The Chinese government as stock picker
Harvard-trained economist David Li, who runs the new Center for China in the World Economy at Tsinghua University, has already emerged as one of the more interesting people at this conference, with two mentions in this blog already.
This morning, at a breakfast discussion I moderated on U.S. indebtedness to Japan, China, and the rest of the world, he broached a fascinating suggestion. He and others in China, he said, have recently been pushing the government to invest some of its massive foreign exchange reserves in "well-managed, resource-deep companies in order to hedge the risk of an increase in commodity prices." That is, it could buy a 5% stake in, say, BP or Exxon Mobil. Li says he broached this idea with BP chief John Browne, who responded, "Why not 25%?" I think it will only be a matter of time before some foreign government buys a significant stake of an American oil company. When it occurs, the U.S. will have to change its policy on many matters. Only imagine if Iraq had a significant interest in Exxon. With so many mutual funds having Exxon as one of its major holdings, would we still invade?
Posted By : 11:53 AM | Add a Comment
lets face it, BP and Exxon are expecting a huge law suite for price fixing on gasoline. Do we think, chinese governement is that stupid?
Posted By Anonymous : 1:02 PM | Add a Comment
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