10 September 2020 With Labour Day celebrations marking the unofficial end of summer, the US electoral race now will enter its final (and likely most brutal) phase. We do not need President Clinton's 1992 campaign strategist James Carville, who famously coined the phrase "it's the economy, stupid", to remind us of the role the economy [...]
20 January 2020 A comprehensive trade agreement between the United States and China was never a realistic possibility: these take years of skillful negotiations to conclude. To be sure, the recently-signed plan has many shortcomings. Predictably, the deal fails to address many of the most contentious issues, e.g. state subsidies and cyber-security. Likewise, the dispute [...]
12 January 2020 The prospect that this week the USA and China will sign Phase 1 of a trade deal has buoyed financial markets. Of course, I will assess the impact of the agreement as details emerge. However, initial optimism is warranted if the plan represents the first step towards a comprehensive trade agreement (even [...]