Two weeks ago, when amid reports that the former CEO of Alameda Capital (which as a reminder was ground zero of the FTX implosion after it blew up $8 billion in FTX client funds on trades gone horribly wrong), Caroline Ellison, was spotted in New York just after retaining Clinton superlawyer, Jamie Gorelick of Wilmer Hale, which as readers may recall was the former No. 2 ranking member in the Clinton Justice Department, and in a recent interview, she referred to current AG Merrick Garland as her “wingman”, we asked if Caroline had rolled on Sam Bankman-Fried, who was also her former lover.

Fast forward to today when we just got confirmation that Caroline Ellison has fucked Bankman-Fried one final time by indeed rolling on him, and “turning states” in the criminal prosecution of the corpulent “Hairy Plotter“, who commingled and stole the client money in his FTX exchange to fund a series of terrible crypto bets at his personal hedge fund Alameda, fund tens of millions in donations to democrats and buy up prestigious real estate for himself and his “altruistic” progressive lawyer parents.

According to a Manhattan Federal prosecutor, two of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s closest associates have pleaded guilty to fraud and agreed to co-operate with US authorities investigating the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. In other words, they took a plea deal to avoid even more prison time in exchange for serving SBF on a silver platter to the Feds.

Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty pleas and criminal charges against Caroline Ellison and Zixiao “Gary” Wang, the low profile co-founder of FTX, in a short video statement. His office had brought eight charges against Bankman-Fried last week.

Statement of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on U.S. v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Gary Wang pic.twitter.com/u1y4cs3Koz

— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 22, 2022

Ellison pleaded guilty to seven counts, including wire and securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carry a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison, while Wang pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, with a maximum 50-year sentence.

The documents said prosecutors would not oppose bail requests from both defendants under certain conditions, including posting a bond and handing in their travel documents, as they awaited formal sentencing.

Concurrently, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission also filed civil lawsuits against the 28-year-old Ellison and 29-year-old Wang, accusing them of fraud.

“As part of their deception, we allege that Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried schemed to manipulate the price of FTT, an exchange crypto security token that was integral to FTX, to prop up the value of their house of cards,” said SEC chair Gary Gensler. Furthermore, as CEO of the FTX trading affiliate, Ellison “used FTX’s customer assets to pay Alameda’s debts” and diverted billions of dollars of depositors’ money to the company to fill a hole caused by a crypto market crash in May, the SEC’s complaint alleges.

The CFTC said Wang had a hand in creating some of the algorithms that underpinned FTX, which allowed Alameda “to maintain an essentially unlimited line of credit” on the exchange, giving it an “unfair advantage” over regular depositors. “These critical code features and structural exceptions allowed Alameda to secretly and recklessly siphon FTX customer assets from the FTX platform.”

Both defendants are co-operating with the SEC, the agency said. The CFTC said they were not contesting their liability. Which means that SBF is looking at a lot of prison time, unless he too can throw someone even more important and powerful under the bus…

Sam better have someone much bigger to rat on or he is facing about 120 years in FPMITAP. Also, he better get someone to fix his prison cam https://t.co/Krw5u2psZD

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 22, 2022

… although if that is the case, he probably will be Epsteined within hours of arriving at MDC Brooklyn, singe MCC New York where Epstein “killed himself”, has been closed since August 2021 due to deteriorating conditions.

While Ellison’s superlawyers have yet to make a statement, a lawyer for Wang, Ilan Graff, said: “Gary has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a co-operating witness.”

Last week, the DOJ filed charges against Bankman-Fried and accused him of orchestrating “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history” by misappropriating customer assets from FTX to Alameda Research. He was arrested in the Bahamas, where he lives. He is also facing parallel civil cases from the SEC and CFTC.

Williams reiterated his call for others who worked with Bankman-Fried to come forward. “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it,” he said. “We are moving quickly and our patience is not eternal.” One of them is former Alameda CEO Sam Trabucco, best known for quietly bailing on Sam just as everyone was about to blow up and fleeing on his multi-million dollar new yacht.

Sorry for not saying an earlier, my internet was terrible because I was here pic.twitter.com/wnWcxeJVg9

— Sam Trabucco (@AlamedaTrabucco) September 8, 2022

The announcement from Williams comes just after a plane carrying Bankman-Fried took off from the Bahamas, where he waived his right to challenge extradition to the US. He is due to appear in a Manhattan court as soon as Thursday, where his bail request will be considered, although in light of Caroline’s plea, it is safe to say it won’t be granted.

Authored by Richard Kelly via The Brownstone Institute,

Early on in March 2020 I was leery of the hysteria surrounding Covid and decided my course of action was to be wait and see. At the time I was under the impression that I was a freeborn citizen with a number of unalienable rights, including sovereignty over my bodily choices.

So when the talk started about new vaccines being imminent, I again decided I would wait and see whether the vaccines were all they were cracked up to be. This was then, and is now, an entirely reasonable position to take, screeching from media and Twitter hounds notwithstanding. I didn’t expect it would turn out to be more like “wait and see how totally out of hand this will get.”

• Wait and see how the government will forcibly close businesses

• Wait and see how treatments will be suppressed

• Wait and see how hysteria captured the media

• Wait and see how healthy populations will be subject to house arrest

• Wait and see how police will shoot protesters

• Wait and see how a pregnant mother will be arrested for a Facebook post

• Wait and see how medical services across state borders will be denied

• Wait and see how ‘wait and see-ers’ will be demonized

• Wait and see how family and friends will betray their loved ones

Well, I’ve waited long enough and I’ve seen more than enough. Thankfully the worst, most violent excesses have abated for now, if you exclude the ongoing carnage of short and long-term vaccine injury. There are lingering abominations from the blitzkrieg of lockdowns and vaccine mandates, but generally there is a sense that an uneasy peace, or maybe a phoney war, has descended on us.

Of course, there is still a serious amount of Covid pantomime going on.

Exhibit A: a TV news report recently showed a road accident victim doing rehab with a mask on, then happily chatting without a mask to the reporter, also without a mask. If he was worried about Covid he’d leave it on for the interview, or if he wasn’t worried he wouldn’t wear it while doing rehab. Seems you can have it both ways these days provided you don’t think about it too much.

Exhibit B: Last year cricket teams in the BBL were decimated if one of the players had a positive test, and others were ‘close contacts.’ Umpires refused to hold a bowler’s cap or sunglasses for fear of the spicy cough. Last night, two players on one team played despite not only testing positive, but also feeling unwell. If there is no practical change when a player has Covid, why do we need to know about it?

Answer: we don’t, but it has become normalised to disclose players’ private health statuses, just as it is normalised now to ask anyone any kind of detailed personal health question that satiates the questioner’s ghoulish fetishes. While player fitness has always been a matter of interest to sports fans, especially those who like a bet, illness used to be dealt with in a formulaic way, such as “Player X is not playing tonight due to illness.” There’s no need to know any further details.

Exhibit C: The memorial concert for aboriginal singer Archie Roach included a pre-concert ‘smoking ceremony’ in which footage aired for a news report showed a woman dancing through the ceremonial smoke – while wearing a mask. This example is probably less deliberate pantomime and more genuine irrationality. Anyone donning a mask and expecting to keep a virus out but let smoke in has taken leave of their rationality. Ironically, in this case the mask may actually do some good in preventing larger smoke particles entering the lungs – what firefighters call ‘smoke inhalation.’

It is counterproductive to scoff at these insanities – those who have not yet come in their own time to see the inconsistencies are not suddenly going to see the light because of a witty remark. The most likely reaction is an equally irrational, and possibly heated defence of the person or the rule. In valued relationships, the only sensible course is studied silence. Even a raised eyebrow in front of the TV can crank the tension in the room up a notch or two.

But these annoyances over masks and ‘Covid protocols,’ that overused euphemism for voodoo superstitions, are yesterday’s skirmishes in a war that has moved on to other theatres. The central battle is about freedom and autonomy. To the extent that the spoils of the ‘mask and protocol’ incursions can be re-weaponised against us, winning the freedom and autonomy battle will be that much harder.

How can we resist curbs on movement having once complied with QR scanning for going to the shops? Think it couldn’t happen?

Oxford city council in the UK is moving ahead with a scheme to confine residents to one of 6 zones using electronic gates on roads and limited number of trips across zones.

How could we resist a forced medical treatment having once rolled over to experimental gene therapy?

How can we fight against programmable digital currency when once we have accepted ‘card only’ cashiers and accommodated the idea of shopping for ‘essential items’ only and allowing a cop to rummage around in our shopping trolley?

The legislative bricks in the wall continue to be put into place with little if any scrutiny. Doctors are now unable to give opinions that depart from government health advice without risking de-registration. Pandemic laws born as bastard sons of parliaments suspended under state of emergency powers are now legitimised as permanent statutes, requiring only a declaration to bring them all into force once again. Digital ID’s are now compulsory for all company directors, including Mums and Dads who happen to be directors of their own superannuation funds. Ordinary citizens are surely next.

How is it that our lawmakers feel it appropriate to make these kinds of changes? No one asked for them. How is it they can ignore letters and petitions? Why do they partner with unelected globalists and make treaties we won’t be allowed to vote on? How is it that our civil rights institutions were so toothless? They didn’t even utter a whimper, let alone a growl. How is it that our professional bodies and business associations were silent?

Only a few brave souls protested. How is it that our police forces humiliated themselves to the point where they were taping off children’s playgrounds and fining elderly women for sitting on a park bench? We long ago gave up on the idea that the mainstream media would hold authorities to account.

In the end the explanations, whether we get them or not, whether they make sense or not, are beside the point. Nothing can change what happened. By some miracle we might avert what they have planned, but it’s going to be a hell of a fight.

Once upon a time, we sweated on daily case numbers when the new cases per day were less than 10; now we barely think of them, and they are in the thousands, if not the tens of thousands. There’s only one conclusion to be drawn – it was never about public health, and it still isn’t. It was always about control.

*  *  *

Reprinted from the author’s Substack

The world’s most valuable sports teams include internationally beloved soccer clubs, massive NBA franchises, and renowned MLB teams. But, it’s the National Football League (NFL) that arguably tops them all.

In June 2022, the Denver Broncos sold for $4.65 billion, a record for the most expensive team purchase. But if other teams were to sell, they’d potentially command an even greater price tag.

Which teams, and conferences, reign supreme in value? This graphic by Truman Du uses data from Forbes last calculated in August 2022 to show the most valuable NFL teams.

NFL Teams by Value

To calculate team values, Forbes used enterprise values (total team equity plus net debt) and factored in each team’s stadium-related revenue. This includes non-NFL revenue that accrues to each team’s owner, but doesn’t account for the stadium’s real estate value.

The findings? NFL teams continue to become more valuable, rising in 2022 to an average of $4.47 billion, an increase of 28% year-over-year.

At the top of the rankings, the Dallas Cowboys sit at an estimated valuation of $8 billion, making them the most valuable sports team in the world.

They were the first team to generate over $1 billion in annual revenue thanks to massive sponsorship deals, including an estimated $220 million in stadium advertising and sponsorship revenue.

This is especially impressive, since NFL teams actually share just over 70% of football-related revenue. As Forbes points out, the Cowboys have been the most successful at capitalizing on stadium and branding in order to boost external revenues.

Most Valuable NFL Teams by Conference

Truman also broke down NFL team valuations by conference, highlighting the extra monetary weight one has over the other.

The National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC) were formed in 1970 after the NFL merged with the rival American Football League. Over time and as the league has expanded, the conferences have shifted and realigned to end up at 4 divisions of 4 teams for 16 teams each as of 2022.

Impressively, NFC teams had an average valuation about $500 million higher than the AFC. It also had five of the six most valuable teams, with just the #2 New England Patriots representing the AFC at the top.

But with the most recent record sale taking place in the AFC (Denver Broncos), and more potential high-profile relocations and sales in the wings, the landscape of NFL team values might shift yet again in the near future.

Authored by Con Coughlin via The Gatestone Institute,

Nothing better illustrates the utter ineptitude of the Biden administration’s dealings with the Middle East than Saudi Arabia’s decision to forge a strategic alliance with China.

This is a time when Washington should be working overtime to strengthen its ties with long-standing allies like the Saudis to combat the mounting threat Iran poses to the region’s security.

Apart from the deeply alarming progress the ayatollahs are said to be making with their efforts to produce nuclear weapons,

The new “axis of evil” that has been formed between Moscow and Tehran in recent months means Iran will soon be taking delivery of state-of-the-art Russian warplanes to add to its military arsenal.

In what both the White House and Downing Street described as “sordid deals” between the two countries, Iran is due to take delivery of Russian Su-35 fighter jets next year as well as other advanced military equipment and components, including helicopters and air defence systems. In return Iran is providing Russia with hundreds of its Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 so-called kamikaze drones, which self-destruct on hitting their target.

As US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby explained at a briefing in Washington, Moscow has “offered Iran an unprecedented level of military and technical support”, which “transforms their relationship into a full defense partnership”.

Biden administration officials added that Iranian pilots were already being trained in Russia on how to fly the Su-35 fighter.

By any standard, the deepening military cooperation between Russia and Iran should serve as a wake-up call to the Biden administration to redouble its efforts to reaffirm its commitment to key allies in the region such as the Saudis, who are committed to resisting any attempt by Tehran to expand its malign influence in the region.

Riyadh’s determination to resist Iran’s aggressive conduct was reflected in recent comments made by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud who warned that “all bets are off” if Iran succeeds in its goal of acquiring an operational nuclear weapon.

“We are in a very dangerous space in the region… you can expect that regional states will certainly look towards how they can ensure their own security,” he said.

Riyadh’s robust approach to Iran’s bellicose conduct is exactly the sort of response Washington needs to see from its allies as it faces up to the Iranian threat. Yet, thanks to the Biden administration’s wilful neglect of its relations with the Saudis, Riyadh is instead looking to build a partnership with Beijing, as was evident from the lavish reception given to Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to the kingdom this month.

Rarely has a visiting leader been the recipient of such lavish state pageantry as Xi after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spared no effort to afford the Chinese leader a warm welcome, which included a jet escort on his arrival.

During his three-day visit, Xi held extensive talks with the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, as well as other senior Saudi officials and signed a strategic partnership agreement that will deepen ties between Riyadh and Beijing on a range of issues, from defence to technology.

One particularly eye-catching aspect of the agreement was a deal with the Chinese tech giant Huawei to supply the Saudis with cloud computing services and allow “high-tech” complexes to be built in Saudi cities, according to Saudi officials.

Huawei has been designated a potential security threat by the US, with intelligence officials claiming that the company has close links to China’s ruling Communist Party and could be used to conduct spying operations.

That Riyadh is now moving away from its traditional alliance with the US and strengthening its ties with Beijing is a strategic disaster of epic proportions, and serves as a damning indictment of the Biden administration’s careless treatment of the Saudis, for which the president is personally to blame.

Biden set the tone for his strained relationship with the Saudi royal family during the 2020 presidential election contest when he denounced the kingdom as a “pariah” state over its involvement in the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, although there has never any audible distress from the Biden administration over Iran’s 2007 abduction and presumed death of ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though, forced Biden to rethink his attitude towards the Saudis when it suddenly dawned on him that he needed the Saudis to increase oil supplies to ease the pressure on global prices.

His efforts achieved little: the Saudis were apparently unimpressed with Biden greeting the Crown Prince with a fist-bump when he visited the kingdom in the summer, and he came away empty-handed, with the Saudis and other Gulf states ignoring his plea to increase oil production.

Apart from being dismayed about Biden’s obsession with reviving the controversial nuclear deal with Tehran, which they regard as a flawed agreement — it allows the Iranian regime soon to build as many nuclear weapons as it likes as well, as the ballistic missiles to deliver them — the Saudis and other Gulf leaders are unhappy with the lack of support they have received from Washington over the constant threat they face from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, whom Secretary of State Antony Blinken removed from the US list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations just a few weeks into Biden’s term, and who since then regularly fired Iranian-made missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Now, thanks to Biden’s incompetent management of the US-Saudi relationship, Riyadh is looking to China to protect its interests, a move that confirms the alarming decline in US influence in the region that has taken place under the vacuum in Biden’s leadership.

Via SchiffGold.com,

Peter Schiff recently appeared on the Jay Martin Show. During the interview, explains how the private sector can ultimately lead the world back to a gold standard.

Early in the discussion, Peter talks about investing, saying people need to be in something besides cash.

People have to go somewhere. I think you just can’t be in cash because all of these governments are just printing too much money. The inflation problem is worldwide. And it’s because all of these central banks made the same mistake.”

The world’s central banks basically followed the lead of the Federal Reserve.

We kind of corrupted the monetary policy of the whole world.”

As the US cut rates to zero, other major central banks did the same. In fact, some implemented negative interest rate policies to get their rates below America’s.

But Peter said the dollar’s status as the world reserve currency won’t last forever.

I think the world is going to reject the dollar. It’s already happening.”

Peter noted the de-dollarization efforts in many countries due to the fact that the US has weaponized the dollar and used it as a foreign policy tool.

Peter said when the dollar falls from its peak, Americans will face a rapidly declining standard of living.

America’s ability to live beyond its means is a function of the dollar’s reserve status. Because we can print dollars and use those dollars that we print to buy goods and services — mainly goods that we didn’t produce.”

So, what will replace the dollar?

There is no question that gold is going to re-emerge as the monetary unit of choice for the world. It’s not an accident that gold was money for 5,000 years. It’s been money for so long because it works.”

But Peter said he doesn’t think a new gold standard will be imposed by governments.

I think that the free market is going to reject the dollar and other currencies because they’re a flawed form of money because they are no longer a store of value.”

Peter pointed out that other private entities have undercut government monopolies in the past. For instance, FedEx and UPS managed to crack the US Post Office monopoly on parcel delivery.

And with the advancement of technology, it’s now possible to easily transact business in gold. Blockchain technology makes it possible to tokenize gold and easily transfer it from one party to another.

Bitcoin guys are like, ‘Oh, see, blockchain is the death of gold.’ No, it’s going to lead to the rebirth of gold. Because bitcoin is what we don’t need. Gold is what gives the digital currency its value.”

Jay brought up the point that a gold standard facilitated through the blockchain would still depend on third parties for payment processing and gold storage. But Peter argued that we’ve always depended on third parties. That’s not a problem in a competitive free market. The problems arise when that third party is a government.

We’ve always been trusting third parties and it’s worked. The only time it doesn’t work is when the third party is a government. That’s when they screwed us.”

Peter said he thinks the private sector will lead the world back to a gold standard because there ultimately is a demand for sound money.

The government has a monopoly on money and we’re being overcharged through inflation to use government money. So, the private sector comes up with an alternative.”

During this interview, Peter and Jay also talk about inflation, jobs, the FTX collapse, stocks, investing, and more.

By Ye Xie, Bloomberg markets live reporter and strategist

This year marks another turbulent period for Chinese markets. It also highlights a striking feature: Chinese stocks are more isolated from the rest of the world than they’ve been for more than two decades.

For some investors, that underscores the diversification benefit of investing in China. For others, the unique risks strengthen the argument for carving out China from the rest of emerging markets.

Even with a rally over the past month, Chinese stocks remain among global underperformers this year. The MSCI China Index has lost 26%, compared with a decline of 19% of the MSCI all-country index.

Plus, volatility has been high throughout the year, punctuated by the Shanghai lockdown, tension around Taiwan and skepticism toward China’s new leadership following the Party Congress. Adding to these local market drivers, China is the only major economy that lowered borrowing costs.

With these idiosyncratic risks, it’s not surprising that the Chinese markets are increasingly out of sync with the rest of the world. The annual correlation between the MSCI China Index and MSCI’s global benchmark has dropped to 0.22, a level last seen in 2001 when China joined the World Trade Organization. In the bond market, 10-year bond government yields rose only 12 basis points, while US Treasury notes with same maturity jumped more than 200 basis points.

The low correlation has long been seen as one of the attractiveness for investing in China. On the flip side, it also strengthens the case to treat China as a standalone asset class.

Since the US-China trade war in 2018, the chorus for separating China from the rest emerging markets has grown louder. For starters, China, was simply too big. Even with the decline in recent years, China still accounts for about 30% of the MSCI emerging markets index. Secondly, some investors already have exposure through dedicated China funds. With China as a big chunk of the emerging market index, investors may have exposed to the country more than they want.

More importantly, Beijing is seeking to reduce its reliance on foreign countries in strategic industries, such as semiconductors, and in capital markets amid the tension with the West. That means China’s industrial, monetary and fiscal policy cycles may be different from the others.

That separation trend is already clear. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF attracted a record $577 million in November, one month after President Xi Jinping installed his allies in the leadership at the Party Congress. Until 2021, the fund was struggling attracting investors.

Next year, China is expected to be the only major economy to see its growth pick up. If materialized, it will again showcase the need to invest China differently.

The myth of the US labor shortage is about to come crashing down courtesy of the Philadelphia Fed (just as we have been warning for months), but it is about to be replaced with the stark reality of China’s all too real lack of workers.

Consider the following story from the SCMP: two years after Zhao Yanfang’s mandatory retirement from her blue-collar job in the canteen of a state-owned enterprise, the 52-year-old is back to work – this time at a noodle restaurant in Beijing. On a recent slow day, she taps buttons on a mobile device, inputting orders for patrons who present various coupons acquired through different channels – including the company’s own app, and food-delivery platforms – while reading off the day’s specials for dine-in customers.

“It’s all for the sake of my son,” she says, explaining how the father of her twin grandchildren lost his job during the pandemic. “Were it not for supporting his family, I would never have bothered working after retirement, trying to learn this complicated ordering system.

“I thought my three decades of work experience would be enough for waitressing. I didn’t expect it would be so challenging.”

Zhao is among the millions of China’s retirees who have re-entered the job market or are looking to do so as the financial burden on Chinese families mounts from the government’s disruptive zero-Covid strategy that has crippled business and hammered the economy. Beijing has also been encouraging retirees to return to work as the rapidly aging country faces a long-term decline in its workforce.

China’s working-age population, aged 16-64, is forecast to drop by 35 million over the next five years and to plunge by more than 60% over the next eight decades, according to a report released by the United Nations in July. At the end of 2020, there were 264 million people over the age of 60 in mainland China, and that total is projected to surge to 400 million and account for more than 30% of China’s population by 2035, according to the National Health Commission.

With fewer workers contributing to the public pension system, and with a growing number of seniors to be supported, China’s urban state pension fund – similar to the US social security fund – could be out of money by 2035, according to a 2019 projection by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (also similar to the social security).

One problem that looks to finally be addressed is China’s decades-long adherence to mandatory retirement ages: 60 for men, 55 for female office workers and 50 for female blue-collar workers. The ages date back to a time when life expectancy at birth in China was nearly half of what it is today, and demographic and labor experts have long argued that they need to be raised, especially for women.

In February, China’s State Council confirmed that it would gradually start pushing back its long-mandated retirement ages in the coming years, in line with Beijing’s plans to better accommodate the needs of the elderly and adjust to new realities stemming from the nation’s rapidly ageing population.

President Xi Jinping reiterated that sentiment in his report delivered during the 20th party congress in October, when he said China would “gradually push back the legal retirement age”. Though few details of the plan have been released, the State Council said changes would “gradually” be made during the country’s current 14th five-year plan (2021-25).

Meanwhile, China’s state media campaign has been promoting the value of working longer to achieve one’s career ambitions. And the government launched a special website in August to match elderly jobseekers with potential employers, with McDonald’s being among the first to recruit retirement-aged waitstaff in Beijing, with a posted salary of up to 3,500 yuan (US$488) per month for a full-time job with 40 hours a week.

“Longer life expectancies, as well as fewer workers per older person, are increasing the financial burden of pension payments,” said Joseph Chamie, an international demographer and former director of the UN’s Population Division. “To offset those rising costs, as well as the declining labor forces, governments worldwide are considering raising their official age of retirement.”

It’s not just China that is stealthily seeking to devalue retirement age: last year, Japan approved bills requiring companies to retain their workers until they are 70 years old, effectively raising the retirement age from 65 to 70. Germany plans to increase its state pension age from 65 to 67, but not until 2031. And in France, the official age of retirement is 62 – low among the 38 member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This year, the government attempted to incentivise people to continue working until 65, but the proposal naturally set off strikes.

“China’s retirement ages for men and women are relatively low compared with many other countries,” Chamie said. “Delaying retirement encourages workers to remain in the labor force. I expect that more of China’s older population will be working in the next one or two decades. Due to age-related differences in education and skills across the Chinese population, I suspect that the majority of China’s elderly in the labor force will be working in low-level manufacturing and services sectors.”

What a prospect: a generation of geriatric McDonalds line cooks and waiters.

Remarkably, more than two-thirds of Chinese at retirement age are keen to re-enter the workforce, according to a report last month by Chinese recruitment platform 51jobs.com. It did not provide the survey size perhaps because it is as “real” as any “data” out of China.

A total of 68% of older people said they had a strong desire to be employed after reaching retirement age, whether out of financial necessity or a desire to stay busy. The service and labor-intensive manufacturing sectors were the most popular areas for them to seek employment, especially among those lacking qualifications, the survey showed.

Meanwhile, China’s reputation as the “factory of the world” was built largely on the backs of young migrant workers who left their rural hometowns for opportunities in bustling export hubs. However, over the last decade, the average age of migrant workers in China has increased steadily, as fewer young people enter the workforce and older workers with no pension protection are forced to continue working.

China had 292 million migrant workers as of last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The average age was 41.7 years, compared with 34 years in 2008. More than a quarter of all migrant workers are now over the age of 50. And more than half are over 40, compared with just over a third in 2010.

Kent Huang, a second-generation businessman in Guangdong province who produces hardware and furniture for export, said there are many workers aged over 40 in factories in southern China’s Pearl River Delta.

“There are about 200 workers in my factory, and 80 per cent of them are in their mid-forties or early fifties, and it’s rare to see young manufacturing workers in their twenties,” Huang said.

The older workers get paid about the same as their younger peers. All are hired for piecework, not on a monthly wage, he said. When the pandemic and China’s stringent curbs have crippled global demand, they have borne the brunt.

“Due to the epidemic and globally sluggish demand, workers’ income is actually much lower than last year. Many factories nearby have had to lay off workers,” Huang said. “Order volume has plummeted to less than 40 per cent of last year. Those female workers in their late 40s will be among the first required to take compulsory leave with minimum wage, which is far from enough to cover their living cost in urban areas, let alone support their families in their hometowns.”

Lu Zhou, an operations director at an original equipment manufacturer in Taicang in the eastern province of Jiangsu, said that for traditional manufacturing, such as shoes and garments, there can be an advantage in hiring older workers who are more likely to “cherish the job, unlike young people who jump ship very easily”.

“But, of course, in those industries that are accelerating technological upgrades, older workers struggle to find a place. They generally flow into the service industry that does not require new skills, or into the low-end traditional manufacturing industry,” he said.

Helen Wu, a founding partner of the Sunshine Immensity headhunting service in Beijing, said that it is rare to see people older than 50 selected for high-end positions: “In my 14-year career as a headhunter, chances of high-end positions have been few and far between for the elderly, unless they are well-connected or former senior executives,” Wu said.

“While China is emphasizing ‘high-quality’ development and has reduced the importance attached to GDP growth, the job prospects for most elderly will not be very rosy in the next decade, given that competition in China’s job market is already so intense,” she said.

Huang Wenzheng, a demographer who has written extensively on China’s birth rate and labour issues, said it was a harsh reality that many retirees must continue working to support their families.

“However, the elderly shouldn’t be pushed to work just to increase the labour force. People live to enjoy their life, not to work for the sake of work,” Huang said and stressed the importance of boosting China’s falling fertility rate, which fell to just 1.15 last year from 2.6 in the late 1980s and remains well below the replacement level of 2.1 needed for a stable population.

By comparison, the fertility rate in the United States is 1.6 births per woman, while in ageing Japan it is 1.3.

“The government should increase welfare for workers and couples with children,” Huang said of Beijing. “The ageing problem can only be eased by improving couples’ willingness to give birth.”

Of course, such willingness will only come if future parents are optimistic about the economic prospects both for them and their children. And that, unlike everything else in China, can not be faked which is why China is about to slip into the demographic spiral of doom.

Summary: Zelensky spoke for a little over 30 minutes and in English, at times invoking key US historical moments from the Battle of Saratoga to the Battle of the Bulge (and comparing the courage of Ukrainian soldiers), after he was greeted as a ‘hero’ in a minutes-long standing ovation. He asserted that Ukraine is winning “against all odds”. He was throughout frequently interrupted by standing ovations from a partially filled Congress, which was missing a lot of Republicans, in part given a number of lawmakers had already traveled home for the holidays ahead of the unexpected in-person visit, and facing incoming severe weather.

Zelensky peppered the speech with positive and optimistic statements like “Ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender,” and “but our defense forces stand” – especially offering the latest example of Bakhmut, in the Donbas. As expected, a major theme was the need for continued US support, for which he thanked the Biden administration, Congress, and the American people.

“The occupiers have an advantage in artillery and much more heavy equipment like tanks and airplanes,” he began a section of the address in which he appealed for continued aid. “Your support is crucial… to get to the turning point on the battlefield.”

“We have artillery, is it enough? Not really.” He explained that Ukraine needs enough ammo and weapons to be able to completely expel Russian forces from Ukrainian territory. He also spoke of the misery that Russian-operated Iranian drones are unleashing on the civilian population in attacking energy infrastructure. “I would like to thank you for the financial packages,” he said, and followed with: “Your money is not charity” but an investment in “global security” that Ukraine will “handle in the most responsible way.”

Among the more interesting statements was the moment he indirectly pressed for the US to provide tanks and warplanes. While he stressed that Ukraine has never asked American troops to fight on Ukraine’s behalf on its soil, he asserted: “I can assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves.” 

On the potential for a negotiated peace, he called attention of his prior “10-point plan” which he said should be implemented (and which Russia previously firmly rejected), and which he said Biden approved of during the Wednesday meeting at the White House.

Zelensky additionally called on Congress to join Ukraine in bringing every Russian “criminal” to justice. “Let the terrorist state” be held accountable, he said. He emphasized millions of Ukrainians will have no heating or water as they celebrate Christmas. 

“Only victory!” he stressed near the end of the speech, and also quoted from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Day of Infamy” speech. “The American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory,” Zelensky said, and followed by pledging that Ukraine too will achieve “absolute victory.” 

Meanwhile in Moscow…

⚡️#BREAKING Kremlin says no chance of peace with Kyiv after Zelensky Washington trip

— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) December 21, 2022

* * *

Update (1920): Zelensky is expected to make an “appeal to the American people” – as he previewed earlier – at 1940ET. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in welcoming him about an hour ago to the Capitol building compared the Ukrainian leader to Winston Churchill. Watch live:

Throughout the afternoon, CNN’s live coverage has been talking a lot about the below tweet by Donald Trump Jr…

Zelensky is basically an ungrateful international welfare queen. https://t.co/WclnckMoCj

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 21, 2022

* * *

Summary: President Biden in his written remarks read aloud turned to Zelensky to assure “you haven’t stood alone” and that the United States “will stand with you”. He said Putin is escalating by targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, including “targeting orphanages and schools.” A key theme throughout the remarks is the US belief that Putin will “fail” and that Ukraine will have continued “success” on the battlefield with US help.

Biden further pointed out it’s been 300 days since Putin launched an “unprovoked, unjustified all-out assault” on Ukraine, part of the “imperial appetites of autocrats”. Interestingly, Biden affirmed that even before the invasion the US was helping Ukraine to prepare to defend itself. 

Biden hailed that the Ukrainian military has “won” in the battles for Kyiv, Kherson and Kharkiv. Biden additionally claimed Zelensky is “open” to pursuing a just peace while Putin is not. Further, continued unreserved support was pledged, with no hint of peace talks or a ceasefire…

There had been thoughts, questions that Biden would pressure Zelenskyy to make a (potentially bad) deal with Russia to end the war at any price. It didn’t happen, at least not in public. Instead unreserved US support to help Zelenskyy on battlefield.

— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) December 21, 2022

“I look forward to signing the omnibus bill soon which includes $45 billion for Ukraine,” Biden said, while also unveiling 1.8 billion of security assistance that includes both direct transfers as well as contracts for future ammo supplies. In total, it will constitute “$2.2 billion in new support,” Biden said. The package will include a patriot missile battery, Biden said, as previewed. While emphasizing that Patriot systems will be a “critical asset” for Ukraine, he admitted that training “may take some time”. Biden as expected also stressed the “defensive” nature of the Patriot system.

Biden further in the Q&A said that Putin had “strengthened NATO” with the decision to invade.

Zelensky for his part, said he’s “thankful” for all that the American people have done, and that this is currently a “historic” visit. He said he’s especially “grateful” to President Biden for his strong stance in support of Ukraine. Every dollar of this investment is toward “strengthening global security,” Zelensky said. He repeatedly referred to “terrorist” Russia and its decision to invade, based on “tyranny”. He pledged that ultimately Ukraine will “win” – and that “we will win together”. 

Biden pledged during the press conference that US support will remain “for as long as it takes”. 

* * *

Update (1425ET): Watch live as President Biden kicks off a joint press conference with Zelensky.

* * *

Update(1340ET): Zelensky has arrived on a large Air Force jet. He’s expected to soon meet Biden at the White House, after which there will be a joint presser at 1630ET.

Zelenskiy was greeted by Biden’s protocol officer Rufus Gifford on arrival.

📸 from Zelenskiy’s Telegram channel pic.twitter.com/PUKhxRxBv1

— annmarie hordern (@annmarie) December 21, 2022

* * *

Update(10:45ET): Zelensky is reportedly arriving to Washington D.C. aboard a US Air Force plane, according to US officials cited in CNN, after taking a high risk train ride into Poland. White House national security communications coordinator John Kirby said of the impending visit with President Biden, “The President really believes that as we approach winter, as we enter … a new phase in this war, of Mr. Putin’s aggression, that this is a good time for the two leaders to sit down face to face and talk.” But this is how Reuters somewhat cynically previewed the visit: 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy headed to Washington on Wednesday to meet President Joe Biden, address Congress and seek “weapons, weapons and more weapons” in his first overseas trip since Russia invaded Ukraine 300 days ago.

Surprisingly, the Associated Press additionally highlighted the latest video address by Zelensky, who yesterday while visiting a frontline fighting area in Bakhmut, said the following at a moment Congress is set to to approve $45 billion more in aid for Ukraine in the proposed massive omnibus package:

“We will pass it on from the boys to the Congress, to the president of the United States. We are grateful for their support, but it is not enough. It is a hint — it is not enough,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky is apparently prepared to tell Congress that whatever the US has given Ukraine — $45 billion in new aid now under consideration — it is not enough. From @AP: https://t.co/kbyyqF5t5X pic.twitter.com/5BkSu9Dsaj

— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 21, 2022

The US is about to reach $100 billion in total aid committed to Ukraine, and as Glenn Greenwald points out, this far surpasses the total current Russian military budget…

Good morning. The US Congress is about to send another $44 billion to Boeing, Raytheon and the CIA “for the war in Ukraine.”

That’s a total of $100 billion sent by the US in 10 months.

The entire Russian military budget for the year is $65 billion.https://t.co/wszK7RHFos

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 21, 2022

And yet Zelensky and the constant refrain of top Ukrainian officials has been essentially that despite the blank check approach of the Biden administration, it is never enough. Apparently even the mainstream media is beginning to recognize this.

Looks like Zelensky flying to Washington on a US Air Force plane. Dramatically reduces the possibility of anything happening to the Ukrainian President on his first trip abroad since the Russian invasion began… https://t.co/7QXkGSWm0h

— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) December 21, 2022

However, over at CNN Zelensky is being compared to Winston Churchill…

“Zelensky’s arrival will draw poignant echoes of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s arrival in Washington, 81 years ago,” writes Stephen Collinson | Analysis https://t.co/2o5FJBbQGM

— CNN International (@cnni) December 21, 2022

* * *

With Ukraine’s Zelensky reportedly in the air en route to Washington where he’s is to deliver a “very special” in-person speech to US lawmakers, it’s being widely reported Wednesday morning that President Biden is expected to announce the US will deliver the Patriot missile defense system, along with another $2 billion in defense aid.

An admin official quoted in Axios said Zelensky’s visit to Washington is expected to last just “a few short hours,” and marks the first known trip the Ukrainian leader has taken outside the country since the war began. He’s expected to hold an “in-depth, strategic discussion” with Biden, and the Congressional address is set for 7:30pm EST.

The unnamed official further said the White House wants to put on a “big show of bipartisan support for Zelensky” in hopes of shoring up political “momentum” for continued assistance to Kiev, which is also coming in the form of the enormous omnibus spending package which includes $45 billion in military, economic, and other foreign aid to Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the Ukrainian president’s visit will be received with “strong, bipartisan support for Ukraine.”

She said “The visit will underscore the United States’ steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through the provision of economic, humanitarian, and military assistance.”

Zelensky in the meantime tweeted confirmation while en route…

On my way to the US to strengthen resilience and defense capabilities of 🇺🇦. In particular, @POTUS and I will discuss cooperation between 🇺🇦 and 🇺🇸. I will also have a speech at the Congress and a number of bilateral meetings.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2022

Meanwhile, some initial reaction coming out of Moscow…

• PUTIN: INTERBALLISTIC MISSILES SARMAT WILL BE DEPLOYED FOR COMBAT DUTY IN NEAREST FUTURE
• RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHOIGU: WE ARE READY FOR TALKS
• RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHOIGU: JOINT FORCES OF WEST ARE FIGHTING RUSSIA IN UKRAINE
• WEST TRIES TO OVERLOOK NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL, INCLUDING OVER ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER STATION
• WEST TRIES TO DRAG ON THE FIGHTING IN UKRAINE
• RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SHOIGU: WE ARE FIGHTING TO SAVE PEOPLE IN UKRAINE FROM GENOCIDE AND TERROR
• MILITARY POTENTIAL OF UKRAINE IS BEING DESTROYED

It will be interesting to see whether Zelensky’s appearance before Congress is greeted with the same level of enthusiasm from all corners of the GOP.

The GOP wouldn’t fund a $5 Billion Border Wall but have happily sent $130 Billion to Ukraine over 9 months.

— Mostly Peaceful Memes (@MostlyPeacefull) December 20, 2022

developing…