So it’s important to remember that great relationships give one great powers and that they are wonderful rewards in and of themselves. There is nothing more powerful and rewarding for the individual and the collective than the cooperating of capable people who care for each other and who will give each other all they can. [2]The main plan for building self-sufficiency goes under name of “dual circulation.” [3]https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/1-in-5-companies-say-china-stole-their-ip-within-the-last-year-cnbc.html [4]It is widely recognized that “regime change” has been a commonly employed technique of the United States for managing its global world order. [5]This statement was particularly made in connection with the Taiwan reunification issue. [6]Decoupling, while required given the circumstances, will be difficult and will lead to significantly reduced efficiency. One knowledgeable party described it as a compartmented rather than a broad-based decoupling, which makes sense to me. [7]See: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/05/why-united-states-uses-sanctions-so-much/588625/ [8]The shares of US-dollar-denominated debt are large in relation to a) the percentage of asset allocations that international investors would hold to balance their portfolios well, b) the sizes of reserve currency holdings that are appropriate to meet trade and capital flow funding needs, c) the sizes of the US debt market capitalizations relative to other markets’ capitalizations, and d) the size and importance of the US economy relative to other economies. Dollar-denominated debt is now disproportionately large because the US dollar is the world’s leading reserve currency, which makes it perceived as a safer asset than it really is, and because US dollar borrowings have been disproportionately large. Now, most of those who are responsible for determining what the shares of their holdings should be in different markets are not inclined to increase the shares in line with the greater amounts of US bonds to be sold and are in fact considering reducing their shares held in US debt, which, if it happens, will require larger purchases by the Federal Reserve. [9]Adjusted for purchasing power parity. [10]In fact it is a challenge for them to deal with the lack of continuity of policies and directions in the US arising from seemingly whimsical shifts in what matters to the American public as expressed in whom they choose to represent them. [11]To give an oversimplified example of a win-win approach, if each country picks the top 10 things that they want to get or want to be protected against and allocates 100 points in total to these to express how much they want these things, they could determine what the best trades would be. For example, I expect that high on China’s list would be the reunification with Taiwan—so high in fact that they would go to war for it. I can’t imagine that preventing that from happening would be nearly as high on the US list, whereas something on the US list would be very high so that they should be willing to trade it to make both sides happy. [12]Though it might sound naïve, I wish the power of thoughtful disagreement could be tapped to deal with the US-China wars. For example, I visualize how wonderful it would be if leaders or representatives of each country were to have a series of publicly aired thoughtful disagreements, like presidential debates, that the populations of both countries could listen to in order to gain both sides’ perspectives. I’m sure it would make us much more knowledgeable, more empathetic, and improve the chances of peaceful resolutions. [13]https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/30/americans-fault-china-for-its-role-in-the-spread-of-covid-19/ Bridgewater Daily Observations is prepared by and is the property of Bridgewater Associates, LP and is circulated for informational and educational purposes only. There is no consideration given to the specific investment needs, objectives or tolerances of any of the recipients. Additionally, Bridgewater's actual investment positions may, and often will, vary from its conclusions discussed herein based on any number of factors, such as client investment restrictions, portfolio rebalancing and transactions costs, among others. Recipients should consult their own advisors, including tax advisors, before making any investment decision. This report is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities or other instruments mentioned. Bridgewater research utilizes data and information from public, private and internal sources, including data from actual Bridgewater trades. Sources include the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Bloomberg Finance L.P., Capital Economics, CBRE, Inc., CEIC Data Company Ltd., Consensus Economics Inc., Corelogic, Inc., CoStar Realty