There is a tendency in the west to see China as an authoritarian monolith – in contrast to the supposedly highly accountable democratic west, albeit only those with the shortest of memories can look at the current protests against Covid taking place in China and think them somehow unique.

In a tiresomely predictable piece of policy-based evidence-making, the UK authorities have continued to use their self appropriated powers to put almost all of the UK into their new Tier 4, which is lockdown by any other name

As we look into 2021, we recognise that while on the one hand markets tend to extend their time horizon somewhat at the start of the year, on the other hand the world does not change simply because the calendar does.

The scene is a grand country house where the owner, Lord Normal, has been found dead in the library. Foul play is suspected and, true to form for Murder Mysteries, our Detective has assembled the list of subjects in the library to begin his enquiries.

The following is based on an article submitted to the Australian Financial Review for this weekend. As such it obviously has an Australian angle, but one that is also important for investors understanding how the new RCEP trade bloc is also going to transform the way capital flows in the Asiatic region and the new role that the Yuan and currencies like the AUD will play