Right off the bat, we want to make it clear that when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization has made absolutely terrible mistakes, from downplaying the danger associated with the virus at the very beginning to the confusing attitude when it comes to recommending (or not recommending) masks and the list
Controversies
24
Jul
Jul
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(Why) Did China Handle the Coronavirus Situation Better Than the West?
Even when it comes to the worst calamities, pandemics included, the dust does eventually settle and once that happens, observers as well as (or especially) decision-makers need to put their rational thinking caps and dissect what happened over the past months in a manner as void of emotion as possible. What went wrong? What was
14
Jul
Jul
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Was the Coronavirus Crisis a Black or White Swan Event?
Time and time again, experts have referred to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a black swan event, something that essentially appears out of the blue and catches us completely off-guard. Nassim Taleb, the thinker who popularized the “black swan” concept, however, would beg to differ. Furthermore, those who have read the book through which he
09
Jun
Jun
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Are Derivatives a Ticking Time Bomb and How Vulnerable Is China?
Warren Buffett (in)famously referred to derivatives as financial weapons of mass destruction and, indeed, it is hard to argue against this description after seeing how derivatives did indeed risk bringing down the financial system in the aftermath of the Great Recession, with the “Mortgage-Backed Security + Credit Default Swap” equation representing the elephant in the
07
Jun
Jun
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Hard and Soft Landing Scenarios for China in the Context of Unprecedented Economic Interconnectedness
If we eliminate the time dimension from the equation, it isn’t the least bit difficult to state (in a quasi-axiomatic manner), that whenever there are imbalances when it comes to a certain nation, the market will ultimately figure out a way to re-establish balance. For example, if a country is overly indebted, the market will
04
Jun
Jun
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Marxism-Leninism in China: Foundation or Ideological Ballast?
In light of the fact that the very first ideology of the Communist Party of China was Marxism-Leninism, many less than thorough investors make the mistake of believing that today’s China is run in the spirit of the ideology in question. Is that true? To put it differently, is socialism with Chinese characteristics perfectly in
02
Jun
Jun
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The Xinjiang Conflict and China’s Uyghur Minority: Domestic and Global Implications
The Xinjiang conflict (with Xinjiang being an autonomous region located in the far-northwest of China) has been brewing in one way or another since 1931, in light of the fact that clashes started emerging between Muslim minorities (especially Uyghurs) and the Han Chinese population. Such situations can be found in many countries, where a minority
01
Jun
Jun
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Will China Ever Respect Human Rights by Western Standards?
Whenever such sensitive topics pop up, authors are tempted to start an article with a highly nuanced first paragraph, usually one which explains how complex and open to interpretation from various angles a certain topic is. When it comes to this article, in the spirit of being blunt to the point of brutally honest, we
23
May
May
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Incompetence in China: Causes, Context and Coping Mechanisms
Whether you are interested in setting up shop in China or in simply gaining exposure to Chinese assets in a (relatively) passive manner, the ChinaFund.com team believes in being upfront and making it clear right off the bat that yes, incompetence will represent one of the major issues you will undoubtedly come across and to
19
May
May
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Antitrust in China: The Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) and Its Enforcement
From tacking monopolies to discouraging the formation of cartels (a type of oligopoly) and acting as a collusion deterrent, the antitrust dimension of a legislative system has received quite a bit of attention in Western jurisdictions such as the United States, European Union and so on. Why? Simply because the three phenomenon types mentioned previously