Those Stubborn Facts: U.S. National Security Outsourced to China

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China, defense, Defense Department, national security, Pentagon, procurement, supply chain, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of Chinese entities in the U.S. Defense Department’s supply base, 2019: 655

Increase since 2012: “More than fivefold.”

 

(Source: “Pentagon Pushes Defense Companies to Limit Use of Chinese Supplies,” by Doug Cameron, The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2022, Pentagon Pushes Defense Companies to Limit Use of Chinese Supplies – WSJ )

Those Stubborn Facts: The Biggest Bubble of Them All?

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bubbles, China, housing, property, real estate, Those Stubborn Facts

Number of people who could be housed in currently empty apartments in China: 90 million

Area of purchased but unbuilt properties in China: 500-600 million square meters:

Number of Manhattans this figure adds up to: 10

Estimated cost of finishing these projects: $300 billion

 

(Source: “Real estate will defeat Beijing, again,” by Pete Sweeney, Breaking Views, Reuters, July 21, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/real-estate-will-defeat-beijing-again-2022-07-21/) 

 

Those Stubborn Facts: U.S. Inflation Has Wiped Out Stimulus Gains – & Then Some

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cost of living, inflation, stimulus, Those Stubborn Facts, wages Covid relief

Combined total of individuals’ COVID stimulus checks passed during the Trump and Biden administrations: $3,200

Total wage loss from inflation for the average worker between June, 2021 and June, 2022: $3,400

 

(“Inflation Has Now Devoured All Biden’s Covid ‘Rescue ‘ Checks,” unsigned editorial, Issues & Insights, July 18, 2022, Inflation Has Now Devoured All Biden’s COVID ‘Rescue’ Checks – Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com))

Those Stubborn Facts: Yes, Biden Really Has Opened the Border

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Biden administration, Biden border crisis, border security, illegal immigration, immigrants, Immigration, migrants, Open Borders, Those Stubborn Facts

“We preliminarily estimate that illegal immigrants accounted for two-thirds of the growth in the foreign-born population since January 2021 — 1.35 million.”

– Center for Immigration Studies, June 1, 2022

 

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population during first Obama administration term: 59,000

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population during second Obama administration term: 76,000

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population during Trump pre-CCP Virus years: 42,000

Average monthly growth in U.S. foreign-born population sofar during Biden administration: 132,000

 

(“Foreign-Born Population Hit Record 47 Million in April 2022,” by Steven A. Camarota and Karen Ziegler, Center for Immigration Studies, June 1, 2022, https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Population-Hit-Record-47-Million-April-2022%29)

Those Stubborn Facts: China Celebrates Earth Day

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China, climate change, coal, Earth Day, energy, fossil fuels, Those Stubborn Facts

Coal production capacity China says it will add this year:   300 million tons

Increase from China’s new coal production capacity last year: 36.36%

China share of global coal production & consumption: c. 50 percent

 

(Source: “With coal surge, China puts energy security and growth before climate,” by Christian Shepherd, The Washington Post, April 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/22/china-coal-climate-change-xi-energy/)

Those Stubborn Facts: Is the European Union Really Standing with Ukraine?

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energy, European Union, military aid, natural gas, oil, Russia, Those Stiubborn Facts, Ukraine invasion, Ukraine-Russia war

Amount of European Union payments to Russia for

energy supplies since it invaded Ukraine: $38

billion

 

Amount of European Union aid to Ukraine to help

it resist the Russian invasion: $1.09 billion

 

(Source: “The EU is paying 35 times as much for Russian fuel as it’s given Ukraine for defense, chief diplomat says,” by Sinead Baker, Business Insider India, April 6, 2022, https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/the-eu-is-paying-35-times-as-much-for-russian-fuel-as-its-given-ukraine-for-defense-chief-diplomat-says/articleshow/90686530.cms)

Those Stubborn Facts: Funny Definitions of Environmentally and Socially Responsible Investing

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China, Enviromental Social and Governance risks, ESG, Europe, European Union, finance, investing, sustainability, Those Stubborn Facts

Amount of China assets held by Europe-based investment funds

legally required “to avoid environmental, social and governance

[ESG]risks”: c.$130 billion

Amount of China assets held by Europe-based investment funds

“that have screened for ESG-related hazards”: $160 billion

 

(Source: “China Stirs Unease for ESG Managers Blindsided by Russia’s War,” by Natasha White and Saijel Kishan,” Bloomberg.com, March 27, 2022, China Stirs Unease for ESG Managers Blindsided by Russia’s War – Bloomberg)

Those Stubborn Facts: Intelligence Failures

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accountability, collusion, Deep State, disinformation, Donald Trump, election 2020, Hunter Biden, Hunter Biden emails, Hunter Biden laptop, intelligence community, misinformation, Never Trumper, The New York Post, Those Stubborn Facts, Trump-Russia

# of former U.S. intelligence/security officials who before Election

2020 insinuated that the Hunter Biden laptop emails reported by the

NY Posts stemmed from a “Russian information campaign” despite

lacking “evidence of Russian involvement”: 51

 

# of such officials who didn’t respond to request for apology: 39

# of such officials who declined to comment to this request: 4

# of such officials who stood by the charge: 5

# of such officials who couldn’t be reached: 2

# of such officials who apologized for the charge: 0

 

(Sources: “Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails,” October 19, 2020, https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-4393-d7aa-af77-579f9b330000 & “Spies who lie: 51 ‘intelligence’ experts refuse to apologize for discrediting true Hunter Biden story,” by Post Editorial Board, The New York Post, March 18, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/03/18/intelligence-experts-refuse-to-apologize-for-smearing-hunter-biden-story/)

Those Stubborn Facts: Where Progressives Defunded the Police…& More

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"Defund the Police", African Americans, crime, law enforcement, murder, New York City, policing, shootings, Those Stiubborn Facts

African American share of N.Y City population, 2020: c. 24%

African American share of N.Y. City murder victms, 2020:  65%

African American share of N.Y. City shooting victims, 2020:  74%

 

(Source: “These Policies Were Supposed to Help Black People. They’re Backfiring,” by Jim Quinn and Hannah E. Meyers, The New York Times, February 15, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/opinion/nyc-black-victims-crime.html)

Those Stubborn Facts: How Badly Economists Whiffed on Inflation

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economists, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve, FOMC, inflation, Jason Furman, Project Syndicate, Those Stiubborn Facts

Number of Federal Reserve policy-making Open Market Committee

members* who expected 2021 U.S. inflation to top 2.5 percent: None

 

Median 2021 U.S. inflation forecast of private sector

economists surveyed in May of last year: 2.3 percent

 

Likely final 2021 U.S. inflation rate: 4.5 percent

 

* who number 18

(Source: “Why Did Almost Nobody See Inflation Coming?” by Jason Furman, Project Syndicate, January 17, 2022, Why Did Almost Nobody See Inflation Coming? by Jason Furman – Project Syndicate (project-syndicate.org) )