Category: China
Material wealth: give nothing away Tomorrow’s world will be digital, that’s for sure. But not before it has been regulated, organised and controlled. As things stand today, there are too many dangers hanging over this ecosystem – soon to materialise, as we see in this issue – for us to entrust our goods and wealth […]
As the media heralds the Democrat candidate’s victory, the western world is living through another of the great illusions that we described last month: under Biden, America is back on top and the world has been saved! And the good news keeps on coming, what with the discovery of a miracle vaccine that the American […]
Remember! Back in 2017 we anticipated that Saudi Arabia would soon be selling its oil in yuan? This was a highly provocative hypothesis at the time, since the country was then one of the two pillars of the petrodollar system.[1] Two years later, it became clear that export flows of Saudi oil were making a […]
Popular protests are growing and multiplying: from Arab spring, Occupy Wall Street, Indignados, Maidan, populist votes, to the yellow vests, Iraq, Algeria, demonstrations against global warming, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia… The streets are on fire, the markets are faltering and the only explanations being given are poverty, increasing disparity, taxes – “the […]
Between a USD-pegged currency (the HKD) and the reaffirmation of its Chinese nature after its handover in 1997, Hong Kong lies right at the heart of the famous trade war between the United States and China. This context largely explains the island’s economic difficulties, creating the conditions for the well-known troubles. A longer-term perspective also […]
European Tourism 2020-2030: The improbable alliance between tourism and protectionism Contrary to the feverish dreams of officials in Brussels and our capitals, fuelled by the prospect of an exponential growth in the global flow of tourists, the EU will soon cease to be the world’s main tourist destination. We anticipate that, in 2025, Europe will […]
Uncovering false evidence is one of the missions of the GEAB team. At a time when the European Elections campaign is slowly starting to take off, bringing the migration issue in the forefront, it seems appropriate to take a more detached look at this subject. No, migration flows from Africa to Europe are not expected […]
If we first look at the number of driving forces, there are a large number, and although some are well known and clear, others are more obscure and less well understood: Society: growing real and perceived inequality It seems that in most countries, the gap between extremely rich and poor has been growing in the […]
The latent financial crisis, the invention of a new world monetary system, the world being shared between China and the United States, American military withdrawal, European disintegration, civil wars and border tensions, the reorganisation of the world map; we don’t know where to look first in the gigantic global reshuffle that is underway. The common […]
On February 15 we drew a parallel between the US-Chinese “trade” negotiations and the historic treaties on world-sharing, such as Tordesillas or Yalta, ideas which now seem to interest some other analysts (The Conversation, February 27, 2019). Here is what we mentioned on this topic in our last GEAB bulletin: ‘Of course, there is also […]
A symptom of the complete opening up of the market by the Commission that poses a threat to European food security is the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign investors, particularly Chinese investors. Indeed, the investments of the Middle Kingdom in foreign agricultural lands have jumped up in recent years. They totalled at least $94 […]
As we all know, Donald Trump kicked off the reinvention of trade relationships by imposing customs barriers on steel and aluminium. In addition to the duty of protecting this industry and the jobs connected with it, he was motivated by the strategic nature of this sector which is intrinsically linked to the army. Economy, employment, […]
The ‘yellow vests’ (FR),[1] the pro- and anti-Brexit protests (UK),[2] the German political crisis (DE),[3] the Catalan independence movement (SP),[4] the budget battle (IT),[5] the labour law reform (HU),[6] the Marrakesh agreement and ministerial reshuffle (BE)[7]… the European element in the increasingly violent crises currently feeding the national news is striking. Disclaimer: We recommend that […]
China’s decision to introduce in 2018 the gold-convertible petro-gazo-Yuan currency is an important step in the process of internationalisation of the Yuan. It confirms the will of Beijing (asserted for a decade already) to impose the Renminbi (official name of the Chinese currency) as new global reference currency. In October 2016 the IMF decided to […]
As we all know, Donald Trump kicked off the reinvention of trade relationships by imposing customs barriers on steel and aluminium. In addition to the duty of protecting this industry and the jobs connected with it, he was motivated by the strategic nature of this sector which is intrinsically linked to the army. Economy, employment, […]
Europe’s out-of-time love for low-cost air carriers Europe is in love with low-cost air transport. Over the past few years the low-budget end of air transport has boomed, globally and in Europe alike. The sector grows as fast as few others. More people than ever choose air transport over railways, despite the fact, that Europe […]
The world’s biggest oil importer, China is preparing to launch gold-backed Yuan-denominated oil futures, possibly creating the most important Asian benchmark in the oil sector, allowing oil exporters to switch from US dollar-denominated assets by transactions in Yuan[1]. To make the Yuan-denominated contracts more attractive, China plans to have the Yuan fully convertible into gold […]
End 2017/early 2018, all major Western Central Banks will be putting a final stop to the 2008 crisis-related unconventional monetary policies, namely the famous quantitative easing policies (QEs) which enabled to provide liquidity to those banks which saw their mutual confidence for borrowing collapse in the aftermath of the subprime crisis. Fiscal QE in rich […]