August Second Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #17
One third of UAE’s private wealth is held by individuals who are worth more than $100m | Banking – Gulf News Highlights: – Around 34 per cent of the UAE’s wealth is held by individuals who are worth $100 million or more, while another 26 per cent is held by those worth between $1 to $100 million, according to data from Boston Consulting Group. – In the GCC, 115 individuals are worth $100 million or more, while 144,959 individuals are worth between $1 million and $100 million. Their combined financial wealth in 2020 amounted to $2.2 trillion and is expected to grow to $2.7 trillion in 2025. – Saudi Arabia and the UAE together account for 71 per cent of the financial wealth within the GCC, with Saudi accounting for 45 per cent, followed by the UAE with 26 per cent, and 11 per cent each by Qatar and Kuwait. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more Qatar’s PPP Law will open up opportunities in various sectors; Report – GCC Business News — www.gccbusinessnews.com Highlights: – The country has opened new paths or investments with the creation of institutional bodies like Qatar Financial Center, Qatar Free Zones Authority and Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) along with the amendment of its laws surrounding foreign ownership. – The report titled ‘Qatar Economy Watch’ states that the public sector procurement initiatives will contribute to private sector development including Qatar Petroleum’s flagship Tawteen localization program. Read more. China Tech Crackdown: Communist Party Policy Changes Behind $1 Trillion Selloff – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Weeks after Xi’s school visit, China said private education had been “hijacked by capital” and ordered tutoring companies to become non-profits, accelerating a selloff that at its most extreme erased $1.5 trillion from Chinese stocks. – Liao said that the focus is now on what has been dubbed the “three big mountains”: the crushing burden of payments for education, healthcare and property. – China this year began a “new development phase,” according to Xi. It puts three priorities ahead of unfettered growth: National security, which includes control of data and greater self-reliance on technology. Common prosperity, which aims to curb inequalities that have soared in recent decades. Stability, which means tamping down discontent among China’s middle class. – “The government is going after industries that are creating the most social discontent.” Read more. Nexus Fast Payment System Could Finally End Banking’s Fee-Heavy Wire Transfers – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Domestic fast payments are practically free now. Using the smartphone to shave off most of the costs of a conventional international transfer would make for tremendous savings on the $540 billion received by low- and middle-income countries last year as officially recorded remittances. – Nexus, currently a blueprint drawn up by the Bank for International Settlements’ innovation hub. – It’s still early days, but if India agrees to become the third pillar in the recent linkup of mobile payment systems between Singapore’s PayNow and Thailand’s PromptPay, it may not be long before their rules of engagement morph into the Nexus Scheme, an international standard. – If the Indian-inspired architecture becomes the Nexus prototype, international transfers will no longer be a preserve of finance. Consumer internet firms may dominate, with banks passively receiving and sending funds. Minus the fat fees. Read more. U.S. Should Look South for Better Supply Chains – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – In June, the White House released “Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth,” a 250-page blueprint to transform four critical sectors: Semiconductors, large capacity batteries (for electric vehicles and clean energy), critical minerals and pharmaceuticals. – The new weaknesses in supply chains revealed by Covid-19 highlighted the benefits of such as positioning. As the virus spread, ports slowed or closed, planes were grounded and transportation costs skyrocketed. – The proximity of Latin American nations lowers transportation costs and the chance of potential disruptions from afar. They also provide geographic distance and diversification that make the output more secure. Read more. Electric Vehicles: Chinese Automakers Turn to Influencers to Market EVs – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – EV adoption is accelerating at a startling pace. China’s Passenger Car Association reported sales of new-energy vehicles of about 1 million in the first six months of 2021. – Many EV buyers in China browse online, interact with an influencer, or perhaps go to a high-end mall to view the finished product in a boutique-like setting—all before visiting a dealer lot or ever getting behind a wheel. – Influencers are so important in China’s car market that ByteDance Ltd., the media company that operates the short-video service known as Douyin in China and TikTok in the U.S., has launched a talent initiative within its Dcar auto information unit to develop and market car-savvy online celebs. Read more. Letter Requesting Donation for School Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. — atiejelmouallem.com Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donations. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school. Learn more. India and Brazil Are Headed for New Age of Anger: Pankaj Mishra – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Evidence that post-pandemic inequality will be lethal to everyday social
August 1 Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News
Neobanks are Making Inroads in the United Arab Emirates with Fintech Adoption Rising in MENA: Report Highlights: – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked first among the Arab nations in FinxAr. As covered, the Arab Monetary Fund introduced the Index of Modern Financial Technologies in the Arab countries (called the FinxAr). – The index aims to provide insights on the ongoing developments in the MENA region‘s Fintech sector as well as the adoption of digital financial services in Arab nations during the period (2018-2020). – The general index for Fintech in the Arab region (FinxAr) includes six primary indices that represent the key pillars of the MENA region Fintech ecosystem – which includes policies as well as legislation, “the demand side, access to finance, financial markets infrastructure, talent development to support innovations, and finally collaboration and partnerships.” Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris launches $1.4bln gold mining fund | ZAWYA MENA Edition Highlights: – The Luxembourg-based fund will be a long-only, deep-value fund primarily aimed at gold mining, according to a statement by La Mancha Holding. – The fund, which will be advised by La Mancha Capital Advisory LLP (LMCA), will include La Mancha’s gold mining assets in both West Africa’s largest producer Endeavour Mining, Evolution Mining, Golden Star, and Altus Strategies. It also includes a $100m investment from “a strategic partner”, which the statement did not name. – The fund’s primary investment objective is to provide exposure to the gold and precious metals mining sector, but will also have the flexibility to invest in EV battery metals. Read more. Top Green Energy Banker Sees $150 Billion in India Deals by 2030 – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Bank of America is moving its top renewable energy investment banker in India to New York, as it tries to grab a bigger share of what he estimates is the roughly $500 billion needed to meet the country’s green energy targets. – Coal’s market share fell in 2020, the second year in a row, as wind and solar projects become more cost-efficient and the technology improves. – The Indian green bond market is expanding rapidly this year with a total of seven issues denominated in foreign currency. Sales jumped to an all-time high of $4.1 billion this year to date, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Read more. China Stocks Tumble in US Erase Billions as Crackdown Deepens – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Beijing’s sweeping crackdowns of its technology and education sectors have unleashed shockwaves across global markets, erasing $769 billion in value from U.S.-listed Chinese stocks over the course of just five months. – China unveiled an overhaul of its education sector which bans firms that teach school subjects from making profits, raising capital or going public. – The latest events arguably highlight that the authorities are more willing to upset investors in pursuit of their broader political goals now than they were a few years ago,” wrote Oliver Jones, senior markets economist at Capital Economics. – In total, more than $126 billion in market capitalization has been erased from Chinese education stocks traded in the U.S., China and Hong Kong this year. Read more. China Reins in Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies to Push Digital Yuan – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – In April 2020, China began testing its own electronic currency—the e-CNY, or digital yuan—a project that could put the government in more direct competition both with cryptocurrencies and with corporate payments systems. – The e-CNY can provide a backup to the inherently unpredictable private systems, Mu Changchun, head of the digital currency research wing of the People’s Bank of China, said. – Mu says digital yuan won’t replace WeChat Pay or Alipay, which make up about 90% of China’s $35 trillion mobile payment market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Bloomberg estimates the e-CNY could capture about 9% of China’s market by 2025 – The digital currency could also afford the government a level of surveillance that isn’t possible with cash or independent digital currencies. This could be useful for combating money laundering, tax evasion, illegal gambling, and other illicit activities. It also raises concerns about the potential of the currency as a tool for political repression – The country is testing cross-border e-CNY payments with Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates Read more. U.K.’s SPAC Market Rouses From Its Slumber as Looser Rules Near – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Almost eight months into 2021, the London Stock Exchange finally has its first listing of a special-purpose acquisition company for the year. – U.K. regulators on Tuesday cleared the way for new rules on such listings that will encourage bigger SPACs. – With London lagging behind continental Europe in attracting SPACs, the changes are welcome news for bankers and sponsors. – The SPAC slowdown in the U.S., in part because of SEC’s interventions, could provide an opportunity for the U.K. to become more attractive as a SPAC market,” said Michal Berkner, a partner at law firm Cooley. Read more. Dr. Atie J. El Mouallem – Letter Requesting Donation for School — atiejelmouallem.com Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. It is on the main road between Btedhi and Chlifa. Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donation. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of
July Fourth Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News.
TikTok Surges Forward, Shrugging Off Trump Threats – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – According to Sensor Tower, the app was the most downloaded and highest-grossing non-game during the first half of this year, surpassing 3 billion total installs. – Research firm App Annie says the app has surpassed Google’s YouTube for average time spent per user in the U.S. and the U.K. – TikTok’s own career site gives the clearest insight on what the app will focus on for its next big thing: live-streaming social commerce. – TikTok plans to invest aggressively to cultivate live-streaming creators in numerous categories—including fashion and beauty, lifestyle and technology—and empower them to sell merchandise directly on the platform. Read more. Saudi Aramco Confirms Data Leak After Ransomware Cyber Attack – Bloomberg Highlights: – The Associated Press reported earlier that 1 terabyte of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. data had been held by an extortionist, citing a web page it had accessed on the darknet. The state-owned driller was offered the chance to have the data deleted for $50 million in cryptocurrency, the AP said. – The Middle East has previously been a magnet for some of the world’s costliest hacks, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP said in a 2016 report. – Energy companies from electric utilities, to power-grid operators to pipeline operators have warned that cyberattacks are becoming more and more prevalent. Read more. EXPERIENCE LIVING IN PIXEL Forward Living – The Pixel Pixel is the first mixed-use residential community at Makers District. Pixel offers its residents & visitors a unique space to enrich, collaborate & engage. Designed as human-scale, the 7 mixed-use residential towers surrounded by quiet pocket gardens have been strategically arranged around a vibrant pedestrianized plaza. Learn more. The Anti-Macron Independent Looking to Topple France’s President – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Xavier Bertrand reckons he can topple the banker-turned-president by casting himself as the anti-Macron candidate. – The 56-year-old former health and labor minister is emerging as a potential dark horse in next year’s presidential election — which many assumed would be a straight contest between Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen. – A recent survey gave him 18% of the votes in the first round of the presidential contest, with Le Pen and Macron both around 25% – Bertrand is often described as being compatible with centrists, yet he holds many conservative views. – We need to reduce inequalities, or we’ll fail at reforming the country,” Bertrand said on the sidelines of an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, earlier this month. Read more. Billionaire Who Missed Out on TikTok Is Trying to Beat It – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – In 2017, Su Hua, the founder of a Chinese startup called Kuaishou Technology, was on the verge of closing the biggest deal of his career. – But arch-rival ByteDance Ltd. swooped in with a better offer, and Su missed out on what has become a global sensation. – Su isn’t wasting a moment. Kuaishou plans to expand in countries like Brazil and Indonesia, rather than TikTok’s stronghold in the U.S. – While TikTok tends to be stocked with photogenic, dancing teenagers, Su’s stars are a diverse, at times low-brow, crew of entertainers, often from rural regions. – Kwai, its most successful export and the international twin to its domestic platform, has been downloaded more than 76 million times in the first half of 2021 in countries such as Brazil and Mexico. Read more. European ESG Assets Shrank by $2 Trillion After Greenwash Rules – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Sustainable investment assets fell to $12 trillion in Europe during 2020 from $14 trillion in 2018, the report states. The decline isn’t the result of dampened investor enthusiasm for ESG investments, it’s because policymakers have tightened the parameters for what can be considered a responsible investment, said Simon O’Connor, chair of the GSIA. – Europe has led the global charge into ESG investments and its banks and fund managers are most advanced in calculating the impacts of their operations on climate change and biodiversity. – The EU’s anti-greenwashing rules known as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, or SFDR, were introduced in March and require fund managers to evaluate and disclose the environmental, social and corporate governance features of their financial products. Read more. Tom Barrack Arrested Days After Interview About Trump, Real Estate, Investing – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – A week before he was charged with illegal lobbying for the United Arab Emirates, Tom Barrack travelled to New York for an on-camera interview in Midtown Manhattan. – Barrack, who was one of Trump’s biggest backers on Wall Street and chaired the committee that funded his inauguration. – We’re in the midst of zero interest rates. Everybody’s yield-driven. With so much liquidity, the world is in a thirst for yield. For me, it’s time to not look at yield and look at the total return. – What I’m saying is, “I want you to come along with me because it’s a scale that creates the opportunity.” I need additional capital. – You have deep and long-standing ties to the Qataris, the Emiratis. You have a history in Saudi Arabia that goes back to one of your first jobs ever in the 1970s. – I’m only interested in doing high-quality, extraordinary, rare and scarce transactions that have a gigantic total-return potential. I’m not in the asset-management business, I’m not in the other silos that they need to invest in, and I’m not giving them a pitch on a fund. Read more. Fledgling UAE rail network step towards bridging the Gulf – France 24 — www.france24.com Highlights: – Hammadi is the first Emirati to become a train driver — in a country that already has a space programme and two of the world’s biggest airlines, but is only now developing a rail network to connect all seven of its emirates. – When completed, Etihad Rail will operate 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) of track connecting all of the emirates — from Ghweifat in the western region of
July Third Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News.
EU Kicks Off Biggest Push Yet on Climate, Braces for a Fight – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The European Union rolled out an ambitious climate plan. – Every industry will be forced to accelerate its shift away from fossil fuels in order to cut pollution by at least 55% from 1990 levels by 2030. – The EU’s goals call for about 1.2 trillion euros of clean energy investment to 2030, according to Bloomberg NEF. – Europe is set to become a global laboratory for deep decarbonization and the world will have an opportunity to learn how to achieve climate targets. Read more. Billionaire Space Race Between Bezos, Branson, and Musk Is Just the Beginning – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Even if Bezos decides to back out before his flight on July 20, other people will keep going into space, possibly by the thousands, along with tens of thousands of machines designed to further commodify the heavens. What happens up above us will be one of the most important economic and technological stories of the next decade, whether or not Musk ever settles Mars. – Here are just a few of the less remarked-on recent stories out of the private space industry. First was the stock market debut of a company called Astra Space, which, backed by venture capitalists, built a viable orbital rocket in just a few years. Its goal is to fly satellites into orbit every single day. Shortly after Astra went public at a value of $2.1 billion, satellite maker Planet Labs—which uses hundreds of eyes in the sky to photograph the Earth’s entire landmass daily—announced its plans to do the same, at a value of $2.8 billion. Firefly Aerospace has a rocket on a California pad awaiting clearance to launch. OneWeb and Musk’s SpaceX are both regularly launching satellites meant to blanket the planet in high-speed internet access. Rocket Lab, in the previously spacecraft-free country of New Zealand, is planning missions to the moon and Venus. – Easier access to public markets has helped draw billions of dollars from excited investors to an industry once dependent on governments with vague military objectives or expansive views of public works. Read more. Saudi Arabia Chips Away at Islamic Establishment in Shift to Autocracy – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is chipping away at the power of the doctrine known as Wahhabism that has underpinned his family’s rule in the birthplace of Islam. The shift from theocracy to autocracy is dividing Saudis like Alghamdi from those who complain it could undermine the kingdom’s status in the Muslim world. – Wahhabism, a stringently conservative strain of Sunni Islam, defined the kingdom for decades. But it runs counter to Prince Mohammed’s now five-year-old plan to diversify the economy away from oil by 2030. – The crown prince wants to draw foreign investment and build the kingdom’s entertainment and tourism sectors, which face stiff competition from Saudi Arabia’s more permissive neighbours such as the United Arab Emirates. – The crown prince is introducing the changes that touch on religion “piecemeal,” in contrast to Vision 2030’s public goals and deadlines, according to Kamran Bokhari, director of analytical development at the Newslines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington. “He’s almost trying to see what he can get away with, and there’s no discernible pattern for this,” he says. Read more. OPEC+ Set to Meet as Cartel Edges Toward End of Standoff – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The UAE has been arguing that the way its quota is calculated is unfair. To make its point, the country blocked a deal that the rest of the cartel had agreed to, which would have added 400,000 barrels a day each month. – “Over the past year it has become increasingly clear that a necessary if not sufficient condition for OPEC+ cohesion is alignment between not only Russia and Saudi Arabia, but also the UAE,” said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy and a former White House official, predicting a deal would be done. – The UAE’s dispute with OPEC+ centers around its demand for a higher production limit next year, in return for backing an extension of the cartel’s current agreement from April 2022 until December 2022. Read more. EXPERIENCE LIVING IN PIXEL Forward Living – The Pixel Pixel is the first mixed-use residential community at Makers District. Pixel offers its residents & visitors a unique space to enrich, collaborate & engage. Designed as human-scale, the 7 mixed-use residential towers surrounded by quiet pocket gardens have been strategically arranged around a vibrant pedestrianized plaza. Learn more. “Arab Spring Redux?” – Bloomberg Finally Connects The Dots, Higher Food Inflation Leads To Social Unrest | ZeroHedge — www.zerohedge.com Highlights: – Rapid food inflation played a considerable role in sparking unrest and ensuing revolutions in many Arab countries a decade ago. – Already, this month, unrest has broken out in Haiti, Cuba, and South Africa. – In South Africa, about 20% of the population suffers from severe food insecurity. Read more. Dr. Atie J. El Mouallem – Letter Requesting Donation for School — atiejelmouallem.com Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. It is on the main road between Btedhi and Chlifa. Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donations. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school. Learn more. Bitcoin Miners Building Rigs Must Navigate World of Crypto Power-Hunting – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – The Chinese miners forced to leave behind the country’s cheap electricity from abundant coal and roaring rivers have found themselves
July Second Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News
To understand the resilience of the elites, one must go back in history once and examine our past. — atiejelmouallem.com Most modern states were created to manage class conflicts and protect capital, but in Lebanon, it was created to manage sectarian conflict. It was designed to serve the sectarian division of power. As a result, social relations in Lebanon are institutionalised and privileges are highly contested in sectarian forms. Read more. Dr. Atie J. El Mouallem – Letter Requesting Donation for School — atiejelmouallem.com Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. It is on the main road between Btedhi and Chlifa. Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donations. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school. Know more Will the “second wave” of mergers and acquisitions in GCC banking continue to gather pace? | Bahrain 2021 | Oxford Business Group — oxfordbusinessgroup.com The first wave of M&A in GCC banking was prompted by the 2014 oil price crash. The coronavirus pandemic has given rise to the start of a second wave. The so-called second wave follows an earlier run of M&A in the region – seen most prominently in the UAE – triggered by the 2014 oil price slump. A particularly emblematic tie-up came in 2019 with the MENA region’s largest merger to date, between Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the Union National Bank and the Abu Dhabi-headquartered Islamic finance institution Al Hilal Bank. The merged entity became the UAE’s third-largest bank, with an estimated $114.4bn in assets. Saudi Arabia has also seen two major developments in recent times. In 2018 it was announced that Saudi British Bank and Alawwal Bank were to merge. Saudi National Bank was formed out of the merger of two leading institutions, after the National Commercial Bank last year combined with the Samba Financial Group in a $15bn deal. Masraf Al Rayan announced a potential merger with Al Khaliji Commercial Bank on June 30 last year. Qatar also saw some significant activity in terms of M&A. Read more. World’s Rich Steer Superyachts to Greece After Covid Reopening – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com The Aegean nation is at the top of the Bloomberg superyacht leaderboard for the first time, with at least 194 superyachts parked off its shores as of June 25. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron recently criticized Greece and other tourism-dependent nations for freely accepting visitors who have been inoculated with less effective Chinese and Russian vaccines. It reopened to foreign tourists on May 14 with no quarantine required, provided visitors have a vaccination certificate or proof of a negative Covid test. Read more. EXPERIENCE LIVING IN PIXEL Forward Living – The Pixel Pixel is the first mixed-use residential community at Makers District. Pixel offers its residents & visitors a unique space to enrich, collaborate & engage. Designed as human-scale, the 7 mixed-use residential towers surrounded by quiet pocket gardens have been strategically arranged around a vibrant pedestrianized plaza. Learn more. $DIDI Crackdown: Big Data Is the Latest U.S.-China Battleground – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Didi’s listing in the U.S. last week came just as Xi is looking for ways to control the vast reams of data held by China’s tech giants, in part to ensure the Communist Party spreads the wealth beyond a small circle of billionaires. That scrutiny awoke regulators in Beijing to the threat posed by private companies, prompting them to ban Didi from signing up new users days after it conducted the second-biggest American initial public offering for a Chinese company. More broadly, the crackdown shows how big data is quickly turning into the next major battleground in a clash of superpowers, with implications that potentially could reshape the global economy for decades to come. China risks losing access to deep capital markets abroad that can finance its push for technological superiority, while U.S. companies could find themselves cut off from investing in one the world’s top growth engines. We are in a moment where security concerns have taken precedence, due in part to changing geopolitical dynamics, as well as the ‘unknowns’ surrounding data-driven technologies,” said Tom Nunlist, a policy analyst at Beijing-based Trivium China. With the free flow of data, one country could do accurate profiling of the social situation of another country as well as targeted intelligence collection and analysis, thus threatening the latter’s national security.” Li Keshun, deputy head of a big data lab in the coastal province of Jiangsu, was quoted Discouraging overseas listings will help Xi keep China’s biggest companies aligned with the party’s goals, as also seen through Beijing’s move last year to scuttle Ant Group Co.’s $35 billion dual listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong at the 11th hour. Read more. Why the Swiss medical tourism sector is looking to tap into the GCC — gulfbusiness.com Switzerland’s robust healthcare system is among the best in the world. According to a 2018 Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI) ranking which surveyed 35 European countries, the Alpine nation came out on top with 893 out of a total of 1,000 points. Foreign patients represent around 2 per cent of total patients at Swiss hospitals. Wettstein says The main treatments solicited by foreign patients are in the oncology, cardiology, orthopaedics and rehabilitation categories. The main source countries for these foreign patients, according to Wettstein, are the GCC region, Russia (including the former Commonwealth of Independent States) and EU countries. Read more. Sudan Border Region Development Could Spark Africa’s Next War – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Sudan’s development of a disputed border region has the potential to kindle an agricultural
July First Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News
Dubai’s property market is feeling a post-pandemic rush for $10m+ homes | Property – Gulf News Highlights: – If there were 19 deals in the whole of 2020 in the range of $10 million and above, there were already 22 such between January and May this year. – Being cheaper is actually playing to Dubai’s advantage now. “The world’s wealthy have their eyes firmly set on the city, where a million dollars gets you five times more residential real estate than London, New York, or Singapore – which means accessing a luxury lifestyle is relatively more affordable”, said Durrani. – With over 42,000 million dollar homes, Dubai is second only to London. Read more. Mubadala, Bpifrance enter into Africa-focused co-investment partnership – GCC Business News — www.gccbusinessnews.com Highlights: – The agreement, which was confirmed on the occasion of the 13th session of the UAE-France Strategic Dialogue, will facilitate the deployment of up to $414.73 million through fund and direct investments in private equity and venture capital, with a focus on high-growth African startups, SMEs and mid-caps. – The duo has had a strong relationship since the launch of the French Emirati Fund in 2014 and the Innovation Partnership in 2017 with nearly $1.18 billion of joint investments in French companies (directly and through funds), and a $1.18 billion commitment by Mubadala into Bpifrance’s flagship Lac1 Fund dedicated to listed French multinationals. Read more. AlJurf Gardens Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Inquire here. How public-private sector collaboration will drive the region’s sustainability targets – Arabianbusiness Highlights: – Numerous studies reveal that the world is on course to warm by about 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2050 which could have serious economic consequences for the MENA region where water is already scarce. – The region’s governments are therefore taking several measures and initiatives to tackle climate change. – This includes the UAE’s energy strategy 2050, Saudi Arabia’s green initiative and Egypt’s 2030 strategy. – Amazon MENA took the first step in its sustainability road map on Tuesday by launching its first solar rooftop in the UAE atop its largest fulfilment centre DXB3. Read more. Real Estate: Investors Chasing Housing Target Massive Pools of Airbnb Rentals – Bloomberg Highlights: – Investors hunting for returns in the frenzied U.S. real estate market are tapping a new strategy: building massive portfolios of houses to rent out on Airbnb. – The business model has been proven, and now the opportunity is to do this at scale,” said Scott Shatford, CEO of AirDNA. – Airbnb’s rise over the last decade inspired a generation of entrepreneurs who buy, furnish and manage vacation rentals on a small scale. – Larger companies also sprung up, often focusing on managing properties as opposed to owning them. Read more. The Real Reason Millennials, Gen-Z Aren’t Becoming Bankers Goes Beyond the Hours – Bloomberg Highlights: – The real reason no one wants to work in banking isn’t just the terrible hours and a generational awakening. It’s that, like banks themselves, the work isn’t what it used to be. – It’s a far cry from the fast-paced, creative dealmaking that eager new hires imagined they’d be doing. – It’s true that frenzied trading over the past year has led to blowout earnings. Large volumes of deals, and the fees that go with them, have helped, too. But even if you find inspiration in the digitization of finance and fintech, the guts of the banking business remain plain-vanilla market-making and brokering. The sector is structurally stagnating. – The ethos of risk-taking and growth made work thrilling for hotshot graduates of top schools. Businesses that minted money doing things like proprietary trading and balance sheet lending have been relegated to the past. – As J.P. Morgan analysts wrote recently, increased regulation triggered more automation and led to “the human factor becoming less important unlike in a… highly bespoke world of financial industries. Read more. Instagram Influencer Hushpuppi’s Rise Was Allegedly Fueled by Cyber Scams — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – On Oct. 11, 2019, the day he turned 37, he was living in a penthouse apartment at the Palazzo Versace Dubai, with a private pool and hot tub on his lanai. – I have four jacuzzis in this house, a sauna, my private pool,” Abbas told the viewers back home. The apartment, he said, cost “hundreds of thousands of dollars for a year.” – What does it mean to deserve such fortune as Hushpuppi’s? What type of work is commensurate with the riches of private jets and $5,000 handbags? – The gambit was part of what’s known as a “business email compromise,” or BEC, attack: a lucrative, varied, and elusive scam the government claims Abbas and his co-conspirators have executed around the world. BEC scams are increasingly common and exceedingly difficult to stop. – The government says that Alaumary, Abbas, and a loose online confederation of other figures—a group that at times included North Korean state-sponsored hackers—targeted hundreds of millions of dollars in payouts from businesses and banks, including more than $100 million from a single Premier League soccer club. – BEC attacks started appearing roughly a half-dozen years ago, escalating each year until they surpassed all other forms of internet fraud. – For a crime that causes more losses than any other form of internet fraud—40% of the cybercrime take in the U.S., according to the FBI—BECs retain a strangely low profile. – Dubai police would announce that he’d been captured in one of six simultaneous raids that led to the arrests of 12 suspects. They claimed to have confiscated 47 phones, 21 laptops, $7 million worth of cars, and $40 million. – The Dubai police were so pleased with the raid they quickly
June Fourth Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News
Letter Requesting Donation for School Our Lady of the Tower School, Deir El Ahmar — atiejelmouallem.com Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. It is on the main road between Btedhi and Chlifa. Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donation. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school. Learn more. Why City of London remains prime spot for GCC investment – Arabianbusiness Highlights: – The Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell said that he estimated current investments from the GCC nations – Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and the UAE – are greater than 140bn ($195bn). – He believed future investments seem to be heading more toward green finance and fintech. – He said the prospect of an eventual trade deal with the GCC, which would collectively make it a bigger trading partner for the UK than China, would be a giant step forward. Read more. Davos is dead, and the coronavirus killed it | Financial Times — www.ft.com Highlights: – The Davos crowd seek quick fixes, takeaways, action points and deliverables, rather than dwelling on the thoroughly uncomfortable reality of our condition, for fear of going into depression or becoming paralysed by inertia. – We would be much better led and served by rotating committees of old-timers and trusted servants than by the present mix of plutocracy and kakistocracy of people-pleasers willing to say anything and to go to any length to stay in power. – Instead of meeting once a year in huge numbers at the top of the Magic Mountain, let us take part in ongoing, regular virtual processes in relatively small numbers over years, punctuated here and there with in-person gatherings down in the plains. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Inquire here Fledgling UAE rail network step towards bridging the Gulf | MENAFN.COM Highlights: – When completed, Etihad Rail will operate 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) of track connecting all of the emirates — from Ghweifat in the western region of Abu Dhabi to the emirate of Fujairah on the eastern coast — and link with neighbouring Saudi Arabia. – The long-term plan is to be part of a wider railway network that would connect all six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar as well as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. – So far there has been little progress on the multi-billion-dollar GCC railway, which has languished after a feasibility study was approved by the six countries back in 2004. – The Etihad Rail project will connect the country’s key centres of trade, industry and population. Read more. What the Crypto Crowd Doesn’t Understand About Economics – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Fiat currency won’t just go away, so over the long run crypto could actually boost the value of the dollar by stifling the rise of potential competitors. – A second point, oft-neglected in the crypto community, is that crypto prices won’t continue to go up forever at high rates. – If we eventually arrive at a world in which equities are expected to rise by say 5% to 7% a year, and Bitcoin by say 1%, then that will be a sign crypto has made it. The more general point is that while crypto has been a highly unusual asset class for its entire history, it won’t act like an unusual asset class forever. Read more. Mark Cuban Calls for Stablecoin Regulation After Trading Token That Crashed to Zero — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Here’s a chart you never want to see. It’s of the Defi Titanium token, which in one day went from being valued at around $60 to $0. – As for what triggered this collapse? According to Rekt.news, the TITAN coin had become wildly overpriced (you can see that surge on the chart). Then people began selling it — triggering a high amount of volatility, overwhelming arbitrage opportunities and causing everyone to run to the door. – Mark Cuban writes in to talk about his experience and that, among other things, he thinks regulation should be put in place to define what a stablecoin actually is. Read more. Rich Russian Sued Rothschild Bank in New York Claiming Fraud Over Oil Fortune – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Hovering over the case is the allure of Swiss banks as the world’s safest repositories of wealth. – In 2001 Bogdanchikov, 63 chose the Luxembourg unit to manage his money, attracted by its pedigree and the duchy’s low-tax regime, according to the lawsuit. – Bogdanchikov, who is suing the bank through his family investment company, never gave it the authority to override his investment directions, he claims in the lawsuit. – Ultimately Bogdanchikov learned that Thewes had duped him with false account statements for years, he alleges in the lawsuit. – He lost more than $81 million and tens of millions more in growth he would have enjoyed with prudent management, according to the complaint. – Filimonov and OIM proved to be terrible investment advisors, as one would expect from an investment firm selected by Rothschild based on its willingness to participate in a kickback scheme,” Bogdanchikov alleges. Read more. Shrinkflation Is the Grocery Store’s Inflation Secret – Bloomberg Highlights:
June Third Week Newsletter of World and GCC Business and Finance News – Issue #10
Letter Requesting Donation for School Our Lady of the Tower School, Deir El Ahmar — atiejelmouallem.com Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. It is on the main road between Btedhi and Chlifa. Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due to the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we require your generous attention in the form of donation. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school. Learn more Saudi Arabian Hospitality Firms Weigh $2.4 Billion Merger – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Taiba Investment Co. and Dur Hospitality Co. are in talks to combine their businesses, potentially forming a company with a market value of about $2.4 billion in Saudi Arabia’s real estate, hospitality and investment industry. – Taiba and Dur said the discussions are preliminary and may not lead to a combination. – The Public Investment Fund holds stakes in both companies and is part of a push to get firms to combine, creating bigger and more efficient entities. Read more. Entrepreneur defies Lebanon’s crises with tech hub | Business , Local | THE DAILY STAR — www.dailystar.com.lb Highlights: – The entrepreneur’s company, MultiLane, produces testing and measurement equipment for data centre infrastructure, and its international clients include Microsoft, Apple, and Google. – Everything is conceived, designed and built out of Lebanon,” said Daou. – Daou has had to overcome numerous challenges, for example building his own solar power supply so as not to rely on the state electricity grid. He manages to export his products successfully. – Global technology companies “select and choose to work with Lebanon knowing that Lebanon is a high-risk country, so we have to offer twice as much in terms of value proposition, in terms of innovation, time to market. We have to work harder,” he said. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Inquire here. Crypto, Meme Stocks: Michael Burry Warns About ‘Mother of All Crashes’ – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Michael Burry, who became a household name after his winning bet against mortgages was featured in “The Big Short,” issued a series of tweets on Thursday warning individual investors about losses “the size of countries” in the event of crypto and meme-stock declines. – All hype/speculation is doing is drawing in retail before the mother of all crashes,” Burry wrote on Twitter before the posts were deleted. “When crypto falls from trillions, or meme stocks fall from tens of billions, #MainStreet losses will approach the size of countries. History ain’t changed.” Read more. Meme Stocks Like GameStop and AMC Aren’t New, But Their Fans Are – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Trading apps offering zero commissions and fractional shares have opened markets to everyone, no matter how humble their savings. Armed with those new tools, ordinary investors are meeting online to pool their money and take on hedge funds that bet against companies like GameStop or lift the fortunes of beleaguered businesses like AMC. – Get used to meme stocks because they’re not going away. – What’s new is that the power to move markets once reserved for Wall Street is now in the hands of anyone with a dollar and a smartphone. Read more. Xi Jinping Picks Top Lieutenant to Lead China’s Chip Battle Against U.S. — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Liu He, Xi’s economic czar whose sprawling portfolio spans trade to finance and technology, has been tapped to spearhead the development of so-called third-generation chip development and capabilities and is leading the formulation of a series of financial and policy supports for the technology. – China is the world’s largest user of chips, so supply chain security is of high priority,” said Gu Wenjun, chief analyst at research firm ICwise. – About a trillion dollars of government funding have been set aside under the technology initiative, part of which will be used by central and local governments to jointly invest in a series of third-generation chip projects. Read more. The Coming Solar-Panel Crisis Could Be Less About Price and More About Xinjiang – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – Panel modules that cost $1,870 per kilowatt in 2010 were changing hands for $163 per kW last year, turning photovoltaic, or PV, power from an expensive curiosity into a technology that’s remaking the energy system. – That trend has come juddering to a halt in recent months. The price of panel modules is up nearly 15% so far this quarter. – Raw materials are to blame. Prices for polysilicon, the shiny, semi-metallic substance from which both solar panels and computer chips are made, have been surging. – At $29.41 a kilogram, PV-grade polysilicon is now as expensive as it’s been since 2012, and costs nearly three times its $10.57/kilogram price at the end of last year. – The good news is that a vast amount of polysilicon capacity is due to hit the market over the coming years. Supply by Chinese manufacturers will increase by about 76% through 2023. – There’s one problem with that rosy prospect. About a third of the new capacity will be in Xinjiang, China’s vast western region where the Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups have been victimized. Read more. America Should Become a Nation of Renters – Bloomberg Highlights: – A nation of renters is not something to fear. In fact, it’s the opposite. – Slowly but surely, most
June Second Week Newsletter of Business and Finance News – Issue #9
Letter Requesting Donation for School Our Lady of the Tower School, Deir El Ahmar — atiejelmouallem.com Our school “Lady of the Tower School for the Sisters of the Holy Family” is located in Bekaa- Lebanon in the district of Deir El Ahmar. It is on the main road between Btedhi and Chlifa. Its ultimate goal is our children’s spiritual and educational lives. From 1932 till now, our school still taking care of poor children, but due the economic circumstances in Lebanon in general, and in our school in particular, we requires your generous attention in the form of donation. Your donation and help can bring a smile to thousands of faces by helping them to achieve a good life and to continue their learning in our school. Learn more on how you can help. France Considering a Currency Board For Lebanon | Blog Baladi Highlights: – Annahar reported yesterday that the French President is considering establishing a currency board for Lebanon in case everything falls apart. Talks about a currency board had emerged earlier this year when Steve H. Hanke, an American applied economist at Johns Hopkins University, suggested such a solution to help establish confidence and stability immediately. Read more. Crypto Finally Has a Reason to Exist: Decentralized Finance – Bloomberg Highlights: – The core use case for crypto is called DeFi, a recently coined abbreviation for “decentralized finance.” DeFi doesn’t have a formal definition, but it typically includes the use of the blockchain to borrow and lend using auction markets; to trade in unconventional derivatives; to trade one set of crypto assets against another; and for unusual forms of insurance. The profit opportunities arise in part because the blockchain eliminates the need for traditional financial intermediaries, with their fees and associated regulations. – There could be $100 billion invested in DeFi right now. More important, these systems are growing rapidly. Reliable numbers are difficult to come by, but by one account DeFi grew sevenfold in just a few months in 2020, to a total value of $7 billion. – One criticism of DeFi is that it is effectively regulatory arbitrage, bypassing useful laws and restrictions in the quest for higher private gain. – You could say that crypto is a Trojan horse of a new and quite different financial system. Read more. IMF Sees Risks After El Salvador Makes Bitcoin Legal Tender – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – El Salvador’s congress approved a law this week requiring businesses to accept Bitcoin in exchange for goods and services. President Nayib Bukele said the digital currency will help counter El Salvador’s low banking penetration and cut the cost of sending remittances. – The plans for Bitcoin under an increasingly autocratic regime will likely only compound concerns about corruption, money laundering and the independence of regulatory agencies,” Siobhan Morden, head of Latin America Fixed Income Strategy at Amherst Pierpont, wrote in a note. Read more. Richest People in Asia Pour Into Singapore’s Billionaire Playground During Covid – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – For rich people “who can decide where they want to live and settle down, Singapore is a place of choice now,” said Stephan Repkow, who founded Wealth Management Alliance in 2015. – On a per capita basis, the mortality rates in Malaysia and Indonesia are more than 10 and 30 times higher than in Singapore, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. – The number of single family offices in the city-state has doubled since the end of 2019 to about 400, including firms recently set up by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Shu Ping, the billionaire behind Chinese hotpot empire Haidilao International Holding Ltd. – It’s given enough jabs for 30% of the population, almost twice the rate in China and even further ahead of neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia. – One top banker who declined to be identified said Chinese clients ranked first among new account openings, followed by those from India and Indonesia. – Singapore makes it relatively easy for the super rich to settle. Through its Global Investors Program, the country grants a fast-track to permanent residency to qualified business owners or families. – The government also introduced a new investment vehicle last year, known as the Variable Capital Company, making it more attractive for family offices, hedge funds and private equity firms to set up shop. Read more. The Bottom 90% of Americans Are Borrowing From the Top 1% – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – By forcing interest rates down, extreme wealth inequality pushes the U.S. economy toward a “debt trap” that’s hard to escape with conventional macroeconomic tools, write Atif Mian of Princeton, Ludwig Straub of Harvard, and Amir Sufi of the University of Chicago in an important paper that came out earlier this year, titled “Indebted Demand.” – Here’s their concept: The rich can’t possibly spend everything they earn, so they save a lot. In theory those savings can be recycled into productive investment, but in practice a lot of the money finances borrowing—i.e., dissaving—by people farther down the income ladder. – The lending from rich to poor can be indirect. For example, let’s say a rich person buys shares issued by a company. The company stashes the proceeds in a bank. The bank in turn makes a loan to a non-rich person to buy a car or a house. Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. Inflation Outlook: Economist Roger Bootle Sees Consumer Prices Surge After Covid – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com Highlights: – While most central bankers seem content the higher gains are transitory, some economists are sounding the alarm. – How high inflation will go, and for how long, that’s debatable. –
June First Week Newsletter of Business and Finance News – Issue #8
Dr. Atie J. El Mouallem – A Currency Board could stop Hyper Inflation in Lebanon — atiejelmouallem.com “Inflation in Lebanon fell to 121.7 percent in April 2021 from 158.9 percent in the previous month.” “It seems unlikely that this trend of lowering inflation will continue as the government considers an end to subsidies.” “The burden of devaluation hits the poor and middle class the hardest. Their purchasing power declines and inequality increases. In addition, negative coping mechanisms such as more child labour, more child marriages and cutting down on food are adopted to detrimental effect.” “A Currency Board is essentially an independent authority created by law whose sole function is to stabilise the exchange rate of the currency and control the money supply.” “Lebanon has the second-highest gold reserves per capita after Switzerland and ranks 20th in the world with 286.6 tonnes of gold worth $18 billion.” Read more. Lebanon Economic Monitor, Spring 2021: Lebanon Sinking (to the Top 3) — www.worldbank.org “The Lebanon financial and economic crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, possibly top three, most severe crises episodes globally since the mid-nineteenth century. “ “This is a conclusion of the Spring 2021 Lebanon Economic Monitor (LEM) in which the Lebanon crisis is contrasted with the most severe global crises episodes as observed by Reinhart and Rogoff (2014) over the 1857–2013 period” “Lebanon’s GDP plummeted from close to US$ 55 billion in 2018 to an estimated US$ 33 billion in 2020, with US$ GDP/ capita falling by around 40 percent.” Read more. UAE, Japan to launch business council “Al Zeyoudi said that the partnership between the UAE and Japan is reflected by positive economic indexes, with the value of Japanese direct investments in the UAE since the start of 2020 totalling $4.01bn, a growth of 22.6 per cent from 2015 until 2020.” “Japan is ranked tenth globally among the list of countries investing in the UAE, and eighth globally in terms of non-oil trade, which reached $8.95bn in the first ten months of 2020, he added.” Read more. Living at AlJurf Find Out More About Living at AlJurf AlJurf Gardens harnesses nature’s raw beauty and combines it with refined heritage-inspired architecture and contemporary design to present a sanctuary of wellness and calm. Throughout the villa spaces, the refined and controlled raw beauty of nature is repeated in different scales, to showcase its exquisiteness across every typology of homes, gardens and courtyards. Learn more. Billionaires Are Giving Away Their Money. Here’s Where It’s Going – Bloomberg “After her divorce in 2019, MacKenzie Scott gave away almost $6 billion to hundreds of charitable groups, while her ex, Jeff Bezos, pledged $10 billion for an “Earth Fund” to fight climate change — by far the largest amounts given or pledged by either of them.” “Some choose to use structures, called donor-advised funds, that allow them to park money and get the immediate tax benefits of giving, and decide later where to send the gifts.” Read more. Stimulus Checks 2021: Is Government Cash as Economic Policy Here to Stay? – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com “In the new economics, fiscal policy took over from monetary policy. Governments channelled cash directly to households and businesses and ran up record budget deficits. Central banks played a secondary and supportive role—buying up the ballooning government debt and other assets, keeping borrowing costs low, and insisting that this was no time to worry about inflation.” “Instead, the U.S. government stepped in to insulate them from its worst effects in a way that hadn’t really been tried before: by replacing the wages that millions of newly out-of-work Americans were no longer receiving from employers.” “The second quarter of 2020, a time when economic activity—measured by the conventional gauge of gross domestic product—was shrinking at the fastest pace on record, U.S. household income actually went up.” “Direct payments to low-income households could be a powerful new tool to protect people at the bottom of the economic ladder from the wealth destruction that always accompanies downturns. Now that they’ve been used in one recession, it will be hard to argue that they shouldn’t be used in the next one, according to J.W. Mason, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.” “THE PROMINENCE of such transfer payments during the pandemic highlights another big shift in economics: the handover of power from monetary to fiscal policy and the receding role of the inflation-fighting central bank.” Read more. The Lex Greensill-David Cameron Scandal Isn’t Quite Done Yet – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com “Senior officials at the Treasury and the Bank of England — guardians of the U.K. economy and financial stability — did little to prevent Greensill from tapping funds, some of which were funnelled into dicey loans.” “Nevertheless, the firm was able to use a different government scheme to loan 400 million pounds ($568 million) of taxpayer-backed funds to Gupta’s companies that may never be repaid.” “The Department for Business and its lending arm, the British Business Bank, were responsible for disbursing these funds to Greensill.” “BOE had been warned by Germany’s financial supervisor that Greensill’s German bank was also heavily exposed to Gupta. All of this happened well before Cameron began his barrage of lobbying.” “A parliamentary inquiry — which was given reams of correspondence and hours of testimony from witnesses — has failed to determine a clear link between the lobbying efforts of Johnson’s predecessor, David Cameron, and Greensill Capital’s access to the U.K.’s pandemic loan schemes.” India and Pakistan Are Now Poorer Than Bangladesh – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com “Bangladesh has maintained a public debt-to-GDP ratio between 30% and 40%. India and Pakistan will both emerge from the pandemic with public debt close to 90% of GDP.” “Bangladesh is 45% richer than Pakistan.” “Bangladesh’s Cabinet Secretary told reporters that GDP per capita had grown by 9% over the past year, rising to $2,227.” “India’s per capita income in 2020-21 was a mere $1,947.” “Bangladesh’s success brings its own set of problems. For one, its exports benefit