During the Clinton years, as U.S. technological advances led to an economic miracle, huge numbers of American jobs were exported to China; manufacturing was thought to be a thing of the past. Meanwhile, U.S. corporations invested billions in China that could have been invested domestically. The result: China is now being accused of doing well at the expense of the United States. How convenient.
China spends with the intent to transform itself; Japan spends so it can resist change. A shift in existing trans-Pacific ties is ahead and how things play out is largely up to corporate America.
They’re at it again, but this time with far greater coordination than ever before. Governments around the world are determined to stamp out the last shreds of privacy. Moreover, they’re increasingly acting in concert, forging treaties and sharing information. Some initiatives target the few remaining ways of holding cash, others the internet. Let’s hope they fail.