Shoppers browse at a discount store in Tokyo. Hit by the trade war, the Japanese economy expanded by just 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2019. Photo: Reuters
Neal Kimberley, SCMP: A protracted trade war may be the final blow that will sink the indebted world economy
* Global debt is growing faster than the global economy, which is simply not sustainable
* And as the US-China trade war drags on, major economies that are reliant on the global supply chain are running just to stay in the same place
With global debt rising, the world economy has to run just to stand still, like Alice in Through the Looking-Glass. It might seem odd to reference Lewis Carroll’s 1871 children’s book but Alice’s experience in the looking-glass world has a modern-day resonance for the economy. It also underlines the world’s urgent need for Beijing and Washington to reach an accommodation on trade.
In Carroll’s book, Alice gets into a race with the Red Queen, only to find that, although she runs faster and faster, she gets nowhere.
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 19, 2019
How the US and EU could facilitate a free internet for Iran -- Fabian Schmidt, DW
Is peace coming to Yemen? -- Imad K Harb, Al Jazeera
Erdoğan Talks Tough on Nuclear Weapons as Turkey goes Ballistic -- Micha'el Tanchum, TPQ
Why Jamaica wants to call time on Chinese borrowing -- Albert Han, SCMP
Hong Kong on the 'Brink' City Edges Toward Precipice as Violence Escalates -- Georg Fahrion and Bernhard Zand, Spiegel Online
My beloved Hong Kong has become a war zone and daily life is full of anxiety -- Verna Yu, The Guardian
American universities the new Sino-US battleground -- Christina Lin, Asia Times
China, Capitalism, and the New Cold War -- Nils Gilman, The Atlantic
Zimbabwe, the land where cash barons thrive -- BBC
Britain’s Angriest Election? -- Sunder Katwala, King's College
The Political Role of the Russian Orthodox Church -- Marcel H. Van Herpen, National Interest
Iran's Internet Shutdown Is A Stark Warning For Russians -- Zak Doffman, Forbes
The Common Element Uniting Worldwide Protests -- Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic