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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Nov 29th 2019
An American Intervention
After easily passing both houses of Congress, Donald Trump had little choice but to sign bills dictating the US government’s treatment of Hong Kong. Its significance will be determined by Beijing’s response, and for now that is likely to stay focused on achieving an interim trade deal that delivers a roll-back on US import tariffs.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Nov 25th 2019
The Hong Kong People Speak
The last 15 years has seen pro-government parties in Hong Kong rely on voter apathy and division across the democratic camp to often rule the roost. That changed yesterday, with establishment parties getting thumped in local council elections as voters expressed anger at the government’s handling of violent street protests in the last six months.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Nov 13th 2019
Something Has To Give
Public support for Hong Kong's protest movement has been re-energized by perceived police brutality, the local government offering no political response to the crisis and Mainland authorities delivering mixed, but slightly sinister messages about their next move. This piece assesses the political forces at play and takes a stab at explaining what comes next.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Oct 07th 2019
Hong Kong’s Core Problem
The Hong Kong government’s stated aim is to drive a wedge between radical protesters who are resigned to jail or worse, and a less committed group that it thinks will be cowed by increased penalties. Initial evidence suggests the strategy is a busted flush. Sunday saw large-scale illegal marches by mask-clad demonstrators before the now predictable violence unfolded.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Sep 26th 2019
Video: Where Next Hong Kong?
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam today begins a process of civic engagement aimed at bridging the divide between an unpopular government and a diffuse movement that has engaged in 17 weeks of violent protest. Simon discusses whether economic goodies can buy off dissent and assesses the chances of a compromise political settlement.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Aug 16th 2019
Troops On The Border
Extreme nervousness in global markets can be attributed to a synchronous weakening of growth that has been reinforced by soft data out of Germany and China. This is also a juncture when commentators seem to have concluded that pent up stresses in the global trading and security system have reached a tipping point. On top of these secular worries is the terror that China is about to have a “Tiananmen moment” by violently crushing the two month...
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Jul 30th 2019
China’s Hong Kong Gambit
Following more violent protests in Hong Kong, Beijing reiterated its support for the city’s embattled chief executive in a first-ever press briefing on Hong Kong’s affairs. While the conflict shows no signs of resolution, the example set by Paris shows that Hong Kong can be both a dependable financial center and a hotbed of political dissent.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Jul 02nd 2019
Hong Kong Revolts
Twenty two years ago Britain handed back Hong Kong to China under the “one country, two systems” formula. Since then, the July 1 anniversary has seen the public demonstrate against the loss of freedoms This year’s escalation saw a hard core of protesters occupy and vandalize the local parliament. This is a key moment in Hong Kong’s era of dissent.
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Jun 11th 2019
The Threat To Hong Kong
On Sunday, a million Hong Kongers protested a planned law change that will let individuals be extradited to face trial in China, the city’s biggest political protest in more than 15 years. On Monday, the city’s equity benchmark rose 2%. The betting is that this political furor will pass. But the broader context puts the city at risk of becoming collateral damage in the US-China confrontation.
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Gavekal Research
Anatole Kaletsky, Simon Pritchard
Nov 15th 2018
The Winding Road To Vassalage
No one much likes Theresa May’s compromise deal that would leave Britain as a rule-taking, semi-detached appendage to the European Union. That, however, is the most likely outcome after the UK cabinet yesterday approved an exit deal that sets up a November 25 summit, where EU leaders will be asked for their assent. Shortly afterwards, the UK parliament will have its say, and despite challenging math in the House of Commons a “national interest”...
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Nov 20th 2017
Who Needs A Government?
What would it take to make you put more risk on the table in the final month of a year that has generally produced decent investment returns? It helps to have a synchronized global economic recovery that relies on multiple engines of growth and a US-tested monetary policy framework that seems to work as advertised. Yet the potential for disappointment, starting with US tax reform, appears to be growing. Add to that list an outbreak of political...
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews, Simon Pritchard
May 19th 2017
A Less Flexible Britain
Yesterday saw the release of robust UK retail sales data for April that reversed a weakening trend and pointed to still strong consumers. So it was notable that on a day that confirmed British economic resilience despite attendant uncertainties, Prime Minister Theresa May effectively renounced free market policies that long have been core tenants of the Conservative Party credo.
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand, Simon Pritchard
Oct 14th 2016
Thailand’s Transition
Perhaps the one thing that Thailand’s polarized political tribes have agreed on in recent times is that the passing of their (generally) popular king would mark a pivotal moment of transition. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 88, who died yesterday was a steady presence who stopped violent political struggles from morphing into a general civil conflict. The concern is that this restraint now goes out of the window, as opponents to the royalist...
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Gavekal Research
Udith Sikand, Simon Pritchard
Oct 04th 2016
Staring Into The Abyss
Since Rodrigo Duterte became president of the Philippines in May, he has sanctioned the extra-judicial killing of some 3,600 petty criminals and drug users, graphically insulted the US president, favorably compared himself to Hitler, and threatened to switch his country’s allegiance to China and Russia. As he has ripped up behavioral norms for democratic heads of state, investors have yanked out at least US$500mn of capital over the last two...
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Gavekal Research
Nick Andrews, Simon Pritchard
Sep 28th 2016
The German Banking Problem
These are not happy times for Europe’s commercial bankers. The adoption of negative interest rates may have averted the slide into a deflationary abyss, but the policy has hit lending margins, and with them profits. Exhibit A is Deutsche Bank, the dominant financial institution in Europe’s largest and most dynamic economy. Deutsche, whose market value has shrunk to just US$14bn, has problems of its own making in the US, yet its plight has been...
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Gavekal Research
Tan Kai Xian, Simon Pritchard
Aug 31st 2016
The Return Of US Fiscal Policy
More than three years after the world fretted about the US economy falling off a “fiscal cliff”, there is suddenly much talk of government spending being used to gin up growth. Whatever their many differences, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump favour a fiscal expansion, with a focus on upgrading the US’s aging infrastructure stock. At the same time Federal Reserve officials, led by Janet Yellen and John Williams, are arguing for more fiscal...
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Gavekal Research
Louis Gave, Simon Pritchard
Jul 22nd 2016
The Flow Through To EM Equities
These are strange times for investors with bond yields in big developed markets plumbing new depths on dark concerns about never ending deflation and stagnation. Yet in a clearly related development, US equities are making new highs while corporate- and emerging market-bonds continue to rally.
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Gavekal Research
Will Denyer, Simon Pritchard
Jan 22nd 2015
Australia, The Next Shoe To Drop
Central bankers are ditching managerial gradualism in their monetary policy communication and are getting serious. Switzerland, Denmark, India and now Canada have all made surprise interest rate moves in recent days—okay, the European Central Bank continues to drip-feed its every thought to friendly journalists, but the sheer scale of the adjustment taking place in relative global prices means that policymakers must respond swiftly to events....
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Gavekal Research
Simon Pritchard
Dec 16th 2014
Europe Not EMs At The Vortex
In the summer of 1998, Russia’s financial crisis stemmed from the oil price plunge that followed the Asian financial crisis. Today the worry is that Russia’s fall is causing a cycle of contagion which could pull down even decently managed emerging economies. Unusually, this collapse is happening just as the world’s biggest asset allocators prepare to effectively shut up shop. It is rare to get a full blown crisis over year-end simply because...
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Gavekal Research
Charles Gave, Louis Gave, Pierre Gave, Will Denyer, Andrew Batson, Tom Miller, Rosealea Yao, Research Team, Simon Pritchard, Thomas Gatley, Tan Kai Xian, Nick Andrews, Tom Holland
Dec 12th 2014
Our Holiday Reading List
For the third year we are publishing a year-end books round-up. The topics covered by the 17 books in our compendium include hardy Gavekal perennials such as economics, politics and the effect of technological transformation on modern life. In addition Charles considers ancient Rome’s decline due to its apparent embrace of socialism over liberalism. Louis kicks us off with a look at the roots of our most basic human urges.
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