Dollars vs Decency: Is China Taking Over New Zealand? | 60 Minutes Australia

In calling out China for its increasing aggression, human rights violations and COVID cover-ups, Australia is paying a hefty price for storming the high moral ground. A furious Beijing is doing everything it can, using trade tariffs to punish us economically. But across the Tasman it’s a completely different story. New Zealand has been much more circumspect – critics say weak – when it comes to its relationship with China. However, the tactic is being rewarded. Trade with China is booming, and the Kiwi economy is flying high. Despite the apparent prosperity, questions are being asked about the ethics of prioritising dollars over decency. And it’s clearly a touchy subject as reporter Tom Steinfort discovered when he tried to discuss the issue with an uncharacteristically sensitive New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

How These Aussie Neighbours Became Billionaires by Outsmarting the Big Banks | 60 Minutes Australia

Seven years ago, Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen were neighbours in Sydney. One day they got chatting, as good neighbours do, and came up with a simple idea that would ultimately outsmart greedy credit card companies and banks. Today Nick and Anthony are not only business partners, they’re billionaires. And that idea they had? It’s the financial phenomenon now called AfterPay, a revolutionary payment platform transforming the way people shop around the world.

Shares in Alt-milk Maker Oatly Surge on US Stock Market Debut

THE GUARDIAN: Swedish firm valued at $13bn as investors bet on soaring demand for plant-based food alternatives

Shares in Oatly have surged by 30% on the company’s US stock market debut, valuing the alt-milk maker at $13bn (£9.2bn), as investors bet runaway demand from consumers for plant-based food alternatives will continue.

Oatly is using the money from the initial public offering to expand its global network of factories, enabling it to quadruple production from 350m litres of oat milk a year to 1.4bn in two years. Its plans include a large site in Peterborough, East Anglia.

Toni Petersson, Oatly’s chief executive, said demand for its oat milk had “completely exploded” during the pandemic with the company currently experiencing “triple-digit growth on three continents”. The company’s sales doubled from $204m in 2019 to $421m last year, although losses widened from $35.6m to $60.4m. » | Zoe Wood | Thursday, May 20, 2021

The 30% One-day Fall in Bitcoin’s Value Looks Like a Turning Point

THE GUARDIAN: Elon Musk and the People’s Bank of China were the culprits but it could easily have been something else

The cry from the bitcoin and crypto brigade during previous bursts of volatility was YOLO, or you only live once. That’s an easy thrill-seeking motto to utter when prices decline by the odd 10%. It becomes harder to cling to when the price is down by 30% in a day, and 50% in a month, and there’s panic in the air.

For true crypto believers, every decline is a buying opportunity – and, indeed, there was a late rally to limit losses. For the rest of us, though, the hallmarks of speculative excess have been present for a while. A trivial but telling example is the posters one can still see in London and other major UK cities that read: “If you’re seeing bitcoin on the underground/side of a bus/a billboard, it’s time to buy.” No, it’s time to think the party is over and the smart money is heading home. » | Nils Pratley | Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Bitcoin Falls Almost 30% after China Crackdown

THE GUARDIAN: Digital currency under pressure from payment crackdown and tweets from Elon Musk

The price of bitcoin fell by almost 30% on Wednesday, after a Chinese government crackdown on banks’ use of cryptocurrencies accelerated a long-predicted sell-off.

The world’s largest digital currency tumbled to about $30,000 (£21,000) amid frenzied trading, a drop of over 50% since it hit record highs of more than $64,000 in mid-April. However, by 6pm UK time, the bitcoin price had risen back to about $40,000, still down 8% on the day, according to Refinitiv data.

Critics have been predicting a sell-off for months, claiming the coin has no intrinsic value. The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, has even warned that investors should be prepared to lose all their money if they dabble in cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has compared bitcoin’s meteoric rise to other financial bubbles like “tulip mania” and the South Sea bubble, which eventually burst in the 17th and 18th centuries. » | Kalyeena Makortoff and Graeme Wearden | Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Elon Musk Dismantles Bitcoin Bit by Bit

FORBES: Like plucking the petals off a tulip, Elon Musk seems to be on a one-man mission to bring down Bitcoin. We’ll guess at why he’s doing it in a minute. Let’s first focus on what he’s doing and what it means for Bitcoin.

The current drama started on January 29, 2021. It was on that day that Elon Musk added the hashtag #Bitcoin to his Twitter bio. Bitcoin skyrocketed from $32,000 to $38,000 on the news. So much for fundamentals.

Two days later in a Clubhouse chat he described Bitcoin as a “good thing:” “I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin.”

Then in February Tesla disclosed in an SEC filing that the electric carmaker had purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. It also announced that it would begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. » | Rob Berger | Monday, May 17, 2021

Lebanon in Free-fall: 'For Me, the Country Now Is a Large Jail'

Lebanon is undergoing financial and economic collapse.

The country's currency has lost around 85% of its value and the majority of the population could soon face acute poverty.

The BBC met one nurse who explains what the disintegration of the country means to him

The Fear That Haunts Markets – Is Inflation Coming Back?

THE OBSERVER: Economies are now so heavy with savings and state cash that rising prices cannot be ruled out. But will it happen?

The spectre of inflation had investors on the run last week. With no handbook to guide them on how economies behave in a pandemic, markets are struggling to predict whether a post-Covid recovery will be so strong as to bring with it a tidal wave of spending that sends prices spiralling.

Investors are spooked because rising inflation, which threatens investment and consumer spending, would need to be tamed by a rise in currently rock-bottom interest rates – and that would be anathema to markets and a corporate sector that have grown used to cheap money.

At the beginning of last week, stock markets panicked when figures suggested US inflation had already started to take off, adding to concerns that it could take hold in the UK. By the time markets closed on Friday, the panic seemed to have abated and stocks had risen. But the debate on whether inflation will take root around the world has begun. What is the likely way ahead? » | Phillip Inman | Saturday, May 15, 2021

Wales to Launch Pilot Universal Basic Income Scheme

THE GUARDIAN: Campaigners hail ‘huge moment’ as first minister commits to trials of payments to cover living costs

A pilot universal basic income (UBI) scheme is to be launched in Wales, the first minister, Mark Drakeford, has revealed.

The new minister for social justice, Jane Hutt, a close ally of Drakeford’s, will be asked to work on the pilot.

Under a UBI system, every citizen, regardless of their means, receives regular sums of money for life to cover the basic cost of living. Its proponents argue that it can alleviate poverty and give people time to retrain and adapt to changing workplaces, be more creative and become more active and engaged. » | Steven Morris | Friday, May 14, 2021

Inflation Is Here. What Now?

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Prices are rising fast, in ways that seem temporary, yet this could change expectations in ways that are self-reinforcing.

The central fact of the American economy in mid-2021 is that demand for all sorts of goods and services has surged. But supplies are coming back slowly, with the economy acting like a creaky machine that was turned off for a year and has some rusty parts.

The result, as underlined in new government data this week, is shortages and price inflation across many parts of the economy. That is putting the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve in a jam that is only partly of their own making.

Higher prices and the other problems that result from an economy that reboots itself are frustrating, but should be temporary. Still, the longer that the surges in prices continue and the more parts of the economy that they encompass, the greater the chances that Americans’ psychology about prices and inflation could shift in ways that become self-sustaining. » | Neil Irwin | Thursday, May 13, 2021

Elon Musk Says Tesla Will No Longer Accept Bitcoin due to Fossil Fuel Use

THE GUARDIAN: Digital currency, which is made with an energy-intensive process, falls 17% after the tweet

Tesla has suspended customers’ use of bitcoin to purchase its vehicles, Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing concerns about the use of fossil fuel for bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest digital currency, fell almost 17% after the tweet to its lowest point since the beginning of March. It recovered slightly in Asian trading but was still off 12% at $50,933 early on Thursday morning.

Musk said Tesla would not sell any bitcoin, and intends to use bitcoin for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.

“We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin’s energy/transaction,” Musk said.

Musk said in March that Tesla customers can buy its electric vehicles with bitcoin. » | Reuters | Thursday, May 13, 2021

Dogecoin’s record-breaking rise shoots ‘joke’ cryptocurrency to wider attention »

Electric Batteries, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel: Carmakers Look for Energy Solutions | DW News

No car manufacturer can avoid electromobility. After long start-up difficulties, everyone has made this a priority. In order to achieve the climate protection goals (see the occasion today) and not least because China, the important car sales market, is demanding more electrical outlets. Batteries are needed for e-cars. However, their production is currently still dominated by Asian companies that do not necessarily build cars. In view of the rapidly growing e-fleets, some car manufacturers want to take this into their own hands.

At the same time the demand for green hydrogen will skyrocket in the next few years. This requires a lot of green electricity, for example from wind turbines. But the expansion of onshore wind farms is only progressing slowly. And at the same time, functional wind turbines are even being demolished.

Where will the electricity come from to switch to green hydrogen?

Goldman Sachs Executive Quits after Making Millions from Dogecoin

THE GUARDIAN: The crypto asset is down more than 30% this week but is still up by more than 1,000% from the start of 2021

A senior manager at Goldman Sachs in London has quit the US investment bank after making millions from investing in Dogecoin, the joke crypto asset which has risen by more than 1,000% in value this year.

City sources said Aziz McMahon, a managing director and head of emerging market sales, had resigned from the bank after making money from investing in the digital currency based on the Doge internet meme.

Backed by famous supporters including the Tesla founder, Elon Musk, the rapper Snoop Dogg and the Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, the digital asset similar to bitcoin has soared in value over recent months.

Based on an internet meme – a humorous online phrase or photo, on this occasion a dog called Doge – the cryptocurrency rose above $0.72 (£0.51) against the dollar last week in anticipation of Musk’s appearance on the hit US TV show Saturday Night Live.

It has plunged by more than 30% this week since Musk’s appearance to about $0.50, according to Coindesk. However, it is still up by more than 1,000% from the start of 2021. » | Richard Partington | Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Democracy at Work: Curing Capitalism | Richard Wolff | Talks at Google (2017)

Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University in New York City. He wrote Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism and founded www.democracyatwork.info, a non-profit advocacy organization of the same name that promotes democratic workplaces as a key path to a stronger, democratic economic system.

Professor Wolff discusses the economic dimensions of our lives, our jobs, our incomes, our debts, those of our children, and those looming down the road in his unique mixture of deep insight and dry humor. He presents current events and draws connections to the past to highlight the machinations of our global economy. He helps us to understand political and corporate policy, organization of labor, the distribution of goods and services, and challenges us to question some of the deepest foundations of our society.

Nearly 40% of AstraZeneca Investors Reject Boss’s Bonus Rise

THE GUARDIAN: Covid vaccine maker passes its remuneration policy but suffers sizeable rebellion

AstraZeneca has suffered a substantial shareholder rebellion over proposals to hand its chief executive, Pascal Soriot, bigger bonus awards for the second consecutive year.

Nearly 40% voted against the policy, which could hand him pay and perks of nearly £18m for 2021.

At the company’s annual meeting in Cambridge, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker managed to win approval for its remuneration policy, which required support from shareholders holding more than 50% of the firm’s stock, but investors owning 39.8% of the shares opposed it. » | Julia Kolleweand Damien Gayle | Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Pascal Soriot »

China’s ‘Long-Term Time Bomb’: Falling Births Stunt Population Growth

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Only 12 million babies were born last year, the lowest number of births since 1961, providing fresh evidence of a looming demographic crisis that could complicate Beijing’s ambitions.

China’s population is growing at its slowest pace in decades, with a plunge in births and a graying work force presenting the Communist Party with one of its gravest social and economic challenges.

Figures for a census conducted last year and released on Tuesday showed the country’s population at 1.41 billion people, about 72 million more than those counted in 2010. This was the narrowest increase recorded since the Communist Party conducted its first census, in 1953.

Only 12 million babies were born in China last year, according to Ning Jizhe, the head of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the fourth year in a row that births have fallen in the country. That makes it the lowest official number of births since 1961, when a widespread famine caused by Communist Party policies killed millions of people, and only 11.8 million babies were born.

The figures show that China faces a demographic crisis that could stunt growth in the world’s second-largest economy. China faces aging-related challenges similar to that of developed countries, but its households live on much lower incomes on average than the United States and elsewhere. » | Sui-Lee Wee | Published” Monday, May 10, 2021; Updated: Tuesday, May 11, 2021

More Than 3 Million Lebanese Face Poverty

More than three million Lebanese - almost half the population - are facing a tough Ramadan. The monthly cost of iftar, or the meal to break their fast, now costs 2.5 times the minimum wage. The World Bank says food prices there have become the highest in the region. Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr has more from Beirut, Lebanon.