China’s Economy, Canada’s Beef, Conspiracies, & Chess Masters

December 13, 2024

Hello, readers – happy Friday! Today, we’ll be talking about China’s economy, Time’s Person of the Year, Europe’s economy, Canada’s beef with the U.S., a January 6 investigation, Big Tech’s love for Trump, and a chess master.

Here’s some good news to hold you over this weekend: New Jersey signed a law to prohibit public and school libraries from banning books in the state and to protect librarians who comply with the law. Next, Google will collaborate with developers to build data centers powered by renewable energy generated on-site. Also, President Biden, in the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, commuted the sentences of 1,500 people and pardoned 39 more. Finally, the CFPB issued a rule to limit bank and credit union lending fees that it says will save consumers $5 billion annually.

“If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.” – Lucy Larcom

Beijing’s Bailout Begins

(Real estate in Hangzhou by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The economy isn’t looking too good anywhere at the moment, but 2024 has definitely not been kind to China. The country’s real estate sector began collapsing in 2021, but the crisis has continued into this year, with knock-on effects dragging down the rest of the economy and stifling growth.

On Thursday, China’s cabinet announced that the government would be enacting new economic stimulus measures aimed at jolting the country’s markets. According to an official announcement, those stimulus policies would include allowing the government to operate with a bigger deficit, increasing the government’s borrowing limit, and lowering interest rates. The country’s state broadcaster said China “will need to maintain economic growth and maintain overall stability of employment and prices next year.”

“We hope that we can at least keep things stable” isn’t a ringing endorsement for the country’s economic condition, but maybe some citizens will appreciate the honesty. In September, Beijing implemented multiple stimulus measures, including one $1.4 trillion bailout for local governments that are unable to pay workers.

Trump Makes Time For Time

If we had a nickel for every time Donald Trump was selected as Time’s Person of the Year after beating a female Democrat in a presidential election, we’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s still weird it’s happened – twice in eight years, to be exact. In celebration of winning the very meaningful and prestigious award, Trump was interviewed by the magazine.

During the interview, Trump dropped a few insights into his government’s plans. He promised that the American military would be used to carry out deportations of immigrants (and described illegal immigration as an “invasion of our country”), and also suggested that his administration might do away with certain childhood vaccination requirements.

Concerningly for even non-immigrant Americans, the president-to-be appeared ready to give up on one of his campaign’s main promises. When asked if his second term would be a “failure” if he wasn’t able to lower grocery prices for average citizens, Trump deflected and blamed Biden for the high cost of groceries. “Look, they got them up,” he said. “I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.” That’s definitely not winner talk, folks.

All The Same Under The Sun (And Across The Pond)

(European Central Bank by Thomas Lohnes via Getty Images)

Yesterday, the European Central Bank cut interest rates for the fourth time this year amidst concerns about the continent’s economy. The ECB’s 0.25% rate cut brings interest rates down to just 3%, which will hopefully allow money to flow more freely throughout the region. The move is a response to November’s inflation rates remaining just a little bit above the bank’s target of 2%, signaling that the European economy might be stabilizing.
Bank officials said that they predict inflation will hover around 2.1% next year – a massive improvement from the 10% rate that Europe faced in 2022. Officials are looking to balance their need to rein in inflation with the desire to strengthen European trade, which has flagged over the past few years. “The governing council is determined to ensure that inflation stabilizes sustainably at its 2 percent medium-term target,” said the bank in a statement, and the bank’s president noted that keeping the Eurozone from “losing momentum” is another top priority.

Just Don’t Cut Off The Maple Syrup

It looks like we’re adding threats to the list of items traded over the Canada-U.S. border. Yesterday, the premier of Ontario threatened to cut off his province’s energy exports to the U.S. in response to President-elect Trump’s threat to impose a 25% on all imports from Canada. Premier Doug Ford announced the policy after a meeting on Wednesday involving Canada’s provincial premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy — going down to Michigan, going down to New York State and over to Wisconsin. I don’t want this to happen, but my number one job is to protect Ontarians and Canadians as a whole,” he said. “We need to be ready. We need to be ready to fight. This fight is coming 100% on Jan. 20th or Jan. 21.” Canada supplies about 60% of all the crude oil that the U.S. imports.

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No Conspiracy But Some Incompetence

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a long-awaited report about the January 6 insurrection – specifically, the FBI’s involvement in the events of the day. The report uncovered no evidence that federal agents were involved in inciting the riot and no evidence that FBI undercover employees were in the crowd.
Despite that good news for FBI on that front, the inspector general’s office determined that the FBI failed to canvass its field offices ahead of the event to identify any intelligence, including from informants, about potential threats. This is, usually, common practice for the bureau ahead of a large event.

Big Tech Writes Big Checks

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, confirmed yesterday that it has donated $1 million to President-elect Trump’s inaugural fund. It’s not unusual for corporations to contribute to presidential inaugurations, but neither Meta nor its CEO Mark Zuckerberg donated to Trump’s first inaugural fund, or to President Biden’s fund in 2021.
Elon Musk, Trump’s BFF, didn’t seem overly pleased with having to share. Conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair replied to a post announcing Meta’s donation to claim that Meta is “actively censoring conservatives right now.” Musk then shared her post with the caption “Concerning,” though it’s unclear whether he meant the alleged censorship or the donation.
Sources also revealed yesterday evening that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is set to meet with Trump in the coming days – oh, and the retail giant will also be donating a cool mil to the inaugural fund. Watch out, Big Tech leaders – you might all trip over each other trying to get a bit of Trump’s attention.

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A New King On The Board

There’s a new kid on the chess block. 18-year-old Indian chess prodigy Gukesh Dommaraju became the youngest chess world champion in history yesterday after his victory over defending world champion Ding Liren. Dommaraju secured 7.5 points against Ding’s 6.5 with his victory in yesterday’s final match held in Singapore.
Dommaraju has been a rising star in the chess world ever since he became a grandmaster at the tender age of 12. He also became the youngest-ever person to participate as a challenger in the chess world championship after winning the Candidates tournament earlier this year.
“I was dreaming [of] this moment for the last 10 years. I am happy that I realized the dream into reality,” he told reporters after taking in his victory for a few moments. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the new world champ on his win, saying that Dommaraju’s victory was “the result of his unparalleled talent, hard work and unwavering determination.”

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