Asia & the Pacific

The Trump administration is railing against Chinese currency manipulation without any regard for the yuan’s actual ups and downs. Yes, the numbers superficially back Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s warnings: The yuan has dropped about 10% against the dollar since mid-April, effectively offsetting the impact of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. But this doesn’t prove that China is defying the laws of market economics. In fact, Beijing is doing precisely the opposite.

What the Iron Man-like character is claiming for his futuristic automotive company is not unheard of. On a systemic basis, mammoth institutional investment—especially from sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)—is flowing into start-ups and technology-oriented publicly traded companies. In this case, Saudi billions would help Mr Musk escape the pressures of being publicly listed. SWFs have invested large sums into high-growth start-ups promising innovation and financial returns. In fact, just this month, Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced a US$1bn investment in Tesla’s rival, Lucid, and a US$2bn stake in Tesla. The rise in SWF balance sheets and activity is having ramifications on global efforts to be more Silicon Valley-like, and on Silicon Valley itself.

U.S. President Donald Trump's economic policies have hit the Chinese currency, not Beijing's alleged manipulation.

Last week was a trying one for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. You may think that I am referring to the imposition of U.S. tariffs on imports of Canadian steel. But Trudeau actually faced a harder issue than the one about how to respond to President Donald Trump’s declaration that trade with Canada posed a threat to U.S. security.

With Janet Yellen’s term ending in February, President Trump will have to nominate, and the Senate confirm, a new Fed chair in coming months. There will be much discussion of the merits and implications of various candidates for the job. But it will be important for the president and senators to begin by considering the challenges the next chair will face.

Earlier this year, the consensus view among economists was that the United States would outstrip its advanced-economy rivals. The expected US growth spurt would be driven by the economic stimulus package described in President Donald Trump’s election campaign. But the most notable positive economic news of 2017 among the developed countries has been coming from Europe.