The opaque lending of China to developing countries has missed the eyes of the World Bank and other regulatory institutions. The reporting is far from transparent, as one would assume that the Chinese prefer to do their credit work under the radar. With that said, let’s try to establish some data points. “Between 2000 and […] Read more

Last week’s G20 meeting got all of the attention from investors and the media. Well, actually it was the meeting between President Trump and President Xi that got all of the attention. The two leaders did agree to a truce in the tariffs, and that was a positive step, but it certainly didn’t mark the […] Read more

It really isn’t a surprise that the global markets are on high alert to the volatility that comes from Chairman Xi and President Trump. Trump will be a topic for another day, as we will focus on the issues that plague Xi and his regime. The Maoist policies enacted by Xi over the last six […] Read more

In the latest tit for tat going on between Trump and Beijing, education is being thrown in the mix. The influx of Chinese students to our upper-tier universities has caused the administration to take a closer look at why we allow some 360,000 Chinese students on to our campuses. The parable of giving a man […] Read more

There is always a price to pay for security in a democracy, albeit through the blood and tears of battle, or now perhaps in protecting our economic interests. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is little more than a disguise to present itself as opening up to the West. The desperate countries of Europe will […] Read more

As a fellow surf, Stalin would be envious of the growing class divide in modern Russia. After all, the dream of the withering away of the state into a classless society kept him up at nights. The fact that Russia alone has over 100 billionaires, and yet one-third of the country cannot afford two pairs […] Read more

What a difference a month can make. The so called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to strengthen infrastructure, trade, and investment links between China and some 65 other countries that account collectively for over 30 percent of global GDP, 62 percent of population, and 75 percent of known energy reserves. Italy became the first […] Read more

Italy will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations with China next year, and is cozying up to Chairman XI and his Belt and Road Initiative. It appears that Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Premier Giuseppe Conte are attempting to renew the idyllic relations between Mussolini’s Italy and Chiang Kai-shek’s China, circa 1930-1937. As one can imagine, the […] Read more