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Could Trump use forgotten Chinese debt to salvage the global economy?

As the United States confronts an impending government shutdown amid an unwelcome outbreak of bond vigilantism, an unexpected remedy to global financial implosion might just lie in a murky corner of long forgotten financial history. Dormant for decades, the Blind Spot understands the overlooked issue of defaulted Chinese imperial debt is quietly turning heads on […]

Europe’s wind sector is in a ‘severe crisis’ (POLITICO)

By Victor Jack, Abby Wallace · Aug 18, 2023 BRUSSELS — The U.K. and EU are likely to miss their 2030 wind energy installation targets as the sector runs into increasing difficulties, putting Europe’s green transition at risk. Surging inflation, supply chain bottlenecks, hold-ups in getting permits, problems with government-backed subsidy schemes and mounting competition […]

European financiers fret over US debt ceiling “collateral damage” (POLITICO)

By Ben Munster · May 26, 2023 Panic in Europe? Over a U.S. debt default? Surely not … well, maybe. Just a little. OK, quite a lot, to judge by an awkward exchange at the International Capital Markets Association’s annual bash in Paris on Thursday. “My question,” AXA Investment Management fixed-income chief Hans Stoter told […]

Regulators threaten to rain on Tether’s parade (POLITICO)

By Bjarke Smith-Meyer, Ben Munster · May 19, 2023 BRUSSELS — Few expected Tether, the world’s most prominent stablecoin, to survive the crypto market meltdown. Instead, the issuer of dollar-pegged digital tokens revealed it was thriving by this month posting a first-quarter profit of $1.5 billion that left most of its rivals in its wake. […]

The battle for your savings is JUST beginning (POLITICO)

By Bjarke Smith-Meyer – May 5, 2023 There’s a turf war going on for your savings. At stake are over $16 trillion worth of deposit balances in the European Union alone, vital to banks’ capacity to keep credit flowing to small businesses and individuals. This is especially the case in Europe which relies far more […]

The military-civil fusion at the heart of the new dollar order (POLITICO)

By Izabella Kaminska · Apr 26, 2023, 2:22 PM To read remarks made by a string of treasury officials and central bankers in recent weeks, one thing becomes clear: It’s no longer an exaggeration to suggest the global economic system is heading toward a shift unlike anything since World War II. And what’s more, what’s […]

US takeover of French nuclear firm sparks tensions in Paris (POLITICO)

By Giorgio Leali – Apr 21, 2023 (POLITICO) PARIS — France’s feisty Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has another opportunity to pick a fight with Washington as a sensitive investment screening case is about to land on his desk. The French government wants to prevent nuclear-submarine parts supplier Segault from falling into American hands just […]

What the hell is wrong with TikTok? (POLITICO)

By Clothilde Goujard – Mar 22, 2023 Western governments are ticked off with TikTok. The Chinese-owned app loved by teenagers around the world is facing allegations of facilitating espionage, failing to protect personal data, and even of corrupting young minds. Governments in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and across Europe have moved […]