China’s Brutal Debt Trap - Kenya

                (Brahma Chellaney’s article from the STRATEGIST on 24 November 2022.)

Kenya revelations shine a light on China’s predatory lending practices: Recently released details of Kenya’s 2014 loan agreement with China to finance a controversial railway project have once again highlighted the predatory nature of Chinese lending in developing countries.

The contract not only imposed virtually all risk on the borrower (including requiring binding arbitration in China to settle any dispute), but also raised those risks to unmanageable levels (such as by setting an unusually high interest rate). With terms like that, it’s no wonder that multiple countries around the world have become ensnared in sovereignty-eroding Chinese debt traps.

Over the past decade, China has become the world’s largest single creditor, with loans to low- and middle-income countries tripling in this period, to US$170 billion at the end of 2020. Its outstanding foreign loans now exceed 6% of global GDP, making China competitive with the International Monetary Fund as a global creditor. And through loans extended under its US$838-billion Belt and Road Initiative, China has overtaken the World Bank as the world’s largest funder of infrastructure projects.

Animal Farm By George Orwell – Chapter 2

                  (Chapter-2 from the Project Gutenberg Australia on 8 March 2008.)

Three nights later old Major died peacefully in his sleep. His body was buried at the foot of the orchard. This was early in March. During the next three months there was much secret activity. Major's speech had given to the more intelligent animals on the farm a completely new outlook on life.

They did not know when the Rebellion predicted by Major would take place, they had no reason for thinking that it would be within their own lifetime, but they saw clearly that it was their duty to prepare for it. The work of teaching and organising the others fell naturally upon the pigs, who were generally recognised as being the cleverest of the animals.

Pre-eminent among the pigs were two young boars named Snowball and Napoleon, whom Mr. Jones was breeding up for sale. Napoleon was a large, rather fierce-looking Berkshire boar, the only Berkshire on the farm, not much of a talker, but with a reputation for getting his own way. Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character.

RBA’s Independence Inflating Housing Bubbles

                   (Staff article from the ABC NEWS Australia on 05 November 2022.)

Most cash RBA has printed last 30 yrs went to houses.

The Australian Greens say the Reserve Bank needs to be more democratically accountable: Senator Nick McKim, the Greens' treasury spokesman, says the RBA must become more accountable for the consequences of its policies, and it should accept some responsibility for making inequality worse since the 1990s.

He says current monetary policy arrangements also need to be re-imagined to help Australia confront the climate emergency. That would include getting the RBA and government to play a more active role in directing the flow of credit to productive ends, particularly the transition to a low-emission economy, and to discourage the flow of credit to speculative ends, particularly highly leveraged property investment, he says.

"This policy would be given effect through prudential regulation and the RBA's use of its own balance sheet," he said. Senator McKim has used his submission to the RBA review to call for a number of changes to the way in which monetary policy is conducted in Australia. He said under central bank "independence", which has existed in Australia since the 1990s, monetary policy had become disconnected from democratic processes.

Hu Jintao Forcefully Removed from Party Congress

                     (Staff article from the BBC NEWS UK on 22 October 2022.)

Hu Jintao the ex-president escorted out of China party congress: Chinese former leader Hu Jintao has been led out of the closing ceremony of the Communist Party Congress. The frail-looking 79-year-old was sitting beside President Xi Jinping when he was escorted away by officials.

There has been no official statement by the Chinese government concerning the incident, but state news agency Xinhua said Mr Hu had not been feeling well. After the week-long congress, the party is expected to confirm Mr Xi, 69, for a historic third term.

The event, held in Beijing every five years, cemented his position as China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. Hu Jintao, who held the presidency between 2003 and 2013, was on stage when two officials approached him. He said something to Xi Jinping, who nodded back.