Getting ready for our globalization debate.  Check out this article, below are the facts.

The globalization of the yuan or renminbi will not only benefit the Chinese economy but generate global economic stability, a senior banker has said.

China’s economy ranks second in the world and its trade ranks first, so it is thought that use of the currency in cross-border trade will be a mutually beneficial move for China and its trade partners.

Investors are also optimistic about RMB globalization. Bank of China’s global customer survey shows that over half of the respondents expect RMB cross-border transactions to rise by 20%-30% in five years. And 61% of overseas customers say they plan to use or increase use of RMB as a settlement currency.

Andrew Bonacci

I thought that this was very interesting as we spoke about Soros and the global supply chain in class.  Here’s a quick highlight:

Niedermaier has teamed up with investor Alexander Soros— the son of billionaire financier George Soros— and the Global Emerging Markets group (GEM) to raise $1 billion in his mission to revamp the vast infrastructure that moves millions of products and materials around the world.

He said industries like electronics and toy manufacturing are full of inefficiencies and outdated equipment that can be upgraded for a nice profit. His Tau Investments has chosen as its first target textile and apparel manufacturing in emerging markets, a $1 trillion industry that has been in the headlines recently for such disasters as the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh last May that took 1,129 lives.

Andrew Bonacci

This is recent article that touches on import, export and taxes between the US and China.  He’s some of the highlights from the article:

In  2009, the union claimed a surge in Chinese tire imports from 2004 to 2008 had cost 7,000 US jobs, and it sought restrictions on the imports. US President Barack Obama backed the move, and in September 2009, the administration levied a new duty of 35 percent on tire imports, which were imposed in addition to a pre-existing 4 percent tariff.

China’s exports of tires to the US market more than doubled to 50.8 million units last year, worth more than $2 billion. In the first quarter of 2014 alone, tire imports from China surged another 24.6 percent, the union said.

Andrew Bonacci

Since we are going to Malaysia and Singapore next year I thought that this was interesting reading.

This part reflects our class discussion last week:

Under the ETP, oil, gas and energy is one of 12 growth areas to spearhead rapid economic development. Presently, revenue from the oil and gas sector constitutes about 40 per cent of Malaysia’s total revenue. The government felt there is potential to get more revenue from this sector should Malaysia move into the commercial downstream ventures.

Enter PIPC (Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex). All hopes are now pinned on this mega complex to help transform Malaysia into a developed country by 2020 with a per capita income of US$15,000. It was US$6,700 in 2009, the year before ETP was launched. In 2013, per capita income was US$10,500, according to World Bank

Andrew Bonacci

As something as simple as flour can be taken for granted.  It’s an interesting article on how a small tax on flour can hurt the lower middle class.  Here’s my favorite part that ties into our class readings:

“As a leading wheat flour producer in the world,” he said, “Turkey enjoys the economies of scale advantage which allows its exporters to share the cost benefits (with) their trade partners in over 120 countries. In Turkey, wheat has different varieties and is milled into flour based on varying specifications, which helps explain the price variance of Turkish flour. Moreover, Turkey has in place World Trade Organization-authorized rules and regulations.”

Andrew Bonacci