Asia: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer began a new round of discussions in Beijing today, and reports are that the two sides have made early progress in the current round of negotiations – including perhaps forced technology transfers. The recent issue regarding the Chinese company Huawei seems to be […]
Asia: China Beige Book, the only large-scale independent data provider on the Chinese economy, released a report this Wednesday indicating a first-quarter recovery. After polling 3300 Chinese businesses, the firm found that private borrowing outweighed that of state-owned enterprises. However, the cost of borrowing has risen substantially. Bank loan rates currently average 6.9%, while the […]
Asia: Still more bumps in the road, were the words used by the former treasury secretary Jack Lew regarding the US-China trade deal. Still, if no agreement is reached soon, the US has warned it will up the tariffs from 10% to 20% on the 200 Billion dollars’ worth of trade. A hit to US […]
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; I assume you would know the answer. Is it true that the women in ancient times were more like Hillary seeking power compared to modern times? JF ANSWER: Yes, I have heard this assertion before. It is only partially true. Unquestionably, the first woman of Eastern culture to act politically was […]
Asia: Little in the way of news from Asia. China promises wider financial access for foreign investors as US-China trade war talks enter a crucial stage. In an announcement to the UN in Geneva, Japan’s ambassador said his country has not developed fully autonomous weapons systems and has no plans to do so. Most of […]
QUESTION: Do you think that Bitcoin will replace gold as some people claim it is some new reserve asset? Thank you for being the voice of reason in the middle of all these people preaching their own position. GD ANSWER: That is really a bizarre question. I do not see how that is possible. As […]
Asia: The China-France bilateral agreement reached all-time highs. French exports such as luxury goods, agricultural, and pharmaceutical products experienced a huge growth over the past few years. Elsewhere, more reports were released today regarding China’s religious persecution of Muslims and Christians. Japanese inflation slowed in February as can be seen in falling gasoline prices. The […]
Asia: As for the U.S.–China trade deal, there seems to be a disparity (or at least perception of disparity) between the original and current U.S. approach to the deal. President Trump had initially focused on a reduction of U.S. trade deficit by requiring China to purchase more goods from the U.S., whereas now U.S. officials […]
As time passes, the newer generations lack any understanding of gold standards or even the events of 1971. There are many people who judge the future of gold based upon their belief that it is money. However, like religion, human society is fragmented and certainly neither of one faith nor one political party. While there are […]
Asia: US-China trade deal remains top-of-mind, yet, as uncertainly looms on progress from here, President Trump stated that the tariffs could remain for quite some time. Separately, pressure is mounting from international countries against Chinese human right violations against the communities in the Uighur region. Wednesday was a mixed day for the major Asian stock […]
