The last few weeks of the US presidential campaign are roiling forward as the world awaits resolution of US political turmoil.  However, there is a not inconsiderable risk that whoever wins the election, dissension will be loud and lasting, and a new and deeper gridlock will be created in Washington.  The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has just published a new survey (below) which is a deep dive into the attitudes and opinions behind this new uncertainty. November 9th might be too soon to take off your seatbelt.

Co-authored with Daniel Wagner.

After having been the top destination of inward foreign direct investment for decades, China’s investment orientation has become increasingly outward looking. In 2014, China’s outbound FDI surpassed inbound FDI for the first time. Last year, the country became the world’s second-largest source of outward FDI. And in the near term, its overseas investments are expected to grow 10 percent a year, and exceed $2 trillion by 2020.

Bankers have accepted that FinTech is here, reports The Daily FinTech in its SIBOS 2016 wrap-up story. Realism in FinTech among both banks and startups, the move to realtime payment, and (naturally) semi-real blockchain topped its list of takeaways.

This week we bring you some of the best discussions of the evolution of macroeconomic theories post-2008. What seemed so certain before is now being questioned at a fundamental level by leading economists. Negative interest rates, which alter rational expectations of inflation, have also provoked some of this soul searching. But will new models and new theories be any better at predicting the next crisis?

STORIES IN OUR SPOTLIGHT

Foreign Affairs just published a piece by me regarding TPP in its online edition at https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/americas/2016-09-21/trading-down.

It is entitled: Trading Down: Is the TPP Making the United States a Less Benign Hegemon?

Here is the excerpts:

I am sharing an interesting article from the World Economic Forum titled The things we really need are getting more expensive. Other stuff is getting cheaper. Why? I have copied the full text below. So my question is, when will we begin to see inflation?

The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI) is a government-certified nonprofit providing one-day “director training” courses in English and Japanese, and governance-related seminars and e-learning courses. These programs teach participants key knowledge needed to serve on, report to, or analyze boards in Japan.