It is not just American businesses that are figuring out how to balance the ethical demands of their domestic public with those coming out of an increasingly influential China.
Despite assuming zero direct involvement of the U.S. in the BRI, “the U.S. gains from the boost to world GDP are such that in absolute terms.” In fact, the researchers argued that “the U.S. is the second largest beneficiary. Our calculations suggest that the BRI will leave US GDP in 2040 $401 billion higher, a boost of 1.4%.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-new-silk-road-us-192303366.html
Economic powerhouse is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects around the world.
China is financing hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure projects — including ports, roads, bridges, railways, power plants, telecommunications networks and much more — in partnering countries throughout Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/china-belt-and-road-cbc-1.5372916
Now some economists have re-crunched the numbers and concluded that the income share of the top 1% in America may have been little changed since as long ago as 1960. They argue that earlier researchers mishandled the tax-return data that yield estimates of inequality. Previous results may also have failed to account for falling marriage rates among the poor, which divide income around more households—but not more people. And a bigger chunk of corporate profits may flow to middle-class people than previously realised, because they own shares through pension funds. In 1960 retirement accounts owned just 4% of American shares; by 2015 the figure was 50%.
This month activists all over the world have taken over city centres, demanding urgent action to halt climate change. They say we need to eliminate all carbon emissions by 2025. Most people think that’s impossible. But scientists are warning that if we want to stop global warming, we need to cut our CO2 emissions fast. So how soon can the planet achieve carbon zero?
Part 3 of this episode, titled, “Out of Africa” (starting at 11:22), does a great job discussing the issue of energy use and development and the challenges of who pays the cost of reducing carbon emissions.
From that section, “How do we tackle this monstrous problem of climate change without exacerbating the problem of global poverty and inequality?” Do developed nations have a responsibility to help subsidize the development of developing nations in order to make sure their development is “clean”?
This week, back in 1933, a team of American Geologists from Standard Oil Company in California arrived on the shore of a small, sparsely populated Middle Eastern country called Saudi Arabia. Today on the Indicator: what the team of geologists found and how it changed the economy of a country and the global economy for better … and for worse.
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/09/24/651231709/saudi-arabia-the-paradox-of-plenty
In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Ian Bremmer about the failure of globalism and the rise of populism. They discuss immigration, trade, automation, wealth inequality, Trump, identity politics and other topics.
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