During the first Annual Summit organized by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing, China has shown her intention to take over the global leadership in infrastructure investment. By the end of this year, AIIB would have more than 100 members, making it the first lending institution in multilateral loans in history, under the control of the most important …
Koos Jansen – “China is playing the gold game very carefully”
On behalf of Matterhorn Asset Management, Lars Schall talked with one of the prime researchers when it comes to the People’s Republic of China gold policy; Dutch analyst Koos Jansen. They discuss the many tricky details that have to be taken into account; since the Chinese gold buying is pretty much a covert operation. Lars Schall: My first question would …
Guillaume LAVALLE – Pakistan facing climate ‘calamity’ if warnings go unheeded
Karachi, 2050: The sprawling megacity lies crumbling, desiccated by another deadly heatwave, its millions of inhabitants suffering life-threatening water shortages and unable to buy bread that has become too expensive to eat. It sounds like the stuff of dystopian fiction but it could be the reality Pakistan is facing. With its northern glaciers melting and its population surging — the …
David Morris – Yes, trade deals really do overturn democracy
Forget tariffs, forget Obama’s promises. The whole point of modern ‘trade agreements’ is to whack pesky labor, environment and health laws, writes David Morris, and so empower capital and corporate power against regulators, governments and democracy itself. Unconvinced? Just imagine what these deals would look like if they were there to empower people. New trade agreements like the TPP largely …
How Much Longer Can The Oil Age Last? – Gaurav Agnihotri
History has been so fascinated with oil and its price movements that it is indeed hard to imagine our future without oil. Over the last few months, we have witnessed how oil prices have fluctuated from a 6 year low level of $42.98 per barrel in March 2015 to the current levels of $60 per barrel. It is interesting to …
A decisive turning point in the crisis of American imperialism
Yesterday was the deadline for countries to sign up as founding members of the China-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). It will go down in history as marking a significant defeat for the global foreign policy and strategic objectives of United States imperialism. Against strenuous opposition from Washington, more than 40 countries have now indicated they want to be part …
China’s Bank & Waning USA Hegemony – JACK RASMUS
Two events occurred last week that mark a further phase in the waning of US global economic hegemony: China introduced its own Economic Development Bank, the ‘Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’ (AIIB); the IMF simultaneously announced it will decide in May to include the Chinese currency as a global reserve-trading currency alongside the dollar, pound, and euro—an almost certainly ‘done deal’ …
Washington Misses Bigger Picture of New Chinese Bank
Bibi Netanyahu’s election, persistent violence through much of the Middle East and North Africa, and intensified efforts to forge a nuclear deal between the P5+1 and Iran topped the news here in Washington this week. But a much bigger story in terms of the future order of global politics was taking place in Europe and Beijing. The story was simply …
America’s European “Allies” Desert Obama, Join China-led Infrastructure Bank
It appears the sea of de-dollarization has reached the shores of Europe. With Australia and UK having already moved in the direction of joining the China-led AIIB, The FT reports that France, Germany, and Italy have now all agreed to join the development bank as ‘pivot to Asia’ appears to be Plan B for Europe. As Greg Sheridan previously noted, “the saga of the China Bank …
Major American Allies Ignore U.S. Pleas and Join China’s Development Bank
UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India All Sign On … South Korea Next? This week, 2 major U.S. allies – 2 of the “Five Eyes” – have disregarded American please and joined China’s development bank … a new alternative to the US-dominated IMF and World Bank lending order. (A third member of the Five Eyes – New Zealand – previously signed …