Good morning.

Washington’s first House delegation to set foot in Beijing since 2019 may feel symbolic, but numbers sharpen the picture. Two-way goods trade still topped $660 billion in 2024, yet tariffs exceeding 20 % on average and a 40 % drop in bilateral FDI since 2018 show how far trust has eroded. (reuters.com)

Premier Li Qiang’s “ice-breaking” welcome underscored China’s need for congressional buy-in to avert a slide toward outright economic decoupling; he pointedly asked lawmakers to “actively facilitate exchanges.” From Washington’s side, Rep. Adam Smith highlighted military-to-military hotlines—vital when 87 % of global semiconductor capacity and half of maritime trade now transit flash-points the two navies patrol. (english.www.gov.cn)

I read the visit less as détente than as crisis management: both capitals are re-learning that interdependence, however fraught, remains cheaper than confrontation. As historian Anne-Marie Slaughter reminds us, “Networks, not walls, determine twenty-first-century power.”* The question is whether legislators—on both sides—will wire the circuitry before the next surge.

The Gist AI Editor

*Anne-Marie Slaughter, The Chessboard & the Web (2017).

Navigating the New Trade Order

Switzerland is pursuing a pragmatic path to deflect US tariffs, offering to increase purchases of American weapons and energy in exchange for exemptions (FT). This transactional diplomacy underscores a global shift away from multilateral rules toward bilateral deal-making. Meanwhile, JPMorgan identifies India as a global “bright spot,” attributing its resilience to a robust domestic market that insulates it from the volatility of export-driven economies (Bloomberg). Both developments highlight divergent strategies for economic stability in an era of heightened protectionism: one rooted in negotiation, the other in self-reliance.

Innovation, Not Intervention, Drives Value

Market forces delivered a clear verdict on innovation, with Samsung’s shares climbing over 5% after reports its advanced memory chips won approval from tech giant Nvidia (Bloomberg). This breakthrough signals a significant win in the competitive semiconductor sector. Contrast this with the UK’s plan to use a £120 million industry-funded ad campaign to push savers into stocks (Politico.eu). Our view: Markets are animated by genuine value creation, like Samsung’s, not by state-sponsored marketing, which often substitutes for sound economic policy.

The Retreat of Failed Regulation

In a rare admission of error, the European Commission is moving to scrap its universally loathed 2009 cookie law, which cluttered the internet with consent banners without meaningfully enhancing privacy (Politico.eu). This is a welcome, if overdue, step toward regulatory humility. On the authoritarian end of the spectrum, leaked documents reveal Russia’s playbook to interfere in Moldova’s upcoming election through disinformation and voter manipulation (Bloomberg), a stark reminder that the most dangerous interventions are those designed to undermine liberty itself.

Stay tuned for the next Gist—your edge in a shifting world.

Revealed: Putin’s Secret Plan to Hack Moldova’s Pivotal Election
— Bloomberg

JPMorgan Sees India as ‘Bright Spot’ Despite Tariff Woes
— Bloomberg

Samsung Shares Rise to Year’s High on Nvidia Approval Report
— Bloomberg

Luxury billionaire Arnault joins French outcry over ‘deadly’ wealth tax proposal
— Financial Times

Are you hanging your art unconventionally enough?
— Financial Times

Switzerland in fresh push to woo Trump on tariffs
— Financial Times

Parisian Paralysis

France’s political instability is beginning to mirror the chronic issues that once plagued Italy, creating a troubling dynamic at the core of the EU. While Rome enjoys a period of uncharacteristic stability under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Paris has cycled through two prime ministers in just nine months, a pace reminiscent of Italy’s most volatile political eras (Politico). This governmental churn, coupled with mounting public debt, is drawing nervous scrutiny from financial markets. From our perspective, this isn’t just a political soap opera; it’s a stark reminder that even robust economies are vulnerable when political leadership falters. The situation in Paris signals a potential erosion of a key pillar of EU stability, with significant implications for the bloc’s fiscal discipline and its ability to project a united economic front.

Climate Finance Fractures

The upcoming COP30 climate summit in Belém is on precarious footing, threatened by a deepening divide between the Global North and South over who foots the bill for the green transition (EUObserver). Developing nations are rightly questioning the slow pace of climate finance, while European negotiators are hampered by domestic economic pressures and the sheer cost of their own green agendas. The US administration’s decision to boycott the November summit further undermines any prospect of a meaningful global agreement. This impasse highlights a fundamental flaw in top-down, state-directed climate action: it often devolves into zero-sum squabbles over taxpayer funds rather than fostering market-led innovation. The likely outcome is not a viable climate solution, but a deepening of geopolitical tensions and a misallocation of capital toward politically expedient projects.

Catch the next Gist for the continent’s moving pieces.

Rome gloats as France becomes Italy and Italy becomes France
— Politico Europe

COP30 faces crisis for survival as Global North/South divisions deepen
— EUObserver

Proteste in Brasilien gegen Schutz für Bolsonaro
— ZDF

Stuttgart verpasst St. Pauli erste Niederlage
— ZDF

Kim aperto a dialogo con Usa se ritirano richieste su nucleare
— Ansa

So sahen die ersten heute-Nachrichten aus
— ZDF