China’ s rapid economic convergence is well-documented but a similar catch-up on innovation has often gone unnoticed. “This is partly because of China’s developing-country status, which is not usually associated with where cutting-edge technology is developed”, explain economists at AXA IM.
The new type of labour relations explains the the current high rate of part-time, temporary and self-employed workers (19.4%, 12.2% and 13.7%, respectively, in 2017). “Most of our parents and grandparents spent their whole lives working at the same company where they began their career –something which is unthinkable for young people joining the labour market today”, says analysts from CaixaBank Research.
Global GDP could contract given that reduced production translates into reduced demand for non commercial goods – for example US services which are not exported – which impacts in a contraction of demand. Idem in the other countries. In other words, the decline will be in global demand, not just in comercial but all.
Intermoney | The unanimous approval by the Senate of a law to reduce or eliminate the tariffs applied to around 1,660 products made outside the US, of which half are made in China, could be the perfect excuse for Trump to return to the charge on trade attacks on Chinese interests. However, as we have insisted over the last few weeks, the key to the summer from a Chinese perspective, could lie more in the yuan than trade issues.
Yu Yongding via Caixin | Has China violated the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the U.S. has said? The most reliable answer should be from the WTO itself. On the 10th anniversary of China’s entry to the organization, former WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said in an interview with the U.S. magazine China Business Review that “China has done really well in terms of implementing its long list of commitments, although no country is above criticism.”
Glenn Ojeda Vega and German Peinado Delgado | Iván Duque’s foreign policy will center on reinforcing ties with Colombia’s traditional allies and securing international support for the administration’s agenda.
Intermoney | Other risks to which we must pay attention are those arising from emerging markets. In this case, one should not focus only on one country, as there are numerous fronts open. For example, the latest update to the IMF forecasts cut the growth forecasts for Argentina and Brazil, stressing the more difficult finanacial conditions and the need for adjustments to the Argentinian economy while, in the case of Brazil, it stressed the effect of strikes and political instability.
Facebook and Twitter have been significantly punished by investors following figures about users which created doubts about the performance of both companies in the future. In the first case, the number of users active per month increased 1.74% in 2018 to pass from 2.196 millions to 2.234 million, disappointing market expectations and delivering the smallest increase since Facebook provided figures.
Financial markets in developed countries have suffered several difficult months of August this century. Therefore we should never be confident about August and this year there are reasons to face it with caution. In a brief series which starts today, Intermoney identifies the key elements of these potential risks.
Yu Yongding via Caixin | Washington launched its trade war against Beijing in part because of China’s long-running trade surplus with the U.S., but it turns out that the surplus isn’t as large as advertised. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that his country has an annual trade deficit of $500 billion with China. This is nonsense.