This week, the lads are looking at ESG - Environment, Social & Governance. For years now, companies have been pushing the idea that an 'ESG Score' could be a profitable guide to investing. Yet this latest mind virus for the finance community has produced scrappy results. Now, with Blacrock and Standard & Poor dropping it in the face of tightening markets, Philip Pilkington looks back on the evolution of a fad.  In Hong Kong, a little-known investment vehicle allows foreign companies to raise funds in Chinese Currency. Recently we learned that the quantity of 'Dim Sum Bonds' has gone up fourfold in five years. Is this the gateway drug to foreigners finally being allowed to invest in China's capital markets?  Then, a consistent theme comes around. Measured by PPP, Germany's economy is on some metrics now smaller than Russia's. Andrew Collingwood analyses why and how the West walked into the strategic blunder of sanctions - one that seems to increasingly have world-historical consequences.  
 
 


ESG - Big Finance's Latest Fad Implodes, Dim Sum Bonds, Russia's GDP Overtaking Germany

Charting The Rise Of A Multipolar World Order

Philip Pilkington is an unorthodox macroeconomist. 

Andrew Collingwood is an equally skeptical journalist. 

Lately, both have realised that - post-Ukraine, post-Afghanistan withdrawal - the old, unipolar, US-led world order is in its death throes. 

In its wake, something new is being born. But what shape will that take? That will depend on a combustible combination of economics and geopolitics; trade and military muscle.

Each week, our duo take three off-radar news stories and explain how each is shaping our multipolar reality.

History

Society & Culture

News

Politics

News Commentary

This week: in light of the upcoming UK General Election, we're digging into what Britain will look like in five years time.  Caught in a low growth high-debt trap, with currency and trade issues cutting off any room to manoeuvre, what's the softest landing for the G7's most vulnerable economy?  *** This is a premium week.  So  to get the full hour show, you’ll have to be signed up on Patreon.  Sign up is easy.  Go to https://www.Patreon.com/multipolarity.  It’s $5, £5 or €5 a month. You can cancel any time.

Premium Episode: Britain 2029

The assassination attempt on Robert Fico has left Europe bemused.    Shouldn’t it have left Europe stunned?       In an age where condemnation of violent rhetoric has never been fiercer, it seems condemnation of actual violence has seldom been milder.     As we move into a more fractious and populist age, what are the implications of the media’s seemingly divergent views on who it is and is not acceptable to assassinate?           
 The G7 are meeting in Italy - just after Joe Biden dropped his massive package of trade tariffs onto China.  
 So in the spirit of “never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake”, are the Europeans going to clap as he blows America’s head off?   
 Nope — turns out they’re going to join him. We’ll be reporting from the G7 suicide pact.  
 New figures say that China has dialled down its US government bond holdings by $53 billion in the first quarter of this year. Last week, we gave you the full doomsday 2025 scenario for when the Yuan stops backstopping America. Today we’re giving you the real world here and now version. The long slow slide goes on.  
 Be excellent to each other, and - 
 Get us on Twitter 
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 Or on our Substack 


When Liberals Kill, G7 Suicide Pact, Dollarmageddon

This week,  a special edition.  Two relatively short term scenarios, with very long term implications. Presented in audio essay form, by our two hosts.                   In Part One, Philip Pilkington outlines his take on what could happen after the US election. An extended sketch on the possibilty of  violent Trussification. He thinks that bond market bullying of the incoming Trump administration could in turn set off a chain of events, that demand a new wave of de-dollarisation.      In Part Two, Andrew Collingwood flips the perspective from West to East, and from currency wars, to trade wars.          He’ll be looking at the world from China’s point of view, in the light of this week’s US trade tariffs on Chinese goods - including a one hundred percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.     The Chinese have studied how nations rise, and they’ve come up with a plan to leapfrog US in the technological pecking order. As the low tariff liberal Washington order slips away, what becomes of a world where China is no longer content with low and medium-value manufacturing, but is instead actively targetting the crowning heights that America has long claimed as its unique domain?  ***  
 For more on the Chinese plan, be sure to subscribe to Multipolarity’s new Substack, where Andrew will be putting down some extended thoughts.  
 This week, we also have an introductory essay - called What Is Multipolarity?  
 And from next week, every Thursday we’ll have the Multipolarity Briefing - a series of links and brief thoughts to keep you up to date on the latest multipolar developments.  
 Simply search for Multipolarity on Substack.com 
 ***  
 Be excellent to each other, and - Get us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/multipolarpod On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/multipolarity  Or on our Substack: https://substack.com/@multipolaritypod 
 
   
 
 
            
   

Special Edition: Two Crystal Balls And The Death Of The Washington World Order

Belgrade. Budapest. It’s not the classic tourist itinerary – but by his very footprints, Xi Jinping’s historic state visit is redrawing the power map of Europe. What does the continent look like once he’s done stomping about?  Meanwhile, the Pound is in deep trouble - the Egyptian Pound, that is.  
 As the land of the pharaohs takes a 45 % haircut on its currency, Egypt is spreading its multipolar tentacles. They’ve announced that they’re going to be settling their trade debts in currencies other than the US dollar.  
 Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of grain. Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of grain. You do the math.  
 Per capita GDP should be the default way to understand whether we’re all getting richer.  
 But for years, Europe’s treasuries have been juicing their growth numbers simply by adding more people. 
 Now, with 13 countries in per capita recession, the migration-driven growth model is coming under the microscope as never before.  
 Is Human Quantitative Easing about to unwind?  
 ***  
 Be excellent to each other, and - Get us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/multipolarpod On Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/multipolarity  Or on our Substack: https://substack.com/@multipolaritypod

Xi Came In Through The Belgrade Window, Egypt's Pyramid Scheme,  Per Capita No Cap

This week, as advertised on Twitter dot com, the lads are answering your questions.  Among other topics, they cover:  
Rent-seeking behaviour in the West. Airbus. The German elite. The Mexican-American standoffBook recommendations. The life-changing magic of JM KeynesAnd memes.

 Of course, this is also a premium week.  
 So  to get the full two hour show, you’ll have to be signed up on Patreon.  
 Sign up is easy.  
 Go to https://www.Patreon.com/multipolarity.  
 It’s five Dollars, Pounds, or Euros a month.  
 You can cancel any time.   


ESG - Big Finance's Latest Fad Implodes, Dim Sum Bonds, Russia's GDP Overtaking Germany

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