Why you shouldn't believe the CPI hype. NY's tax colonoscopies and Florida threatens Chinese with prison for buying property.
Great links, images and reading from Chartbook newsletter by Adam Tooze
Helen Lundeberg, Relative Magnitude, 1936, oil on masonite, 30 x 24 in. / 76.2 x 61 cm, The Buck Collection at The UCI Museum and Institute for California Art. Copyright the Feitelson/Lundeberg Art Foundation.
In recent weeks the world of global finance has been shaken by a sequence of hotter inflation numbers from the US, which have suggested that the Fed cannot cut as fast as expected. But, as this brilliant! column by Tej Parikh for Alphaville lays out the reaction has been overdone.
The disinflation narrative remains alive and well -
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Florida’s Alien Land Law … yes it has such a thing!
A federal appellate court in Miami hears arguments Friday in a lawsuit challenging Florida's alien land law, which bans Chinese citizens from buying most property in the state and has been criticized as discriminatory. Lawyers representing Chinese plaintiffs will argue that this law is unconstitutional and ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to block the law "more broadly" after the court initially halted enforcement against two of the individual plaintiffs, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last May, SB264 (23R) prohibits nationals from China, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia and North Korea from buying homes in the state. Bethany Li, legal director of AALDEF, told Nikkei Asia there has been an "unintended impact" of the ban, involving Chinese who are renting property spaces. Li cited an incident in which a Florida landlord asked a Chinese commercial real estate company that had been renting the space for years to vacate before the law went into effect last July. "That's not because of anything that the law says," Li said. "I think [it's] the broader stigmatization and chilling effect that the law has created for not only Chinese people in the state of Florida, but Asian Americans in general." Her organization is partnering with community and grassroots groups to devise ways to oppose similar laws nationwide. As of last May, 33 U.S. states have introduced some form of property legislation, according to APA Justice. About 11 states have passed such legislation including Texas, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Some bills failed, while others are still pending. "Florida's law is the most egregious. It's the most sweeping. It's the worst for its criminal penalties on Chinese people," Li said. "But there're a lot of laws that have passed, unfortunately, in other states that have a similar effect in terms of wanting to keep Chinese people out." Under the Florida law, Chinese citizens buying homes could face up to five years in prison, the seller could face up to one year in prison, and both sides can be fined thousands of dollars.
Source: Nikkei Asia
The cost of Israel’s defenses was probably seven time greater than that of the Iranian missiles and drones launched against it.
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Source: Redbubble
Helen Lundeberg, Plant and Animal Analogies, 1934-35
“We always tell people the tax audit from New York is like the tax version of a colonoscopy”
At New Jersey’s Teterboro and Long Island’s Islip airports, dozens of private jets destined for Florida take off at times such as 11:42 p.m. or 11:54 p.m. Over at JFK, a regular flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, arrives at a seemingly purposeful time: about 15 minutes after midnight. Meanwhile, tax attorneys tell stories of clients idling in their luxury SUVs near the New Jersey entrance to the George Washington Bridge shortly before 12 a.m., waiting for the clock to turn before crossing the state line to New York. When it comes to taxes and the wealthy, every minute matters — especially for those who have left New York and declared residency elsewhere. At a time more high earners are departing, or at least are claiming to, state officials are stepping up already-intense scrutiny to make sure former residents have actually moved. It’s a complex operation that involves cutting-edge artificial intelligence and tracking everything from travel to the location of people’s pets.
Source: Bloomberg
Huawei is clawing its way back in the Chinese smartphone market
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Portrait of Inez, 1933 Source: Helen Lundeberg
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