Entirely on agreement and on your last point I'd like to add a bit more about China and Saudi Arabia from my other take here

KSA is moving away from oil.

SA is serious about their "Vision 2030" project and Chinese investment seems key to that. Saudi wealth fund signs $50 bln of deals with Chinese financial firms

Better yet, it is working for them.

Saudi Arabia’s non-oil activities hit a historic 50% share of the country’s real GDP in 2023, the highest level on record, according to an analysis of the General Authority for Statistics data by the Ministry of Economy and Planning.

China ready to work closely with Saudi Arabia, advancing together on path of development: Premier Li

Saudi Arabia relies on China as its largest trading partner and top oil importer, while China views Saudi Arabia as a key partner in securing its energy needs to meet its growing demand, Al-Shammari said.

On the diversity of bilateral cooperation, Li called on both sides to further expand bilateral trade, deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as oil and gas, petrochemicals and infrastructure, explore collaboration in emerging fields like new energy, information and communication, and the digital and green economies.

"China is the Kingdom's first economic partner, especially in the commercial field, where trade reached a very high level, exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars last year and also grew during the first half of this year. Trade between the Kingdom and China is equivalent to 90 percent of the total trade of the G7 countries, which are economically advanced," Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia and China are driving the development of their economic and trade relations through major initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, which aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030, said Al-Shammari.

I mentioned earlier my first reaction was its no surprise China is making moves to help Saudi become a financial hub, Goldman Sachs literaly last month as the first Wall St firm to open offices in Rydiah.

I speculate this will be where CN vs US battle takes place for the future of the ME. For KSA this is already working for them.

Here is why I think China-KSA relations is probably the underlying reason for this move and not some grand dollar plan.

-China wants to secure good relations with SA in case Iran-Israel happens and in case someone starts targeting Chinese vessels with oil going from Saudi. Turn your head away now: Chinese envoy reiterates call for Houthis to respect rights of navigation in Red Sea

-KSA is serious about peak-oil and they want a path out if it. KSA understands the petrodollar is dead due to climate change anyway or the inevitable wars. KSA is securing investments from both sides and this is probably where CN wants to compete for influence.Remember it was the US that pushed CN away from Israel as CN influence grew threw BRI investments last decade e.g Haifa port, Israel IT etc. It could well be just China doing the same thing again in KSA.

-KSA got a massive advantage over Russia or Iran when competing over Chinese demand: US sanctions against RU/Iran. It means KSA can get, as they are already, billions worth of tech and industrial dials not available to either Ru/Iran. This benefits China as well as KSA becomes even more dependent on Chinese investments.

I often repeat exactly this sentiment but history should be a lesson. The US was also coming from the '29 crash and all the economic crisis of that era before WW2.

Everyone and their mother already discussed WW2 parallels and history repeating itself at least a few times in their life I'm sure.

I don't even believe the US can rally the same level of government control now as it did back then, the political control that was key to controlling the economy and therefore having a competent industrial/investment focus towards the war effort seems unthinkable now.

At the same time, China already gaslit themselves into thinking they're on a major economic crisis. A scenario where China just does Pelosi 2.0 and concedes Taiwan for the next few decades is definitely possible.

Remember a war requires both sides willingness to fight. The US can certainly get victories by forcing China into increasingly desperate slippery slopes("red lines") they're not actually willing to enforce.

IMO its far too early to say this changes anything at all and I'd rather look at it by the pattern China demonstrates where they care far more about building their influence through direct and "honest" gestures and statements rather than grand master plans. I make this case on #3.

1- Global south debt is a huge problem and I'm not sure the speculation that China's sudden USD bond is going to fix this mountain of debt. I recommend looking at 2022 - The submerging market debt crisis and

A Broader Impact Than Ever Before: An Updated Estimate of the IMF’s Surcharges Pay attention to the next victims.

BRI investments got a long tail profile i.e China invests around $50 bln per year but most countries get a tiny fraction of this. BRI report on the net

The country with the highest construction volume in 2023 was Saudi Arabia, with about USD5.6 billion (up from 2.6 billion in 2022), followed by Sri Lanka (USD4.5 billion), Tanzania (about USD3.1 billion) and UAE (USD2 billion).

Regarding BRI investments, Indonesia was the single largest recipient with about USD7.3 billion in investments, followed by Hungary (USD4.5 billion) and Peru (USD2.9 billion).

What is actualy happening is some countries like Ghana were forced to restructure the debt.

Likewise Sri-Lanka recently defaulted as a typical example of this crisis and Bangladesh(his political analysis aside).

Western media claim that it is China that has forced Sri Lanka into crisis through is a policy of debt trap, by lending it more than it can pay back and then getting it to default, so acquiring control of the assets – the most famous example being the Hambantota Port project. But this is a myth. Only a little over 15% of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt is owed to China and most of that is in the form of concessionary loans. Most is owed to commercial creditors from the West and from India. Unlike concessionary loans obtained to carry out a specific development project, these commercial borrowings do not have a long payback period or the option of payment in small installments and rates are higher.

As he says these types of loans have even more drawbacks than usual, these are not even long term loans(Sri Lanka's case anyway).

The situation is similarly dire in many major global south countries including Pakistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Argentina etc.

What these countries need is immediate debt relief i.e snap a finger and cancel the debt tomorrow. The hopeful wishes of some Chinese long plan where some time in the future they may issue enough US bonds to maybe challenge the USD is just that, wishful thinking.

I'll be the first to admit being wrong on this specific take if China does this 6 months from now or something. That would be better. Otherwise global south countries are facing immediate crisis. Nobody can afford to sit around for grand master plan shit except China of course.

2- The current oil market

Again just last month, Saudi themselves said they'd be willing to fuck with the price if OPEC didn't take the production cuts seriously, threatening to fight down to $50 if necessary. Note: Yes OPEC rejected this reporting, but it may well be just KSA saying the quiet part out loud and OPEC saving face. Nobody wants to remember the price wars of 2014 and 2020.

The US imports a different type of oil better for refining. The vast majority of US oil imports comes from Canada. The KSA-US relationship is not as much based on oil as it was decades ago and the hype around the petrodollar death may be quite obsolete.

Where does that leave the Petrodollar? In the hands of the energy/oil dependent global south, China primarily. How much does this matter? Refer to the mountain of debt before. Global south needs dollars today and for the foreseeable future. I would talk about the trend of US oil independence(Canada is the 51st state) but at that point the planet boiled us all to death anyway.

3- KSA is moving away from oil anyway

SA is serious about their "Vision 2030" project and Chinese investment seems key to that. Saudi wealth fund signs $50 bln of deals with Chinese financial firms

Better yet, it is working for them.

Saudi Arabia’s non-oil activities hit a historic 50% share of the country’s real GDP in 2023, the highest level on record, according to an analysis of the General Authority for Statistics data by the Ministry of Economy and Planning.

China ready to work closely with Saudi Arabia, advancing together on path of development: Premier Li

Saudi Arabia relies on China as its largest trading partner and top oil importer, while China views Saudi Arabia as a key partner in securing its energy needs to meet its growing demand, Al-Shammari said.

On the diversity of bilateral cooperation, Li called on both sides to further expand bilateral trade, deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as oil and gas, petrochemicals and infrastructure, explore collaboration in emerging fields like new energy, information and communication, and the digital and green economies.

"China is the Kingdom's first economic partner, especially in the commercial field, where trade reached a very high level, exceeding 100 billion U.S. dollars last year and also grew during the first half of this year. Trade between the Kingdom and China is equivalent to 90 percent of the total trade of the G7 countries, which are economically advanced," Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih told Xinhua in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia and China are driving the development of their economic and trade relations through major initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, which aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030, said Al-Shammari.

I mentioned earlier my first reaction was its no surprise China is making moves to help Saudi become a financial hub, Goldman Sachs literaly last month as the first Wall St firm to open offices in Rydiah.

I speculate this will be where CN vs US battle takes place for the future of the ME. For KSA this is already working for them.

Here is why I think China-KSA relations is probably the underlying reason for this move and not some grand dollar plan.

-China wants to secure good relations with SA in case Iran-Israel happens and in case someone starts targeting Chinese vessels with oil going from Saudi. Turn your head away now: Chinese envoy reiterates call for Houthis to respect rights of navigation in Red Sea

-KSA is serious about peak-oil and they want a path out if it. KSA understands the petrodollar is dead due to climate change anyway or the inevitable wars. KSA is securing investments from both sides and this is probably where CN wants to compete for influence. Remember it was the US that pushed CN away from Israel as CN influence grew threw BRI investments last decade e.g Haifa port, Israel IT etc. It could well be just China doing the same thing again in KSA.

-KSA got a massive advantage over Russia or Iran when competing over Chinese demand: US sanctions against RU/Iran. It means KSA can get, as they are already, billions worth of tech and industrial dials not available to either Ru/Iran. This benefits China as well as KSA becomes even more dependent on Chinese investments.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2024/11/20/ukrainian-bombers-fire-10-bunker-busting-storm-shadow-cruise-missiles-at-russian-commanders/

The strike may have involved a record five Ukrainian Su-24 bombers, each clutching a pair of the precision-guided missiles. Assisted by foreign experts, the Ukrainian air force modified many of its ex-Soviet Su-24s—dozens of which might still be in service, despite heavy losses—to launch Storm Shadows and similar French-made SCALP-EGs.

These US missiles rely on data from NATO surveillance and intel, Ukrainians don't even know how to use these systems e.g it required western technicians to modify Ukrainian planes just to launch them in the first place.

The situation is a akin to a parent grabbing their baby's hand pulling a trigger together.

This is, of course, a lot to extrapolate from a single bond issue worth maybe a few days of bombing. But there's a lot going on these end days. Wars, trade wars, rumors of war, and a Greater Depression in the wings. At the same time, everything we call 'the economy' is just a draw on the environment, which is collapsing atop all of us, sinner and sinned against. Everyone is selling bonds against a future that doesn't exist, America, China, everybody.

Everyone's playing hot potato with a dollar that no one wants to be left holding, but the planet is turning into an oven anyways. It's cold comfort in these hot times, watching either the de-dollarization of the world, or its re-dollarization into something else. We know that the Empire won't stop killing until it's unable to make a killing, but what's the point of being liberated into a wasteland? They said the meek would inherit the Earth, but They didn't say what shape it'd be in. As much as I long to see the White Empire burn, what comfort is vengeance when the planet is already dead? Some comfort. Some. At least we can see the colonizers go broke before it all breaks.

Even someone deep into the conspiracy mill over dedollarization recognizes this. Props to them, this is about 80% of what I believe. The other 20% is this wild extrapolation that China wants some alternative to US capitalism when we are currently experiencing the exact opposite from everything they do and say.

China says they want to respect the US as long as it respects them. They claim right to development but what development and in what world economy? Of course the current neoliberal imperialist order. To this very point they repeated multiple times they don't want to use BRICS as an alternative "bloc" in every definition. They go to EU and the US and shake hands.

Now they go to one of US biggest allies in the ME and issues bonds and people jump to create some alternative theory of why would the CPC do this? Re-dollarize vs dedollarize is much the same and here they write pretty well. A supposed grand masterful strategy leading us to a destroyed world with no future. Buying just enough time for disaster.

Indeed as they mentioned earlier TINA, conjure some grand theory of how to fight the dollar because anything except the real alternative must not be considered. Anything to avoid repeating the same mistakes as the USSR is turning into the steepest slippery slope.

As the great leader proudly proclaims "we don't want another cold war", indeed they write well "everyone is selling bonds against a future that doesn't exist, America, China, everybody."

Japan is a possibility, its pretty generous towards these permanent tourists and he seems to love it.

Just remember it wasn't a vacuum prediction. There was also fearmongering about a terrorist attack on the Olympics too.

If you make every borderline conspiracy theory prediction eventually one may be correct.

'Same dog with a different leash,' says Che Guevara's daughter about Trump's victory in the US election

Telesur Aleida Guevara expresó preocupación por reciente actitud de Lula hacia Venezuela

There is something sickening about the way people jump at the chance to denigrate peripheral countries. Western sources suddenly regain all their credibility.

"Roasting" progressives & the mainstream press quickly turns into "very cool, Bloomberg is having a good day, I should repost this, it scans to me" and "AOC finally came to her senses". Well the latter has slowly crumbled but it was funny watching the Charlie Brown punt attempts from my armchair.

I try to use left sources whenever I can and I regularly use Michael' Roberts as he is the one that does the most accessible and frequent economic analysis on current events. We don't quote MSM very often for analysis but often just for the current event data or fact. MSM will lie and have a horrendous bias on reporting.

But if Reuters reports Chinese official data on unemployment or something quoting how is that a problem? Often MSM is the only source on other countries but as long as they're quoting official sources why do you care if its Reuters or AP?

If you're sitting here waiting for an explicitly Marxist professional/academic/journalist to tell you of news events then you'll post a comment a month maybe.

Here on the last week Russian food inflation where people were coping it was cherrypicking because it was MSM.

I was going to comment a much larger comment showing no actualy it is that bad. Here is readily available info from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on the current 2024 rising global food inflation.

The current Russia situation is reported by many official sources.

TASS

According to statistics, food products in October rose in price by 1.23% month-on-month and by 9.03% year-on-year.

In particular, prices for oranges increased by 14.9%, lemons grew in price by 6.1%), price for potatoes went up 4.9%, onions and bananas grew in price by 4.4%), prices for cucumbers added 3.8%. Prices for apples and carrots decreased by 6.5%.

Rosstat latest data You can google translate yourself but the items are correct. Potatoes are 5% within a week you can reach the conclusion yourself. Картофель 104,68 - 167,43.

Yes the western MSM made a sensationalist headline.

No the reporting was indeed correct by all sources including the Russian government.

Some people want to do some extreme copium, yet if we said that Americans have to deal 10% food inflation in a year everyone would immediately agree its terrible and a doom scenario. Why is this not also true for neoliberal hellhole Russia?

The rest of my comment was going to be explaining why the Nabiullina/Russian CB is a piece of shit neoliberal in charge with no clue but it was too long as I'd have to explain why just mindlessly raising interest rates using shit phrases like "overheating" and "balanced growth" is just clown shit economic principles that will ruin the country. The neoliberal mainstream pursuit of a natural rate of employment, achieved through monetary policy is the key of what they're thinking and its bullshit.

Also the key point I guess is Russian interest rates are once again at the historical high, yet for neolibs there is no admission of failure just double or tripple down. Same talking points, same decisions, then surprised when it doesn't work.

I didn't write it in the end because it was turning into a lesson of Marxism vs neoliberal principles yet again.

“It was stressed that Russia has always strictly complied with its contractual obligations in the energy sector and is willing to cooperate mutually beneficially if there is interest on the German side,” said the Chancellery.

Contractual obligations my fucking ass, what even is this shit, the neoliberal rules based order sucks and must be destroyed, but also we're well known for following it and wouldn't mind following it again? Signaling a fall back to the previous status quo is definitely a mistake no matter the rationale.

It is shit like this that exactly puts the entire legitimacy of BRICS as anti-imperialists into question.

They will abuse "mutually beneficial" all the way to hell. Surely you wouldn't say shit like this in their first interaction after so long and in a crucial moment for both the US and NATO relations(Trump's election). Surely Russia wouldn't use the same Chinese conciliatory language to justify their rapprochement with the west after winning the war huh? Surely!

Learning all the wrong lessons, classic Putin.

China stopped publishing the official youth unemployment rate last year when it hit the record high and then they started publishing again with a new metric that excludes college students(use your own judgement on why). It was fluctuating between 13-21% between 2022-2023 and is now back at 17.6%.

This was discussed in brief by Michael Roberts on his China's Third Plenun summary overall mostly positive data except in exactly this area, or you can read something like Sixth Tone's reporting

You can compare the World Bank data estimate here I picked some countries, also here they use other official sources.

Is it that bad? but it is about on par with the worst EU countries(Italy, Sweden, Spain), generally higher than the EU average and generally far higher than Japan and Korea.

US is listed at 10% but fuck if US data is reliable at all. For what is worth its getting worse for some countries too UK is nearing COVID high, US is highest since 2021 etc.

Obviously Chinese economic growth, poverty reduction and wage growth are all far higher so its not to say that "oh Chinese youth are afraid of living in the slums" or something, at all. But I wouldn't be surprised if the COVID era effects still being felt.

Even if the tide rises all boats there is social anxiety from being afraid of being left behind or taking the back seat. IMO understanding material conditions leads to things like crime is the most obvious thing surely, understanding why white cis male chuds do school shootings doesn't mean you approve it.