Pope Francis is urging Christians to adopt China’s one child policy in order to “make the world more sustainable“, according to a panelist at the Vatican-run Biological Extinction Conference held earlier this week.
World stocks pulled back from all time highs, and European bourses initially followed U.S. futures and Asian shares lower, however both European risk sentiment as well as E-Minis rebounded after an Odoxa poll showed Macron overtaking Le Pen in the 1st round for the first time, and that the addition of Juppe instead of Fillon may see a 2nd round run-off between Macron vs Juppe, leading to a slump in Bund futures to session lows, and a bounce in European stocks.
While politicians are more than willing to rattle their economic sabres at China, we suspect, after China flaunted a range of high-tech weaponry at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference in Dubai, we suspect Washington will slow its roll a little with any kinetic warmongery...
Let's start with lasers, says Popular Science's Jeffrey Lin and P.W.Singer...
Art Market Bubble Bursting - Gauguin Collapses 74% To $22 Million
Via MauldinEconomics.com,
The probability that a real estate bubble may burst in China is rising. The financial sector heavily depends on real estate, which in turn exposes the entire Chinese economy to systemic risk.
This link means that a downturn in real estate could soon spread to other areas of the Chinese economy if banks face liquidity shortfalls.