to an end.” The McKinsey Global Institute projects “that corporate profits may fall from 10% of global GDP to about 8% in a decade’s time.”
Washington Post (March 22)
Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew “was the democratic world’s favorite dictator.” Despite his virtues, he was “demonstrably unwise about democracy in Asia. While he was touting supposedly unique Asian values incompatible with liberal Western norms, Taiwan, South Korea and Indonesia became robust democracies and prospered economically.”
Tags: Asia, Democracy, Dictator, Indonesia, Lee Kuan Yew, Prospered, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Values, Virtues, Western
