Economist rare joint warning!
Recently, more than 100 renowned economists around the world jointly signed an open letter stating that electing radical right-wing economist Mile as president would bring "disaster" to Argentina. Mile has made many highly controversial economic proposals during the election campaign, including measures to ban the Argentine central bank, completely dollarize the Argentine economy, and significantly reduce public spending.
On Thursday, a statement by US President Biden caused the market value of electric vehicle giant Tesla to evaporate nearly 300 billion yuan in one day. So, what exactly happened?
In addition, on November 10th, due to safety hazards, SAIC General Motors announced a recall of 1.13 million vehicles, including Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, and others.
Check out the detailed report!
More than 100 economists jointly warned
According to the Guardian, the Argentine presidential election on November 19th is getting closer. Recently, more than 100 renowned economists around the world jointly signed an open letter stating that electing radical right-wing economist Mille as president would bring "disaster" to Argentina. The open letter warns that if Mile is elected as president, it will bring economic "destruction" and social chaos to Argentina, and may even threaten the international financial system.
This open letter was written by renowned French economist Thomas Pikett, Indian economist Jayati Ghosh, and others. It received joint signatures from economists from around the world, including former Colombian Minister of Finance and former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo.
Currently, four out of ten Argentine citizens live in poverty, with an annual inflation rate of nearly 140%. In response to this situation, Mille made many highly controversial economic proposals during the election, including measures to ban the Argentine Central Bank, completely dollarize the Argentine economy, and significantly reduce public spending. In addition, Millay claimed to be an anarchist capitalist and repeatedly claimed that "taxation is theft", "the state was invented by the devil, and God's system is a free market
Shortly after the preliminary election results were released, the Argentine peso significantly depreciated in the foreign exchange trading electronic market, causing stock market volatility. On October 13th local time, an Argentine prosecutor filed a criminal lawsuit against Mile, accusing him and other political party candidates of inciting public fear and condemning Mile for "encouraging people to give up saving pesos and causing the devaluation of the Argentine currency". Argentine President Fernandez also called for an investigation into Mile, stating that his attempt to intimidate the public was a "serious insult to the democratic system". Millay claimed that the above accusations were all aimed at his "political persecution".
Economists warn in the letter that Millaism economics is completely deviating from traditional economic thinking and is actually rooted in laissez faire economics, which is "full of risks and may cause great harm to the Argentine economy and people". In addition, significant cuts in government spending will exacerbate already severe poverty and inequality, and may lead to significant exacerbation of social tensions and conflicts.
The open letter acknowledges that Milleonomics is currently attractive to the Argentine people. Economists say that given Argentina's frequent financial crises and recurrent high inflation, they understand the deep desire of voters for economic stability. However, although these seemingly simple and crude solutions may be attractive, they may cause more damage to the real world in the short term and seriously reduce policy space in the long run.
This is not the first time economists have openly opposed Millay. On September 10th, a letter signed by 170 global economists stated that dollarization of the Argentine economy would lead to rising inflation, repeated economic downturns, and high unemployment rates, which would not solve the country's fundamental economic problems. We believe that dollarization will be a misleading attempt to address the complex challenges of the Argentine economy, "economists wrote at the time, and the prospect of Argentina having a stable currency undoubtedly brings hope to the general public." Foreign evidence and domestic situations suggest that dollarization is far from a panacea.
The results of the August primaries this year showed that presidential candidate Millay, elected by the far right party "Free Progressive Party," led with a vote rate of 31.57%. In the first round of voting in October, he was unexpectedly defeated by the incumbent economy minister Sergio Massa, a candidate for the ruling party coalition, with a 6 percentage point advantage, and ultimately ranked second with 29.9% of the vote. However, shortly after, Mille received support from the third candidate and former President of the country, Mauricio Mackeri. On November 19th, Argentina held a second round of presidential elections, and Mile and Massa will also face a second round of showdown.
Biden spoke up, Tesla was "scared"
On November 9th local time, a statement by US President Biden caused the market value of electric vehicle giant Tesla to evaporate nearly 300 billion yuan.
On that day, Biden attended an event in Belvedale, Illinois, where he met with Sean Finn, Chairman of the United Auto Workers (UAW), and union members. Biden congratulated Finn and emphasized the temporary contract agreement reached between UAW and the three major Detroit automakers, saying, 'I hope all automotive workers can sign such contracts.'.
It is worth noting that during the gap between the events, Biden expressed his "absolute support" for the UAW to organize labor unions for Tesla and Toyota workers. It is understood that Tesla employs tens of thousands of non union workers in states such as California, Texas, Nevada, and New York. Affected by the news, Tesla plummeted 5.46% on the same day and fell below $210 per share, with a daily market value evaporation of $38.569 billion, equivalent to approximately RMB 281.3 billion. On Friday, Tesla recently closed at $214.65 per share, up 2.22%.
Biden's above remarks were publicly criticized by a friend of Musk. PayPal co founder and venture capitalist David Sachs said that Biden is trying to trap the company in "some outdated views of the past. Sachs said that Biden's statement was not surprising. "Of course, he wants Tesla, Toyota, and all other companies in the world to form unions," the venture capitalist said. Biden may be the most capable president we have ever seen to win over unions
During the interview, Sachs also dug up the old accounts of Biden not inviting Tesla to the White House hosted electric vehicle summit. He said the snub was due to Tesla not being a union enterprise, and added that Biden also chose to attribute the credit for starting the electric vehicle revolution to companies such as General Motors. He said, 'This is too foolish'. Sachs also said that the reason Tesla is so innovative is due to its non union nature, which gives it the flexibility to achieve its vision in a more flexible way.
Not long ago, the six week shutdown organized by UAW caused billions of dollars in losses to the automotive industry. Afterwards, the union reached record breaking salary agreements with Stratus, General Motors, and Ford Motor Company. Subsequently, on November 2nd, UAW Chairman Sean Finn stated that he hoped to use the momentum brought by the agreement to target non union manufacturers such as Tesla and Toyota. Sean Finn said in an interview, "We can defeat anyone." Finn said that whether UAW can negotiate with Tesla will depend on the people who work for Tesla. "They want a fair share... I believe this is feasible
Tesla is a non union company, and CEO Musk has always been a staunch opponent of the union. UAW had previously attempted to organize a union at Tesla, but ultimately failed. Sean Finn pointed out that these efforts failed due to corruption in the union and collusion between the union chairman and car company bosses. Bob King and Dennis Williams, former chairmen of UAW, have both met separately with Musk, and in 2020, Williams admitted to being guilty of embezzlement and extortion.
SAIC GM Recalls 1.13 million Cars
Due to safety hazards, SAIC General Motors announced a recall of 1.13 million vehicles, including Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, and others.
On November 10th, according to the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, SAIC General Motors Co., Ltd. recently filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the requirements of the "Regulations on the Administration of Recall of Defective Automotive Products" and the "Implementation Measures for the Regulations on the Administration of Recall of Defective Automotive Products", and decided to recall the following vehicles in batches starting from May 31, 2024.
1、 Buick produced from September 5, 2019 to July 12, 2023: some 2021 to 2023 model year Enclave S, all-new LaCrosse, all-new LaCrosse; Some 2022 to 2023 models of Enclave PLUS and Enclave Flag; Some 2023 model year Angyang cars, totaling 611260 vehicles.
2、 Chevrolet produced between May 28, 2020 and July 12, 2023: some 2021 to 2023 model year Explorer and Malibu XL; Some 2022 to 2023 model year pioneers; A total of 195819 2023 Star Milo cars.
3、 Cadillac produced between April 9, 2020 and June 15, 2023: some 2021 to 2023 model year XT4, XT5, and XT6; A total of 327006 2023 model year GT4 vehicles.
Due to poor moisture-proof performance of the fuel pump control module, vehicles within the scope of this recall may experience water vapor intrusion into the control module after being exposed to water and moisture, resulting in abnormal operation. In extreme cases, it may cause the vehicle to lose power while driving, posing a safety hazard.
SAIC General Motors Co., Ltd. will replace the improved fuel pump control module for vehicles within the recall scope for free to eliminate safety hazards.
This recall event is the second recall of 74295 Boundary Explorer vehicles by SAIC General Motors Co., Ltd. on June 21, 2023, which changed the recall measures and expanded the scope of the recall.