Yes, it has been a year of Kopi Time! When we did our first recording on February 24, 2020, Covid was still a China-oriented crisis, and global financial markets were still buoyant. But even then, in that inaugural episode, Bert Hofman, Director of the East Asian Institute at NUS and Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School, warned about the sharp 1Q contraction unfolding in China and possible spillover risks. We invited Prof Hofman back to Kopi Time to take stock of the past year and the road ahead.
We begin by going over the global policy response to the pandemic and the fault-lines and vulnerabilities revealed last year. Prof Hofman then considers Asia’s outlook this year, along with the risk of financial market contagion.
We then discuss China at length, including Bert’s scorecard for the economy in 2020, the dual circulation economic strategy, push for innovation, agenda on climate change, developments in the digital currency space, and of course, the future of China-US relations.
We thank our listeners for their time and support over the first year of Kopi Time.
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