ASIA: Chinese internet giant Tencent on Wednesday reported a 28 percent year-on-year growth in revenue for 2020, raking in around 482 billion yuan (about $73.9 billion). The company’s net profit, calculated on a non-IFRS basis in order to reflect its core earnings by excluding certain one-time or non-cash items, rose 30 percent year on year […]

COMMENT: Marty: I was re-reading Herodotus and saw early in his book a reference to the rise and fall of civilizations pertinent to the concept of capital flows: Herodotus, Histories 1:5 “For many states that were once great have now become small; and those that were great in my time were small before. Knowing therefore […]

ASIA: India plans to offer fresh incentives to companies making electric vehicles (EVs) as part of a broad auto sector scheme it expects to attract $14 billion of investment over five years, Reuters reported. The plans envisage $8 billion of incentives for carmakers and suppliers over a five-year period to drive large investment in the […]

ASIA: China will step up imports of high-quality foreign goods and services as the economy makes a steady recovery, vice premier Han Zheng said on Sunday. China will strengthen macro policy coordination with other countries, Han told the China Development Forum, a high-level business gathering hosted by the Development Research Centre of the State Council. […]

ASIA: India’s central bank may have to delay the start of monetary policy normalization by three months amid rising COVID-19 cases, but barring the return of stringent lockdowns, there is no significant threat to the economy’s recovery, analysts say. Though analysts are unlikely to rush to review their long-term growth forecasts, several believe policy normalization […]

ASIA: The US Commerce Department said on Wednesday that it has served subpoenas on multiple Chinese companies that provide information and communications technology services in the United States to see if they pose a national security risk. The subpoenas will gather information to “allow us to make a determination for possible action that best protects […]

COMMENT: Hi Martin, I live in Leicester, UK. They began with these “exercises” and “simulations” as I call them regarding Power Outages. Just have one right now. There is no reason for a power outage since the network is all fine. It is all deliberately imposed. Can you explain what next? Thanks. D REPLY: They […]

ASIA: Chinese embassies in the US, Italy, India, the Philippines, and other locations say they will provide “visa facilitation” to foreign applicants who can certify that they have received a Chinese shot. To enter China, most travelers also still need to prove they have tested negative for Covid-19, obtain an antibody test, and quarantine upon […]

ASIA: India’s trade deficit in goods widened to $12.62 billion in February from $10.16 billion during the same period a year earlier, revised data released by the government on Monday showed. Merchandise exports rose 0.67% in February from a year earlier to $27.93 billion, while imports were up 6.96% to $40.54 billion, the data showed. […]

There seems to be a HUGE gap in what people think about cryptocurrency. The European Central Bank (ECB) is working on a scheme to launch “digital euro central bank money” as soon as possible. Many economists praise the project as an “innovation,” as an important and indispensable step in an increasingly digitized world. But economists […]