A group of individual investors with strong ties to Chinese companies wants to buy into the Cleveland Cavaliers. This isn’t the first or the largest Chinese investment in the U.S. but it could be an important signal. Up till now, Chinese investment here has been dominated by large state-owned companies …
In the Foundry’s latest edition of ‘What’s Next?,’ we give you Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s radical environmental proposal which the Telegraph describes as: “all the world’s roofs should be painted white as part of efforts to slow global warming.” Chu says he is in favor of “white roofs everywhere.” This is the …
Sebastian Mallaby in today’s Washington Post: China has accumulated at least $1.5 trillion in dollar assets, according to my Council on Foreign Relations colleague Brad Setser, so a (highly plausible) 30 percent move in the yuan-dollar rate would cost the country around $450 billion — about a tenth of its …
Policymakers made it quite clear consumers will be hurt by a cap and trade bill. They also made it clear that this isn’t an environmental issue. It’s strictly politics. Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) modified their global warming cap and trade proposal to win support from skeptical …
Today’s New York Times op-ed page features two columns on the dollar and the Chinese currency, the RMB. Nouriel Roubini concentrates on American policy. Victor Gao gives a somewhat depressing lesson in personal Chinese economic history. It’s a better discussion than standard claims the PRC is trying to ruin the …
The front page of the New York Times today has an article on China building cleaner coal-fired plants. The title and the article are fairly accurate but any conclusions should be carefully drawn. In particular, China is not taking effective steps to cut emissions of greenhouse gases. In raw terms, …
While China continues to insist its military expansion is purely defensive in nature, yesterday the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs expressed his doubts: “They are developing capabilities that are very maritime focused, maritime and air focused, and in many ways, very much focused on us.” Even though China’s long-term intentions …
A Wall Street Journal headline today adds to a chorus of claims that China’s stimulus efforts are benefiting American business and the world economy. As with previous claims, however, there’s little substance. The WSJ article cites Caterpillar reporting China sales of excavators have returned to pre-crisis highs, concurrent with intensifying …
In the past year, Russia’s defense spending has risen 34 percent. China’s defense spending has risen 15 percent. Within the past four months, Iran and North Korea have tested missiles that could someday carry warheads to Europe or the United States. With such conventional and asymmetric military capabilities rising around …
