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China's COVID lockdowns made its people depressed and hurt its economy
China's COVID lockdowns made its people depressed & hurt its economy | GZERO World

China's COVID lockdowns made its people depressed and hurt its economy

China’s economy keeps slowing down, and that could be a problem for the rest of the world.

On GZERO World, Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of the China Market Research Group, sits down with Ian Bremmer to explain why he’s become bearish on China’s economic outlook.

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Podcast: China's great economic slowdown

Transcript

Listen: China is undoubtedly the biggest economic success story of our lifetime.

Between 1978 and 2017, China averaged almost 10% year-over-year GDP growth. Decades of pro-investment policies transformed China from a closed, centrally-planned economy to an economic powerhouse that could rival the US.

But in the last decade, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been moving the country back to its socialist roots, with major crackdowns in tech, real estate, and foreign investment. Xi’s vision is one of almost total state control, where businesses conform to the goals of the Chinese Communist Party, not the other way around.

Can communist ideology mixed with capitalist ambition sustain growth into the future? Is Xi setting up China for another four decades of economic success? And what do China’s citizens make of its return to socialist roots?

To discuss all that and more on the GZERO World podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Shaun Rein, Founder and Managing Director of the China Market Research Group, based in Shanghai.

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David Malpass' advice to World Bank successor: time is short
David Malpass' advice to World Bank successor: time is short | GZERO World

David Malpass' advice to World Bank successor: time is short

In his final interview as president of the World Bank Group, David Malpass spoke with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to reflect on his time leading the global development organization and to share his advice for his successor, Ajay Banga.

Malpass became president of the World Bank in 2019 and has seen the world change significantly during his term. He says he’s proud of how the bank handled major global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the Afghanistan evacuation. He also thinks the bank did a good job raising the alarm about an impending economic crisis: slow growth and skyrocketing global debt.

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Are we entering a post-dollar world?

Are we entering a post-dollar world?

The U.S. dollar reigns supreme among all currencies in global trade and finance.

What does this mean? Only that the dollar is the currency of choice for most economic activities conducted around the world, including those by and between non-U.S. entities. For instance:

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Who’s to blame for inflation?

Who’s to blame for inflation?

I posted something on Twitter last Sunday that I didn’t think particularly novel or controversial but that has since gotten a lot of play:

Now, many folks missed the point of the tweet and instead took issue with me calling the U.S. government “left,” which I agree it isn’t really when you consider the policies and worldview President Biden espouses. Looked from, say, Europe, Biden is a centrist or even center-right. In fact, from a global perspective, the entire U.S. political spectrum—including most Democrats—sits on the right.

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Dispatch from Davos

Dispatch from Davos

Economic Forum (WEF). This is the first time the annual gathering of world leaders, CEOs, and public figures takes place in the spring (no snow boots!), courtesy of Omicron. It’s also the first in-person forum since the pandemic hit in January 2020, and it couldn’t be happening at a more critical moment for the world.

Indeed, the theme of this year’s meeting is “History at a Turning Point,” and what a turning point it is. From Covid-19, climate change, digitalization, and deglobalization to the war in Ukraine, slowing global growth, surging energy prices, and a looming food crisis, this is the most crisis-rich backdrop to a World Economic Forum I’ve ever seen.

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An employee of the food delivery service Gorillas cycles through the streets of Berlin.

Wolfgang Kumm/DPA

What We're Watching: Gorillas in the gig economy & work struggles for the "sandwich generation"

Gorilla unicorn to gig goat: a cautionary tale. Last year, a new Berlin-based food delivery company called Gorillas was going bananas. With its minimal branding, pro-biker vibes, and good service, the company became the first German tech “unicorn,” meaning it raised enough capital to be valued at more than a $1 billion dollars. But then the wheels came off as its gig workers, angry about late payments and poor working conditions, tried to organize in protest, and hundreds were fired. The company continues to function, but it recently set up its holding company in the Netherlands. The tale of Gorillas is both an inspiring and cautionary one. Over the past 10 years, gig work, facilitated by new technology platforms — think Uber, Seamless, Fiver, etc — has grown rapidly. Close to 30 million Europeans secure work through digital platforms, and the EU says that could rise to 43 million by 2025. In the US, one in 10 American adults relied primarily on “on demand” work as of 2020. This has vastly expanded opportunities for employment and broadened companies’ ability to source talent and skills on demand. But that flexibility comes at a cost for employees, who lack the workplace protections and benefits normally associated with full- or part-time work. Policymakers are still trying to balance the pros of flexibility with the cons of “precarity.” The EU is leading the legislative charge on this, with a sweeping set of reforms that would force gig platforms to classify their workers as employees and give them more bargaining rights. Supporters say it will boost the gig economy to a fairer footing, while critics worry it will make them less efficient and more expensive.

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A U.S. one dollar banknote is seen next to Turkish lira banknotes.

REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkey's inflation, Chinese loans, Nigerian oil spill, deadly cocaine

49: Turkey recorded an annual inflation rate of almost 49%, a 20-year-high, on Thursday. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said soaring inflation would be temporary, continues to prioritize exports and remains opposed to interest rate hikes. Turkey’s Central Bank meets on Feb. 17 to discuss interest rates but is not expected to change course.

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