Is China a rising financial superpower with a currency, the yuan, on course to become a dominant world reserve currency at the expense of the US dollar? This episode will examine the evidence on many sides, looking at the latest research by DICK BOVE of Odeon Capital Group, and at a mountain of other evidence and statistics. MAT VAN ALSTYNE, Odeon co-founder, will offer a fresh perspective on how this complex geo-political and economic game could change the course of history. Your host is journalist, JOHN AIDAN BYRNE

"There is no question as to what the Chinese want to accomplish," writes BOVE. "It has publicly stated its intentions and it has been supported in its efforts by the Russians and other countries in its political orbit. This raises the question as to what American financial companies can do for China."

China is seen as the most influential economic power in Southeast Asia, according to a new poll, although there’s caution over Beijing’s territorial positions over the South China Sea. A survey of 1,677 Southeast Asians by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute showed 76.7% regard China as the most influential economic power in the region, followed by the U.S. at a distant 9.8%. Washington trailing in second place comes after the Biden administration finally unveiled its strategy to engage with Asia last week. Half of those with a positive view of China however say that perception could be negatively impacted if Beijing continues to expand its influence in their country. Source: Bloomberg

Catalogue of modern developments in China's economic evolution & development, compiled by DICK BOVE:

· The country joined the World Trade Organization

· It obtained the IMF approval for the yuan to be considered a global reserve currency.

· It established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as an IMF/World Bank alternative.

· China has developed its own cryptocurrency and forced other similar currencies out of the country.

· It has loaned an estimated $5.6 trillion to 165 countries

o An estimated 42 of these countries owe more than 10% of their GDP to China

o The total amount owed relative to global output is not known but has been guesstimated to be 6% of total world output.

o The United States owes China over $1.1 trillion.

· China has structured trade deals with multiple countries where the only currency used is the yuan

o Russia

o Iran

o North Korea

· The country’s banks are the largest in the world.

o They are funded with yuan

o They have developed investment banking skills learned from the Americans.

 China has exerted increased political control over companies that are supposedly owned by public investors.

Dick Bove, chief financial strategist at Odeon Capital Group, in a recent report. The Great American Slum Building Project, laid out his case for why America needs Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac, two housing agencies in the mortgage lending market, free of government control. This government stranglehold has ultimately led to major challenges and problems in the proper functioning of these agencies in the housing market, according to Bove. (The US government took control of Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac and 100 percent of their profits in 2008, in the wake of the financial crisis. These agencies were set up to reduce risk to lenders in the housing market.)

This episode with Bove, Mat Van Alstyne and John Aidan Byrne will open with a look at the market and then have a lively debate on Bove's reports and studies on the challenges for US housing. It will also look across the globe from Ireland to Japan where housing is also a hot debate amidst shortages of affordable homes, rising rents and vulture funds swooping down on national economies.  

As the US national debt hit a new milestone and surpassed $30 trillion for the first time on record, this episode of ODEON CAPITAL CONVERSATIONS examines the extraordinary challenges facing one of the world’s most powerful institutions, the US Federal Reserve. Dick Bove, chief financial strategist at Odeon Capital Group, identifies the US money supply as a source of what is going wrong.  Bove says the Fed is missing the mark: It is not measuring and calculating the money supply. Meanwhile, the national debt keeps surging, fueled by massive social spending, partly in response to Covid-19 relief measures. The national debt has risen a jaw-dropping $7 trillion since the end of 2019. This episode takes a broad look at what is happening, starting with the money in our economy, from the greenback to bitcoin, as our Odeon Capital Conversations trio pursue the deadly forces driving inflation. Are we headed to the double-digit inflation of the 1970s or reminiscent of the Weimer Republic? This episode will take a look at the potential for this disaster and much more.

Episode 1 of Odeon Capital Conversations hits the airwaves during some of the most stomach-churning and significant events on Wall Street in recent months—from anticipated interest rate increases to market turmoil and volatility. This comes just as one of the strongest recoveries on record has turned bearish and spooks investors. Odeon’s Dick Bove and Mat Van Alstyne take their first deep dive in a wide-ranging conversation, starting with the Federal Reserve’s money printing machine, stimulus spending and how it could play out in the coming months. Is the economy facing a prolonged period of inflation, or will that abate as soon as the nation returns to business as usual in a post pandemic world? Could America face a future similar to Japan, an economy led by 20-plus years of near zero interest rates? Is the balance sheet of the Fed, heavily borrowed, a disaster and in trouble? These are some of the questions Dick and Mat answer and debate, each sometimes reaching sharply different conclusions. Host John Aidan Byrne moderates and joins the debate at key turning points in this rich conversation that will keep you informed and on top of the macro and not so macro pictures.