Currency
Over the last few months, 100k+ people in China were airdropped cold hard cash… digitally.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is piloting a digital version of the country’s currency (Chinese yuan) that will circulate alongside its paper and coin counterparts.
It’s similar to other digital currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, except for one key difference: The digital yuan is issued by the Chinese government.
Centralized vs. decentralized
The Chinese government plans to tightly control the value of the digital yuan — something the PBOC has historically done with the paper yuan — making its proposed narrow price fluctuations something of an anomaly in crypto-land.
On the flip side, the digital yuan gives the Chinese government a shiny, new spying tool, allowing the government to see transaction flows, spot tax evaders, and even experiment with expiring cash.
But it’s also about taking down the dolla…
Ever since WWII, the US dollar has been the world standard for foreign exchange trades: 88% of all trades are backed by the dollar, according to a 2019 Bank for International Settlements survey. The yuan? Only 4.3%.
That exchange domination lets the US government see how dollars move between borders and allows it to freeze individuals or organizations out of global financial products — a move known as dollar weaponization.
Now, China plans to introduce a currency with all the benefits of being digital and backed by a government that loves price fixing.
It’s a recipe some economists worry could make Uncle Sam’s cash look shabby on a global stage. Cue DigiDollars?
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(Also see this: Early Facebook investor and Palantir founder Peter Thiel believes that Bitcoin could potentially be a financial weapon wielded by China against US Dollar hegemony)
The private equity titans behind 3G Capital Inc. and their families are taking advantage of distressed real estate prices in Brazil, where the economy has been battered by Covid-19 and the botched government response.
Firms linked to billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira are increasing bets on strip malls, office space and long-term rental apartments. The goal is to seize opportunities created by the pandemic in a nation that’s leading the world in daily Covid deaths.
“The next 18 months will be very challenging for commercial real estate and that’s the time to make purchases, because sellers tend to get more flexible on prices,” said Fabio Itikawa, chief financial officer of Sao Carlos Empreendimentos e Participacoes SA, which was created by the 3G founders and is now owned by their heirs.
Brazil is suffering its worst phase of the pandemic, with more than 340,000 dead from the disease and records being broken daily for the number of new cases. Vaccinations are progressing slowly, with only 10% of its 212 million inhabitants having received their first shot and just 2.9% fully immunized, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The forecast for shipments of new doses was recently cut. The economy is struggling as some activities are in lock-down with rising unemployment and dwindling growth.
Rising up from the north facing marina, ferry terminal and commercial district in the heart of the bay, the community of Horseshoe Bay spreads south and west to encompass the entire peninsula, including the Gleneagles golf course, community centre and elementary school. For such a relatively small community by area it offers amazingly diverse homes, views and housing options. All of which are connected by a walkable and rideable network of trails.
The Coast Salish peoples inhabited this important area since before recorded history. Early nineteenth century logging operations were then followed by the passenger rail line from Deep Cove. This led to a burgeoning village in the 1920s and 1930s with cottages, accommodations, commerce and recreation oriented towards summer visitors. By the 1950s Horseshoe Bay became the site of the new ferry terminal and a stop on the new Upper Levels highway.
In addition to the high end waterfront homes, the community has a wide range of single family homes and prices, which tend to be priced below comparable properties elsewhere in West Vancouver. A substantial % of homes are owned for rental purposes and cash-flow positive opportunities are available. A brand-new waterfront condo and townhouse development, adjacent to the Libby Lodge Senior Home and the marina, has added some much needed multi-family stock.
Due to it’s geography and development history Horseshoe Bay is the ultimate in “village” style living, while still enjoying all the benefits of being in the city.
For more information on current listings and potential opportunities check out my website.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers are targeting wealthy residents just as some of them consider relocating permanently to low-tax locations.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo practically begged the rich to return to the city last year.
“‘We’ll go to dinner, I’ll buy you a drink, come over, I’ll cook,’” he said in August.
The offer still stands, but the embattled politician now expects them to pick up more of the tab.
State lawmakers and Cuomo reached an agreement to raise taxes as part of a $212 billion budget deal announced on Tuesday.
Under the deal, the top tax rate would temporarily increase to 9.65% from 8.82% for single filers earning more than $1.1 million. Income between $5 million and $25 million would be taxed at 10.3% and for more than $25 million it would be 10.9%. The new rates would expire in 2027.
With New York City residents also paying city taxes, the combined top rate for the highest earners would be between 13.5% and 14.8%, surpassing the 13.3% rate in California, currently the highest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation.
Overall, experts say the increases, along with federal levies, would mean that the richest New Yorkers would be hit with a combined marginal rate of 51.8% — higher than levels in some European countries.
“Employers and employees alike are increasingly mobile, and raising taxes on newly mobile taxpayers is a risky proposition,” said Jared Walczak, the vice president of State Projects at the conservative Tax Foundation. “High earners in particular have considerable flexibility, and many already temporarily relocated during the pandemic. Raising tax rates on the most mobile cohort of taxpayers is a good way to lose many of them outright.”
NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) – For the second time in a little more than a week, Thomas Gottstein was facing a tough crowd: his own bankers.
The chief executive officer of Credit Suisse Group gathered dozens of managing directors at the global bank on a conference call late on Tuesday (April 6), as part of crisis-management efforts after the lender announced that it stands to lose as much as US$4.7 billion (S$6.3 billion) amid the meltdown of hedge fund Archegos Capital Management.
According to people with knowledge of the call, Mr Gottstein was grilled on the exposure and risk profile of the bank – and why it lost so much more than rivals in the debacle. Mr Gottstein could not yet give detailed answers, and instead pointed to the arrival of new chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio later this month as an opportunity to reassess its strategy, the people said.
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