China economy; electric vehicles & wealth gap

China economy

China’s growth in 2018 was its weakest in 28 years, prompting fears over knock-on effects to the world economy, Reuters reports on Monday. GDP slowed in the fourth quarter to 6.4%, from 6.5%, leaving full year growth at 6.6%. Read more on the Financial Times. Bloomberg provides a roundup on how this and other global affairs will impact Asian markets.

Electric Vehicles

The race continues among car manufacturers to win segments of the electric vehicle (EV) market. On Monday, Reuters cited a source as saying that Toyota and Panasonic will next year launch a joint venture to produce EV batteries to compete with Chinese rivals. Meanwhile, VW chairman Hans-Dieter Poetsch was quoted by Reuters as saying electric vehicles may become unaffordable for people on low incomes. VW said in December it would step up plans for mass production of EV to meet stringent EU emissions targets. It expects to spend €55b on developing EV, autonomous driving and new mobility services by 2023.

Wealth gap

The rich poor gap is widening globally, not-for-profit Oxfam has estimated in a study published ahead of the Davos World Economic Forum, the Independent reports. Studying data from Forbes magazines on the world’s richest people, it calculated the total wealth of 2,000 billionaires rose by 12% from March 2017-2018. This contrasts with Credit Suisse estimates that the wealth of the bottom half of the population (3.8 billion) fell 11%. It’s calling for a 1% wealth tax to educate children not in school, The Guardian reports. You can read more in the Independent.

And, about Davos

Globalisation, populism and Brexit will be among the issues chewed over at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, starting Tuesday. The Guardian reports on the people speaking and what’s at stake. People power will be in full swing in Switzerland where several demonstrations are planned, Swissinfo.ch reports.

Week 5

Democratic leaders have rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration deal offering temporary protection for some undocumented immigrants. The proposal was an attempt to end the government shutdown, which entered its fifth week on Saturday, reports Politico. The Guardian published an opinion piece by Robert Reich on how it impacts the economy and another on Sunday about the threat of an arms race posed by the president’s confrontational stance with world powers.

Brexit rumbles on

Al Jazeera reports on the uncertainty in Overseas Territories, where it’s not just people who are in limbo, conservation projects receiving EU funding also hang in the balance. Back in the UK, campaigners warn that EU citizens living in the country could become undocumented migrants after Brexit as the Home Office Settlement Scheme, an online application process, was dubbed “completely inadequate”, the Independent reports. It’s prompted warnings of a repeat of the “Windrush” scandal in which people were wrongly detained and threatened with deportation in 2018. More on this story from The Guardian.