No More Trade Talks?
Originally Posted on May 27, 2019
Three-pointer:
US-China trade talks broke down — to no surprise to the PCI,
the trade war's long-term ramifications, discussed in The National Interest, and
PCI goes to O'Reilly's Strata Data Conference in London.
Dear Human Readers,
Welcome to the first Policy Change Index newsletter coming through the Mercatus Center at George Mason University!
PCI Updates
We informed you thusly. A lot has transpired in the US-China trade talks since our April letter, so much so that it’s not even clear if and when the negotiators will meet again. We hate to say “we told you so,” but the Policy Change Index (PCI) for China has demonstrated — for months — that China was showing no signs of backing down on the thorny US demands. The breakdown in talks should be no surprise to our regular readers.
What does it mean going forward? In a National Interest article, Julian TszKin Chan and Weifeng Zhong discuss the long-term ramifications of the current impasse. The trade fight is not just an economic issue; it represents President Trump’s risky gambit to take on China’s authoritarian model, which, in recent years, has deviated from the pro-market path. While it’s far from clear which side will prevail, we’re bound to see more uncertainties in the US-China relations in the coming months, if not years.
PCI goes to London! Earlier this month, Zhong presented the PCI project at O’Reilly’s Strata Data Conference in London. Those who were not there are also missing out on a free drink made by a Yaskawa robot bartender. To wit:
Community News
China's AI advantages. China is said to have a data advantage in AI development. But, as Baidu’s Andrew Ng pointed out, it also enjoys a somewhat overlooked language advantage: English-speaking Chinese researchers are more aware of AI developments in the US than American researchers are of the happenings in China.
This is where Jeffrey Ding of the University of Oxford comes in, who provides a weekly translation of interesting, AI-related writings in China’s cyberspace.
What We're Watching
Game of Thrones...
Soviet Romance. Olivier Ballou of In Pursuit Of recently held a fascinating exhibition of how romance was characterized in Soviet films half a century ago. Joseph Stalin once said the purpose of the Soviet cinema was to “educate the toilers in the spirit of socialism.” One cannot overemphasize that the romance in those films are, by today’s standards, hardly romantic.
Edited by Weifeng Zhong and Julian TszKin Chan
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