ClubGPF

A “Made in China” label has always been problematic in the U.S. In the early years of globalization, companies worried that customers would see Chinese goods as inferior and stay away. Political leaders, meanwhile, worried that the sudden ubiquity of the label would expose the scale of the loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. For a time, these concerns were more than offset by what Chinese manufacturing brought to the table: For price-conscious shoppers, it meant a new golden age of consumption. For companies, outsourcing often meant staggering profits. Bilateral trade allowed both countries to focus on their comparative advantages: China became “the world’s factory.” The U.S. focused more resources on the cutting edge. But the original concerns never went away. Rather, as middle class wages in the U.S. stagnated, an anti-globalization backlash began to brew. And as China grew richer and more assertive in its pursuit of its core interests, a “Made in China” label began to spark new concerns. U.S. businesses chafed at China’s use of state funding, state-backed technology theft, protectionist trade barriers, and its diplomatic muscle to capture markets and develop home-grown competitors in advanced sectors. U.S. security officials started to worry about things like […]

Geopolitical Futures · The Future of the U.S. Pivot to Asia

 Geopolitical Futures · Europe in the Aftermath of COVID-19, Mauldin Economics SIC 2020   MAULDIN ECONOMICS SIC 2020 EUROPE IN THE AFTERMATH OF COVID-19 EXPERT PANEL GEORGE FRIEDMAN // CHARLES GAVE // ANATOLE KALETSKY // FELIX ZULAUF Moderator: Louis Gave SIC Panel Discussion Slides ED: We’re back at the Strategic Investment Conference and we’re global with Gavekal’s Charles Gave joining from Paris. Louis Gave in British Columbia. Anatole Kaletsky in the UK. Geopolitical Futures’ George Friedman coming from Texas. And the great Felix Zulauf joining us from Switzerland. All for a discussion on the future of Europe, the euro and European markets. Gentlemen, it is great to see you. Welcome to the Strategic Investment Conference. FELIX: Our pleasure. Our pleasure. LOUIS: Thank you. Thank you so much, Ed. Thank you, very much. Well, Charles and Anatole I’ve already seen today. Good to see you, Felix. Good to see you, George. Thank you. Thank you so much. Interestingly, before we even started on this panel, in our previous discussion, it seemed at least two thirds of the questions were on Europe. So, I think we’ll have a lot to cover. And I’ll start off perhaps with the most obvious question. […]