Let's face it. There is no dealing with China on an equitable and normative basis. They just don't deal that way. An authoritarian streak is too ingrained in everything they do, and if unchecked, it will be very bad for the world.
2. We must strive to make the world as independent of China as possible. Fair trade with China will only be possible if and when China sees no other way to do business internationally. It will take a lot of hard work to get there.
3. For now, China needs to be squeezed real hard on trade. America can do it, but only if it puts up a unified front.
4. It's not out of the question, because despite the Democratic politicians angling for political advantage, a lot of Democratic establishment backers in the industry know and support a tough stance against China. So it's possible to form a solid political alliance domestically.
5. What would be most effective is to have a unified front along with Europe. It's time to have a heart-to-heart with our European allies. It's time to put our familial gripes on hold and join our economic might to go get China together.
6. Again, it's doable, but can President Trump do it? I know no one on the Democratic slate can. It's asking a lot of Trump to change his stripes. But then again, if he is looking for greatness, this is what he will have to be able to do. Let's hope he rises to the occasion.
7. For starters, President Trump needs to stop jawboning the Fed Chairman, and focus on explaining to America and the world why it is so important to confront China on their unfair trade practices, now.
8. President Trump needs to make not only an economic but a moral case as well. Letting China amass too much economic power through unfair trade is a recipe for disaster for all of humanity.
9. China will not use its emerging economic might to respect and expand liberty. Witness Hong Kong. So far as confronting China is concerned, President Trump must resist the temptation to use America First lingo. This is not only a China vs. U.S.A issue. This is China vs World.
10. Like I said, China trade deall is all but dead. The consequences will linger a long time. Economy will adjust, as it always does. The goal should be to accelerate the transition peacefully, deliberately, thoughtfully, and respectfully, but with determination and resolve.
11. Let the people of good will all over the world join hands to make it happen. Ask the people of good will all over the world, and most of all, ask all our allies to join us in making it happen. Godspeed!
The End
State Pressure Forces China Champion of Pro-Market Policies to Close
Beijing’s Unirule Institute, founded to promote economic liberalization and democracy, set to shut down after a quarter-century, citing government pressure.
Pay heed folks. The below tweet is from a patriot who I believe served our blessed nation in uniform with honor. Now I am going to say something I would never have thought I would say even a few days ago. It's a stream of consciousness thread. Bear with me.
2. Back in early 2016 and for years prior to that, I detested Donald Trump as a rich blowhard who had no relevance to my life. So I ignored him almost entirely. I have never watched a single episode of any of his TV programs and his other exploits were a source of irritation.
3. I only started paying attention to Trump in the second half of 2016 when he became the Republican nominee for president. I had serious reservations about him. But once he got elected, I was compelled to take him seriously. So I reflected diligently on Trump presidency to come.
What do you think the result of the below mentioned survey would be if the question was changed
from:
"Do you think companies should publicly support..."
to:
"Do you think companies should publicly profit from..."? nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-ne…
2. Where public company actions are concerned, there is not a dime's worth of difference between "supporting" and "profiting from." No public company deliberately and willfully takes any action that might hurt their profits.
3. We as a society should of course treat gays with exactly the same respect and dignity and rights and everything else that is accorded to straights. We are all equal.
1. Message for Anyone Bothered By SVB Customers Being Made Whole
Stop with the nonsense. You either don't understand or are scratching a rash you got from somewhere else. It doesn't matter who SVB customers are or what they do. No depositor is ever responsible for a bank failure.
2. Bank failures are always the fault of the bank management and the regulators. And as for the "due diligence," it is fair to expect the bank investors and shareholders to do that and take a bath when they get it wrong. It's not fair to expect bank customers to do that.
3. Expecting depositors to do due diligence on the bank where they deposit their money is like asking every customer who uses electricity to graduate in Electrical Engineering before flipping a power switch to turn on the lights in their home. It is stupid blather.
1. How to Solve a Problem Like SVB
Having delineated in the enclosed thread how we got here, this thread addresses where we go from here. The SVB problem by itself is not that hard to solve, but it is possible politicians (of both parties) will plunge the nation into crisis.
2. First and foremost, let me dispense with the buzz on Twitter created by @elonmusk with his enclosed tweet. This ain't gonna happen. So please stop wasting time reading myriads of columns that have sprung up from this font. Musk is just having fun.
3. JP Morgan Chase would be a natural buyer but government screwed Jamie Dimon badly in 2008 after he came through and bought Washington Mutual at government’s urging. WaMu was the largest bank failure in U.S. history, SVB being the second largest.
There was plenty of mismanagement at SVB, but first and foremost I want to reassure my followers (maybe the events that unfold next week will make a liar out of me, so take everything I say as unauthoritative stream of consciousness).
2. The main thrust of this thread is to point out why the SVB blowout is nothing like the root cause of 2008 financial crisis, and people shouldn't jump to those kind of fears or conclusions. This is very different. Things like this have happened before but ~50 years ago, not 15.
3. 2008 financial crisis was brought on by banks making too many bad loans that were prone to risk of default. SVB was brought down by not making enough loans, but investing the deposited funds heavily in safe bonds which were nonetheless exposed to interest rate risk.