Global shares lost steam late last week after Washington ordered China’s consulate in Houston to close, prompting Beijing to react in kind by closing the US consulate in Chengdu. — Reuters pic
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took fresh aim at China last week, saying Washington and its allies must use “more creative and assertive ways” to press the Chinese Communist Party to change its ways. That means the economy could capitulate without fresh support from the government, with some of earlier steps such as enhanced jobless benefits due to expire this month.
Democrats, who control the House of Representatives, want enhanced benefits of US$600 per week to be extended and look to much bigger stimulus compared with the Republicans’ US$1 trillion plan.