The US and China are at odds over Taiwan

Pelosi’s visit clarifies: Here, too, democracy stands against autocracy, as in Ukraine. Russia surpasses its partner China in imperialist demeanor: first Ukraine, then Moldova, then Georgia, then the Arctic – this is how the statements of the Kremlin kleptocrats seem.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as “artificial states”. The USSR is alive again in both strategy papers and well-known minds.

Although she does not travel to the island, which used to be called “Formosa”, she talks like Pelosi: Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. In New York, she now announced: “We do not accept when international law is broken and a larger neighbor attacks its smaller neighbor in violation of international law – and of course that also applies to China.” learned on February 24 that aggressive rhetoric can lead to dangerous action.” China’s comments on Taiwan “raised serious questions”.

Wang Lutong, head of the Europe department in China’s foreign ministry, even officially complained to the new German ambassador in Beijing, Patricia Flor. People spoke of Baerbock’s “false comments” and repeated what freedom enemies always say at such moments: Taiwan is an “internal matter of China”.

Like the weather, the stock market is currently prone to extremes. In the hectic ups and downs, forecasts are corrected. Yesterday evening in Germany: Thumbs down for the wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, thumbs up for the fragrance maker Symrise.

Groups from the Dax, MDax and SDax shocked their shareholders 26 times in the first half of the year with profit or sales warnings (Adidas, Henkel, Fresenius et al.). On the other hand, corporations have reported better forecasts no less than 74 times, including Linde and RWE.

In my opinion, this is where the power of large oligopolies often shows: They dominate their markets, can easily raise prices due to insufficient competition and report higher profits. The crisis is your chance. What pleases shareholders must frighten citizens.

Baku was once remote from world events in authoritarian Azerbaijan, an oil metropolis in the backyard of the global economy, at best illuminated by a hit competition (ESC 2012). Vladimir Putin’s war is turning the Caspian Sea city into a Silk Road winner.

That is what our report describes. One is already dreaming the dream of the second Dubai. Since the fastest transport route between China and Western Europe via Russia/Ukraine is currently not available, transit traffic via Baku will increase sixfold in 2022. In 2021 the Port of Baku still had 45,000 standard containers, in five years it should be half a million.

It could be even better if the route no longer leads through Georgia, but through Armenia, which is geographically more favorable but hostile. Baku also presents itself as a flight hub – from here it goes to Hahn Airport, the new hot spot on the Silk Road in the Hunsrück.

In the current bidding war of doom projections and apocalyptic scenarios, John Mallory stands out as a messenger of optimism. Well, maybe that’s part of the job description as co-head of global private wealth management at Goldman Sachs. And yet he has some compelling arguments as to why US inflation is about to peak. In the Handelsblatt interview, the banker says about…

• recession: “What is decisive, especially for the financial markets and for our customers, is how severe a recession is and how long it lasts. And because of the robust labor market and the fact that consumer demand has fallen but is still relatively high, we don’t see any major danger at the moment.”
• the right investment strategy: “We have long and consistently advised our clients to stay invested and focus on US equities. 2022 was very difficult, and US stocks also lost around 20 percent across the board in the first half of the year. But you have to think long-term, and that’s what our wealthy customers do.”
• the feeling of insecurity in Germany: “This is due to the geographic proximity to Ukraine and the fact that concerns about the energy supply are more pronounced here than in the USA. In addition, Germany has its own history with inflation, people have long memories, fears of rapidly rising prices are more pronounced here.”

Conclusion: There are no limits, neither for thoughts nor for feelings, the film director Ingmar Bergman once said: “It is fear that always sets limits.”

And then there’s the singer Taylor Swift, 32, number one in pop – and on the hit list of eco-sinners. In any case, this is the result of an evaluation by the US digital agency Yard. She persistently lists which celebrities attract attention with their own private jets. According to this, the artist Swift has blown up 170 times since the beginning of the year, the balance of emissions: 8293.54 tons of CO2, around 1100 times more than an average person.

Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian and Travis Scott are also among the most sinful flight offenders. Angry fans can follow the green behavior on the automated Celeb Jets Twitter account. A spokesman for Taylor Swift explains that the star singer regularly borrows her private jet. The fact that she made all 170 flights herself is “blatantly wrong”.

Which brings us to Sigmund Freud at the end of this wake-up call: “There is no such thing as 100% truth any more than 100% alcohol.”

I wish you a pleasant day with, shall we say, a lot of truthfulness.
It greets you cordially
Her
Hans Jürgen Jakobs
Senior editor