USA and EU are paying the price for the stupidity of the clowns in Washington

 The USA and the West are now building toilets when the urge to poo is very urgent, so goes a Chinese idiom. They are basically going backwards to build infrastructures, logistics, looking for raw materials after thinking about bringing back manufacturing, which they already lost decades ago.

Acting on the spur of the moment is the modus operandi of the USA and the West. They do not even think of the consequences in some of their actions. Look at the sanctions they imposed on Russia and the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. Did they ever think of the consequences befalling the EU? I guess they do, but knowing that, making the EU the scapegoat and benefitting from the sale of expensive energy to the EU is all to cater to the interest of the USA. What happens to the EU is just collateral damage, nothing personal and worth the sacrifice.

Everything is worth the sacrifice as long as it benefits the USA. Even sacrificing the lives of half a million Iraqi children is worth the sacrifice for the USA to seize Iraqi oil. Getting rid of Saddam Hussein is probably the side dish and not the main course. Introducing democracy into Iraq is an even more grotesque reason.

Anonymous

Gordon Chang has a chance to redeem himself by writing about the collapse of USA

 Just repeating what Gordon Chang said twenty years ago with his predictions that China is collapsing is not going to happen. Gordon Chang already lost his credibility long ago. Instead, throughout those twenty years of collapsing, China has risen beyond recognition. And instead, it is the USA and the EU that is collapsing. Gordon Chang should re-orientate his views to indicate the real situation. But he cannot do that for sure.

Never trust the gloating about how Wall Street is breaking records every day. It is just window dressing to help the Democrat's in November to mount any semblance of a chance for the White House. The Fed's cutting of rates runs counter to all the attempts to paint a rosy picture of the USA economy. It is all grandstanding without any sensible basis.

With BRICS coming out with its alternative global currency and settlement system, the US$ hegemony is facing a oncoming storm that it has never faced before.

De-dollarization is undoubtedly giving Trump worrying nights, knowing he has to deal with it if he gets elected. He is now openly hostile, threatening countries joining de-dollarization, which means joining BRICS. He is going to use 100% tariffs against them without thinking what this will do to the USA economy and inflation that USA citizens have to face. If I may say so, this is going to escalate the de-dollarization movement rather than slowing it down.

Countries will join BRICS in droves to stay away from the US$ by trading under a system which the USA is not even able to monitor, not to say that Trump will know who is trading with whom and supporting de-dollarization. It will all be done outside the US$, outside the purview of the SWIFT system. Which country is Trump going to target? The whole Global South, including India, it's troublesome in trying to control ally?

Now, even trying to pinpoint who is still buying Russian oil is impossible, other than China, India and Saudi Arabia. For all we know, even EU countries are now still buying Russian energy under the nose of the USA. And these are the countries sanctioning Russian energy. What a sick joke!

Anonymous

EVs are non starters in USA. They are stuck with ICE

 Trump knows the USA is not ready for EVs. Just charging stations alone is a big big problem to overcome. Without those charging stations, EV sales will never pick up in the USA and EV makers will just bite the dust. The USA will just stagnate in EV innovation and fall further and further behind the rest of the world.

Keeping EVs out of the USA does not solve the problem. Raising tariffs to the moon will not solve the problem as well. Such measure only serves to punish USA consumers, not countries like China from producing EVs. China's EV production will not collapse because of the USA tariffs. China can sell EVs elsewhere, which the USA can do nothing about.

The real reason why China can produce EVs so cheaply is because of cheap Russian energy, abundant skilled workers and a complete supply chain existing inside the country. It has nothing to do with subsidies, a measure which the USA is doing out of proportion compared to China. If subsidies were fueling manufacturing, the USA would have overwhelmed China in its manufacturing capacity with all the billions thrown around. 

Anonymous

ASEAN - Geopolitical dynamics moving towards BRICS, not the G7, which is a dying horse

 If tariffs are the cure all, every country should erect tariffs to solve their economic problems. Why is Japan not doing it for more than three decades struggling to put its economy on a firmer footing. Abenomics was touted to be a game changer with three arrows that missed their targets by a long shot. Kishidanomics was next to suffer ignominy. Japan's new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishida probably will start with another new age 'nomics' to continue the saga. These are all basically old stuff in new packaging.

China is now telling its Chinese investors not to build factories in the USA. Malaysia is benefiting now by working with China. Indonesia will also benefit greatly if China were to pivot its investments to Indonesia. It is in fact a no brainer to do so, with wages so low in Indonesia and cost of production a fraction of that if Chinese companies were to invest in Indonesia instead of the USA or EU. It is a win win situation now for Malaysia and Indonesia.

Chinese investments in Vietnam and Thailand are already well established and chugging along. Vietnam is aware of who is buttering its bread and is joining BRICS for more trade and investments from China. Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia know that the geopolitical dynamics in ASEAN is moving towards BRICS, not the G7, which is a dying horse. 

anpnymous

Kindergarten kids playing with basketballs

 

 

Chinese kindergarten kids having fun with basketball. A simple sign of a peaceful country with children growing up and enjoying their lives as children.

Children playing with balls instead of with guns.