Newsletter By 2020-06-22
The spread of Covid-19 around the world has hit the global economy hard and increased pessimism about the prospect of another Great Depression. Looking back at the history, there has always been the rise of "government interventionism" after each economic crisis. In order to systematically bail out people and businesses, the state government, even in the United States and the United Kingdom that place the most importance on free markets, had to step up their efforts to cope with a crisis that free markets cannot bear alone. The Great Depression of the United States in the 1930s drove the birth of the "Roosevelt New Deal" model in which the government intervened more in the economy. Now, more than 80 years later, the economies, including the United States, has been again at risk of a recession incurred by the pandemic, getting back the model with government intervention increased.
>>【INTERVIEW】 Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s leading financial centre is being undermined by politics. Can it survive? ANBOUND's Chief Researcher
Chan Kung who was interviewed by Asiamoney said that a robust financial industry needs a free environment. Hong Kong remains important for the Chinese government, in large part because of its plans to develop the Greater Bay Area (GBA). This requires the long-term stability of Hong Kong, otherwise it will have a serious impact on Shenzhen and Guangdong. To learn more to click
here.
On 17 June, Yi Wang, ANBOUND’s Head of Global Development Program hosted an insightful dialogue with Takahiro Sekido from MUFG Bank in Tokyo, who is Chief Japan Strategist for Global JPY Strategy Research. In this episode, both talked about how this coronavirus pandemic affected Asian economies and policy measures, e.g. fiscal stimulus for large-scale issuance of government bonds. What will the regional cooperation and competition between China and Japan in the wake of COVID19? What about investment trends and cross-border capital flows in ASEAN countries? How to achieve the right balance and economic sustainability?
>>Concerning the impact of the George Floyd incident on U.S. election, ANBOUND’s international relations researchers noted that the following points shall be paid attention by all concerned analysis: (1) The Trump administration has once again demonstrated a populist leader’s incompetency in responding to the death of George Floyd; (2) The U.S. government's response has further triggered a split within the Republican Party; (3) Joe Biden has benefitted from this incident; (4) The impact of the incident on the 2020 U.S. election isn’t over. As the case of "George Flyod incident" is changing the landscape of the U.S. election, and it does not look likely that Trump will be triumphant in this round.
>>In the reality of urban development in China, there is indeed a "street-stall economy" possibly to come out in a chaotic, disordered manner, but street-stalls themselves are not necessarily the troubles. Chinese urban governors shall transform their simplistic thinking of "prohibition" and "restriction", and make their thoughts more refined to address the development in cities. From the perspective of the urban practices in developed economies, there have been many successful examples to take rational use of public spaces like "street stalls" to serve as inspirations that push the urban’s prosperity and vitality.
>>The Science Citation Index (SCI) is a citation index that has served the world's scientific community for the decades. It is also a core indicator in judging scientific research achievements in China and is held in high respect. Yet, the SCI and its impact factor are not without problems, as the denominator can be manipulated through diluting of content, or through direct negotiations. In addition, the numerator can also be manipulated through (i) publishing the general review; (ii) self and mutual citation; (iii) inclusion of non-academic content in journals. The SCI and impact factors that have long influenced the Chinese scientific community have caused the community to subscribe to it religiously, yet the SCI-impact factor myth is one that is full of problems, and it is high time that the myth is debunked.
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