My blog title is an English translation of a French saying (ie, “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite”) by French philosopher Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821). That French saying is getting relevance considering the (very) remarkable choices for the forthcoming 2025 U.S. Administration. I suppose such choices reveal their priorities. If not, those choices seem...
Increasingly, it looks like every nation is an economic, geopolitical, and/or military enemy of China, once their national interests collide with Chinese interests. Remarkably, China is now also creating domestic adversaries. I cannot imagine that China needs and/or wants such adversaries or enemies. Hence, the explanation must be about (extreme) beliefs. Such...
In Duitsland wil de extreme AfD een vertrek uit de Europese Unie. In Nederland hebben enkele extreme partijen een soortgelijke wens. In Engeland was het een wens van zowel de Conservatieven als Labour, beide mainstream partijen. Inmiddels vindt een meerderheid van de Britten dat Brexit mislukt is. Brexit, Dexit en Nexit gaan over meer nationalisme en minder Europese...
On October 21, Bloomberg sent me an email newsletter, entitled China's new social contract. I was immediately reminded of the new Dutch political party with the same name: New Social Contract. In my view, that party is vague in its ambitions. I have a similar feeling about China's new ambitions. In my view, any society that hinders a market economy is doomed to...
Recently, the FT published this article: Borrell calls on China to treat EU as a ‘geopolitical power’ in its own right. That FT article was based on this speech by Josep Borrell, who is the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. I'm wondering if it's wishful thinking. Henry Kissinger is credited with the question: "Who do I call if...
Country risk used to be a somewhat minor risk management issue in banking. Today, it has become a major issue in business' supply-chain management due to China (eg, zero-Covid policy) and Russia (eg, sanctions and nationalizations following invasion of Ukraine). Hence, this recent Bloomberg comment: "Hard evidence is now emerging that all the discussions of strained...
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