PPCC: Pisitófilos Creditófagos. Verano 2023

[breades]

Si te estoy dando la razón en todo, tonto.   

No he dicho que no tenga mayoría absoluta en la asamblea, pero el hecho de que asumas que sí te pone en tu lugar, mermao.

[sudden and sharp]

Claro, de ahí todos los intentos de que suelte la silla... y se vaya a por Sánchez sin ser diputada, como ya sufrió el pobre Feijoo.

Si hubiere que cambiar de líder en el PP, que no veo yo por qué, debería ser un miembro del Parlamento. Para no competir con una mano atada a la espalda.

Ayuso, que en ajedrez sería una dama enrocada... valga la analogía, que luego me acusarán de no conocer las reglas del juego. Como dama enroxada por la mayoría absoluta, te pongas como te pongas, le puede lanzar todas las invectivas, reproches e kmproperios al presidente. Y éste se los tiene que tragar, sin más.

Y siguiendo con el ajedrez, mover todas las piezas, para tratar de evitar que nos endosar a los madrileños facturas ajenas... amén de llevar a cabo su proyecto. Proyecto que queremos conocer y evaluar para tener así una alternativa al proyecto casi único de recaudar todo lo posible que yaluego lo gastamos / repartimos bien.

Las alternativas son consustanciales con la democracia. El poder elegir una u otra, se entiende.

Sólo hay un método es "python".... Y yo sipre elegiré Perl.

Dicho esto:

1. Le deseo lo mejor a ambos dirigentes, a Ayuso y a Sánchez, supongamos investido. Nos conviene a todos.

2. Yo he defendido y defiendo al maestro... pero si algo no cuadra, lo leal es decírselo.



------
Perdonad los "tipos" pero con el móvil no es lo mismo.

[AbiertoPorDemolicion]

Aclarados los tres puntos, entonces:

• Ayuso no tiene mayoría (absoluta) an la Asamblea
• La refractoriedad y/o el ateísmo te incapacita
• Mis argumentos son ridículos

Alguna tontería más. (En el tintero.)

Que en la catolica España, una mujer divorciada, soltera y sin hijos llegue a presidente del gobierno, lo veo un poco complicado. Algun dia las cosas cambiaran, pero yo creo que estamos lejos. No creo que el pp cometa el error de presentarla como candidata.

[neutron_mortgages]

Sería un error, pero no por todo eso que dices. Lo sería porque, hoy por hoy, fuera de Madrid no tendría apoyo suficiente.

Pero si siguen alimentando el personaje y se llega a ver como la única alternativa a Sánchez, pues podría tener sus opciones.

A mi me parece un error del PSOE la obsesión con Ayuso, pero ellos sabrán.

[breades]

Claro, de ahí todos los intentos de que suelte la silla... y se vaya a por Sánchez sin ser diputada, como ya sufrió el pobre Feijoo.

Si hubiere que cambiar de líder en el PP, que no veo yo por qué, debería ser un miembro del Parlamento. Para no competir con una mano atada a la espalda.

Ayuso, que en ajedrez sería una dama enrocada... valga la analogía, que luego me acusarán de no conocer las reglas del juego. Como dama enroxada por la mayoría absoluta, te pongas como te pongas, le puede lanzar todas las invectivas, reproches e kmproperios al presidente. Y éste se los tiene que tragar, sin más.

Y siguiendo con el ajedrez, mover todas las piezas, para tratar de evitar que nos endosar a los madrileños facturas ajenas... amén de llevar a cabo su proyecto. Proyecto que queremos conocer y evaluar para tener así una alternativa al proyecto casi único de recaudar todo lo posible que yaluego lo gastamos / repartimos bien.

Las alternativas son consustanciales con la democracia. El poder elegir una u otra, se entiende.

Sólo hay un método es "python".... Y yo sipre elegiré Perl.

Dicho esto:

1. Le deseo lo mejor a ambos dirigentes, a Ayuso y a Sánchez, supongamos investido. Nos conviene a todos.

2. Yo he defendido y defiendo al maestro... pero si algo no cuadra, lo leal es decírselo.



------
Perdonad los "tipos" pero con el móvil no es lo mismo.

Sigues sin enterarte de lo que he dicho. Sólo he criticado la afirmación que he entrecomillado, lo demás no me interesa.

No es verdad ese aserto propagandistico tan del gusto de los bobos solemnes que dice 'nos pidió una mayoría absoluta y se la dimos en las urnas', el sistema electoral no funciona así y esa afirmación presupone una legitimidad inexistente, además de demostrar una ignorancia infantil.

Pero bueno, sigue explayándote al gusto si es lo que quieres.

[sudden and sharp]

Pues a mi solo me interesa lo que se puede explicar con el codo puesto de la barra del bar. En lenguaje de la calle.





Para ti la semántica.

[breades]

Pues a mi solo me interesa lo que se puede explicar con el codo puesto de la barra del bar. En lenguaje de la calle.

Para ti la semántica.

Aunque esté mal explicado...

 

Que te importe tres cojones la realidad es cosa tuya; que presumas de ello en este foro y a estas alturas es muy significativo.

[sudden and sharp]

Esto se ha acabado ya, sofista.

[Manu Oquendo]

Estos largos años ha pasado mucha gente buena por aquí. Algunas veces llegamos a reunirnos. En la Malvarrosa, en la Casa de Campo y en algún restaurante. Con algunos me sigo viendo.
Buena gente. Larga, reflexiva, no manejables. Un tesoro.
Me gustaría volver a saber de ellos. Había una señora que presumía de no tener criterio. Mentía, Doña "Sincriterio"
Un abrazo a todos

[Derby]

https://www.lavanguardia.com/economia/20230806/9153622/foment-pacto-puigdemont-madrid-retorno-empresas.html

Foment, el pacto con Puigdemont en Madrid y el retorno de las empresas, Manel Pérez

Los empresarios y Junts coinciden en que uno de sus objetivos es recuperar sedes

Una de las heridas abiertas y más profundas en el seno de la burguesía catalana como consecuencia del procés es que casi seis años después del cambio de la sede social de miles de empresas, en plena crisis política tras el referéndum del 1 de octubre del 2017, ninguna de ellas, ni grande ni pequeña, ha emprendido el viaje de vuelta a Catalunya. Motivo de disputa en sus propias filas y también de tensión con un amplio sector del independentismo, encabezado por el propio Carles Puigdemont, el expresident de la Generalitat refugiado en Waterloo, que en aquel momento lo tildó de traición.

El gran empresariado catalán, principal protagonista de esa huida, considera que la condición sine qua non para el retorno, incluso paulatino, es un acuerdo político global de largo alcance entre el Gobierno central y las principales fuerzas políticas, incluido el Govern de la Generalitat, que excluya explícitamente referéndums no pactados con el poder central y declaraciones unilaterales de independencia.

Empresa y política
Los empresarios llevan tres años tendiendo puentes con líderes independentistas

Algo muy difícil, casi quimérico, al decir de muchos. Desencadenar tal movimiento de retorno empresarial es uno de los objetivos compartido entre los líderes empresariales y el entorno de Puigdemont, líder y hombre fuerte de Junts, el partido de cuyo voto en el Congreso dependerá la nueva investidura de Sánchez como presidente del Gobierno, evitando así la celebración de unas nuevas elecciones generales, según han constatado en las conversaciones mantenidas inmediatamente después del 23J y que transmiten las fuentes consultadas por La Vanguardia.

Estos contactos, vehiculizados sobre todo a través de Josep Sánchez Llibre, el presidente de Foment, la gran patronal catalana, por un lado y el propio Puigdemont, pero también personas designadas por este último, por otro, dejan patente el interés empresarial en consolidar la normalidad política en Catalunya.

El dirigente patronal mantiene asimismo informados a los grandes empresarios catalanes que respaldan el curso de esas conversaciones prospectivas.

Movimientos políticos
La aproximación es más fácil con Junts que con ERC por su visión de la economía

Se trata de unos movimientos tanto más políticos que económicas. Ambas partes quieren sentar las bases para la resolución del conflicto político entre Catalunya y el Estado. La realidad electoral en Catalunya ha cambiado drásticamente desde los años calientes del procés y aunque los escaños parlamentarios de Junts son decisivos para la investidura de Sánchez, los socialistas catalanes se han consolidado como primera fuerza parlamentaria, con 400.000 votos más que las dos grandes fuerzas independentistas juntas, además de los casi 500.000 de Sumar. ERC y Junts, por su parte, han perdido casi 600.000; más de 700.000 si se incluye a la CUP en el cómputo.

Los líderes empresariales han tomado nota de esa situación y se ofrecen a Junts como palanca o muleta compensatoria de esta debilidad política, más necesaria ahora que el electorado ya no parece estar mayoritariamente tras las propuestas independentistas más unilateralistas. Puigdemont está ahora en el centro del escenario como kingmaker de la investidura, pero en una hipotética legislatura su papel estaría mucho más diluido a causa de su limitado peso parlamentario.

Obviamente, los empresarios, también constatan su propia impotencia para actuar y por ello también pretenden desbrozar el camino que permita germinar un brazo político del que ahora carecen. Es su propia vía de reconstrucción del antiguo tándem entre el pujolismo y la burguesía, incipiente con el resultado de las pasadas elecciones municipales, el buen resultado de Xavier Trias. El candidato de Junts, al que ese empresariado acabó dando su apoyo mayoritario, también mediante el voto.

Rechazo a la unilateralidad
La condición es un acuerdo político que excluya referéndums no pactados

Expectativas truncadas con el pacto a tres de PSC, Comuns y PP que aupó a Jaume Collboni a la alcaldía. Una decisión que generó tensiones entre los dirigentes socialistas, en primer lugar Salvador Illa y los prohombres de la burguesía. Aunque esto no ha impedido que tras el 23J se hayan reanudado los contactos entre ambas partes, siempre con la idea de apoyar el avance del pacto para la investidura de Sánchez.

La representación empresarial lleva casi tres años tendiendo puentes con los líderes independentistas, tanto de ERC como de Junts. Se movió entre bambalinas para empujar el indulto a los presos del procés, encabezados por Oriol Junqueras, el presidente de ERC. También postuló desde el primer momento, entre otras instancias ante el presidente Sánchez, la búsqueda de una salida para Puigdemont que asegurase que no irá a prisión y por lo tanto despejase el camino para la incorporación de Junts a la vida política normalizada.

Sánchez Llibre ha ido al menos dos veces a Bélgica a reunirse con Puigdemont. Y de la evolución de esos contactos los protagonistas quieren extraer indicadores positivos. Desde el rechazo inicial a que se hiciera cualquier gestión en su nombre para un indulto, que el expresidente transmitió al líder patronal, en enero del 2022, cuando este le fue a explicar lo que estaba haciendo tras reunirse con los presos de Lledoners, hasta la discusión más concreta sobre los posibles escenarios de una negociación con el Gobierno central, en este caso en mayo pasado, a las puertas de las generales.

Otro tiempo
La realidad electoral en Catalunya cambió drásticamente desde los años del ‘procés’

La aproximación es más fácil con Junts que con ERC. La visión de la economía de la primera converge a grandes rasgos con la de los empresarios. Ambas partes comparten su apoyo a la ampliación del aeropuerto de El Prat, son partidarias de notables rebajas de impuestos y en general coinciden en sentirse cómodos con una economía más liberalizada y desregulada. Esa proximidad se ha concretado en diferentes encuentros con empresarios; incluso con La Caixa, principal referencia de la economía catalana, la galaxia dirigida por Isidro Fainé. Como resultado, fuentes cercanas a ambas partes han coincidido en asegurar que “existe una situación de respeto institucional”.

Con el Govern de la Generalitat, encabezado por el president Pere Aragonès, no sólo divergen en la mayoría de los temas mencionados. Tampoco han conseguido alcanzar un mínimo clima de confianza o proximidad. El último encuentro entre varios empresarios destacados y Junqueras, a principios de este año, afloró esa tensión sin que se produjera ninguna aproximación concreta.

[Derby]

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3997898-reits-fall-as-major-indices-suffer-impact-of-negative-market-reactions

REITs fall as major indices suffer impact of negative market reactions

REITs fell this week as major indices suffered the impact of negative reactions from the market, arising from the recent downgrade by Fitch Ratings, jobs data and other macro factors.

FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs declined 2.19% from last week, compared to the S&P 500 index that fell by 2.27%.

Dow Jones Equity All REIT Total Return Index was down by 2.18% on a weekly basis.

The broader Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF index decreased by 2.16%.

Meanwhile, mortgage REITs declined by 2.75% from last week.

The decline comes as Fitch downgraded the U.S.'s long-term rating to AA+ from AAA, reflecting expected fiscal deterioration, a growing debt burden and the erosion of governance related to its peers.

Also, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for June showed a fall in job openings to 9.582M from 9.616M in the prior month, vs. 9.650M consensus.

Notably, hotel REITs were a major laggard, having decreased by 6.40% W/W.

Self storage REITs declined 5.58% and data centers were down by 4.09%.

Health care and residential subsectors saw a comparatively smaller fall of 0.78%.

Here is a look at the subsector performance:

[Derby]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-oils-talent-crisis-high-salaries-are-no-longer-enough-194545be

Big Oil’s Talent Crisis: High Salaries Are No Longer Enough

Energy companies scramble to attract engineers as young workers fret over climate and job security

Good news from the oil patch: Jobs are plentiful and salaries are soaring.

The bad news is that young people still aren’t interested.

Even as oil-and-gas companies post record profits, the industry is facing a worsening talent drought.

At U.S. colleges, the pool of new entrants for petroleum-engineering programs has shrunk to its smallest size since before the fracking boom began more than a decade ago. European universities, which have historically provided many of the engineers for companies with operations across the Middle East and Asia, are seeing similar trends.

Students and high-skilled young workers are concerned about the industry’s role in climate change, as well as long-term job security given that global economies are transitioning away from fossil fuels to other energy sources, according to executives, analysts and professors.

The trend is a stark departure from previous cycles, when the industry’s workforce ebbed and flowed with the rise and fall of oil prices.

Between 2016 and 2021—a period when the Brent crude price nearly doubled—the number of petroleum-engineering graduates more than halved, according to the U.S. Department of Education. (...)

[Derby]

https://www.ft.com/content/bcdf4bee-d457-445a-ae4d-ff1fa1856493

Rising petrol prices spark new concern in Washington

Jump in fuel costs comes as Saudi Arabia threatens deeper oil supply cuts and global demand soars

Rising US fuel prices are triggering alarm in Washington just as President Joe Biden steps up his bid for re-election by touting lower inflation and the strength of the US economy.

The surge in petrol costs to a nine-month high follows a 20 per cent jump in global crude prices this summer, after Saudi Arabia and Russia slashed supply. The move has revived predictions of $100 a barrel oil this year — and new worries about the political fallout.

“The White House is in full-blown panic mode,” said Bob McNally, head of Washington-based consultancy Rapidan Energy Group and a former adviser to president George W Bush. “Any sitting president is threatened when pump prices go up because of the impact on consumer confidence and the president’s approval rating.”

A White House official said the administration was continuing to closely monitor petrol prices, but added that it was “important to remember that prices are still down over $1 since their peak last summer”.

Saudi Arabia last week risked angering the White House by announcing that it would extend and potentially deepen existing oil production cuts, despite the International Energy Agency warning that crude markets are set to tighten significantly in the coming months. The kingdom followed up on Saturday by increasing the price of its oil it in Asia.



(...)

[Derby]

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/08/05/america-is-building-chip-factories-now-to-find-the-workers

America is building chip factories. Now to find the workers

The country’s chipmaking goals will test its manufacturing potential

Judged by one metric, America’s new industrial policy is off to a roaring start. Enticed by subsidies, companies are pouring money into semiconductor plants and electric-vehicle factories as never before. With investment in manufacturing facilities running at a record high, President Joe Biden’s claim that the future will again be “made in America” seems more credible than it once did.

But the next step in the process is less certain. America is building factories, but can it find the workers to operate them? With the jobless rate near a five-decade low, companies are already struggling to find staff. As scores of new factories come online, the gaps will grow even larger.

The semiconductor sector is the most important test case for America’s manufacturing revival. Over the past couple of decades makers of computer chips largely left America. The country still has world-class semiconductor researchers and designers, but has been denuded of a workforce that turns silicon wafers into electronic circuits at scale. Hoping to reverse that tide, the chips Act passed by Congress last year will see America’s government dole out $50bn over the next half-decade.

A baseline estimate from the Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade body, is that by 2030 America’s chip sector will face a shortage of 67,000 technicians, computer scientists and engineers, and about 1.4m such workers throughout the wider economy. Set this against the total of roughly 70,000 students who complete undergraduate degrees in engineering in America each year, and the scale of the deficit becomes apparent. Whatever the precise gap, it marks the difference between foundries running at full capacity with labour bills under control, or ending up mired in high costs and low productivity.

One of the sites at the centre of America’s industrial ambitions offers an early sight of the problem. The Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (tsmc), the world’s largest maker of chips, plans to invest $40bn in two factories in Phoenix, Arizona, greatly boosting America’s ability to craft large volumes of ultra-small semiconductors. If it is successful, it will suggest that America can reclaim a position at the cutting-edge of chip production.

The first of the tsmc factories was slated to start production next year. But in July it announced that the launch date would be postponed to 2025 because it could not find enough workers with the expertise to install equipment at such a high-tech facility. Mark Liu, tsmc’s chairman, said the company would send technicians from its home base in Taiwan to train its American staff.

“My nightmare is investing in all of this infrastructure and then not being able to build the workforce,” says Shari Liss of semi Foundation, a microelectronics lobbying group. That so many share her worry has at least been a useful spur. A report in January from the Brookings Institution, a think-tank, said that America needed a “major surge of national, state and local actions” to ensure enough workers for the chips sector. The outlines of that are taking shape. Ms Liss talks of a common effort bringing together politicians, bureaucrats, companies, colleges and students.

The most immediate hole, as illustrated by tsmc’s troubles, is in the construction industry. The Commerce Department reckons that about 100,000 builders may be needed for the first phase of investments in semiconductor fabrication plants, or fabs. The government cannot conjure such a labour force out of thin air. But it has made its subsidies contingent on companies explaining the steps they will take to recruit and train construction workers.

An official in the Commerce Department says the government wants companies to collaborate on building up a construction workforce. “Workers that are trained for one project will then be beneficial for other fabs that get built,” the official says. In this respect tsmc’s plan to import Taiwanese trainers is less a bug than a feature, helping transmit knowledge to the local workforce.

Once the fabs are built, the next need will be technicians to operate them. Responsible for tasks such as inspecting tools and products, technicians have historically required two years of training at a community college or a vocational school. But companies and educators have started experimenting with much shorter courses.

Most eye-catching are quick-start programmes that promise to churn out technicians in just ten days, offered by Maricopa Corporate College in Arizona and Portland Community College in Oregon. The Portland college, supported by Intel, an American chipmaker, offers students stipends of $500 a week, and the one in Arizona guarantees its students interviews with tsmc. Still, no company is about to put candidates with just ten days of training anywhere near the multi-million-dollar machinery inside their fabs.

The more realistic goal is to whet people’s appetites for a career in semiconductors. “Our intent is to reach out to people who may think they lack the skills for this type of job,” says Gabriela Cruz Thompson of Intel. She notes that the company has been more successful in recruiting women and minorities to the quick-start programmes than to traditional two-year courses.

There may also soon be more in-between options. This autumn Columbus State Community College in Ohio, where Intel is building two fabs, will offer a first-of-its-kind one-year programme. The stated objective is for students to “finish job-ready” for Intel.

The next rung up the work ladder in fabs are the engineers who run them. Universities located near some of the major plants under construction, including Arizona State and Ohio State, have expanded their offerings of semiconductor courses as part of degrees in engineering and physical sciences. Leading the charge is Purdue University in Indiana, which last year launched a semiconductor degree programme for both undergraduates and graduates.

The explicit aim of Purdue’s “lab-to-fab” model is to collaborate more closely with companies. As part of a $49m upgrade of its “cleanroom” facility it gives students access to the sorts of conditions and materials that they would encounter in commercial enterprises, along with testing their mettle in the head-to-toe bunny suits they must wear to keep chips free of contamination.

This summer Purdue introduced an eight-week course that included a $10,000 stipend for students, funded by companies that hope to attract would-be workers before they are seduced by Silicon Valley. And in an industrial park at the south-west edge of campus, SkyWater, an American chip foundry, will build a $2bn fab. “Students will be able to wake up in their dorm, turn right and go to their classes, and then turn left and do an internship,” says Mung Chiang, president of Purdue.

These programmes seem to be gaining traction. Ms Cruz Thompson says that Intel expected 100 or so people to register for quick-start courses. But about 900 did. At Purdue enrolment has also been very strong. In May Handshake, a job platform for recent graduates, reported that applications for full-time jobs at semiconductor companies were up by 79% compared with last year, versus 19% in other sectors. “Students…realise that chips are the new oil,” says Vijay Raghunathan, Purdue’s director of semiconductor education.

Unfortunately, America is limiting its access to one obvious source of talent. Immigrants account for about 40% of highly skilled workers in America’s semiconductor industry. They are funnelled through a couple of visa programmes, with strict caps. But those caps are fixed, meaning that as the industry expands they will become more restrictive. Politicians on the right, including Donald Trump, have even floated eliminating the visa openings altogether.

America’s chip firms are already configured for a small but skilled workforce. Over the past couple of decades, as they outsourced manufacturing overseas they grew increasingly specialised at home, putting America at the commanding heights of the global semiconductor industry. Qualcomm, Nvidia and others became world leaders in developing and designing advanced chips. It was a highly profitable division of labour.

Now America is trying to retake a foothold in the industry’s lower tiers, relearning basic skills such as cutting wafers into chips and packaging them in hard plastic casing. The political imperative is to guard against excessive reliance on China. For companies there is also a logic in diversifying supply chains and bringing manufacturing closer to research operations.

The welcome news for those wanting to bring about this shift is that colleges and universities are tilting in their direction. But it remains a gargantuan gamble: not so much on the future as on bringing America back to a manufacturing past that it once made commercial sense to leave behind.

[Derby]

https://www.barrons.com/articles/chinas-private-sector-is-losing-ground-the-state-is-gobbling-market-share-3cae2a93

China’s Private Sector Is Losing Ground. The State Is Gobbling Market Share.

As China’s economy cools into a new normal of slower growth, its track record is taking on a particular shape—a long expansion culminating in a peak before beginning a downward slope.

Other areas of China’s development are assuming this same form: birth and marriage rates, growth in home sales and prices, youth employment, and the population as a whole.

It’s easy to pass these off as natural outcomes of a society attaining a certain level of affluence. Wealthier countries produce fewer babies, for instance, and their economies temper into single-digit growth.

Yet another metric has taken on this familiar shape despite precedent among maturing economies. Private companies, which enjoyed a 40-year explosion as a proportion of China’s economy, are now ceding market share to the dinosaurs of state enterprises.

“The continuous decline of the private-sector share among China’s largest companies over four semesters in a row through mid-2023 does not support optimism about the future dynamism of China’s economy,” wrote Tianlei Huang and Nicolas Veron of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Among the 100 largest listed companies, measured by market capitalization, the share of companies that are majority-owned by the Chinese state rose to 61% from 57.2% in the first half of 2023, according to the institute. The share of the private sector, defined as firms with less than 10% state ownership, in the same period dropped below 40% for the first time since the end of 2019.

Last year, even while anti-Covid policies nearly froze China’s economic activity, private investment growth remained positive. But in the first half of this year, when everyone expected a vibrant rebound of consumption and innovation, private-led fixed asset investment fell 0.2% compared with the same period last year.

“At a time when there are no restrictions on movement anymore, an outright contraction in private investment raises serious concerns on the vitality of private enterprises,” Huang told Barron’s.

A survey by one of China’s leading business schools found that entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises are worried about a range of issues. But investor confidence, reluctant consumers, and paltry government assistance seem to be at the core of the matter.

Government promises to revive the private sector have been a top theme since Covid restrictions were dropped in January. But actual policies haven’t helped, some business managers told Barron’s.

Xiao Fan, manager of upscale whiskey bar Still Fun in the metropolis of Chengdu, told Barron’s that revenue remains 30% below its prepandemic level. As for profit, he called it “meager,” and added that “my salary has been cut roughly the same amount.”

Spurring consumer spending with cash transfers or increased confidence would boost private businesses, experts say. But policy makers don’t seem to understand, or don’t have the will power, to adequately address the problem.

Last week, officials at a press conference for the State Council—China’s cabinet—cited weak demand as stemming from product safety concerns, problems with logistics networks, underdeveloped sales channels, and a dearth of “niche” products. The deputy director of China’s national economic planning agency cited a lack of “elderly-friendly smartphones” as a consumption impediment.

“No, no, no,” consultancy Trivium, which analyzes the Chinese economy, said of these diagnoses. “Consumers aren’t spending because income growth has slowed and the economic outlook remains uncertain,” the group’s analysts wrote on Tuesday.

Others agreed. “Despite years of promises, Beijing has never implemented meaningful demand-side stimulus. The Party frequently talks the talk, but in the end just keeps going back to the well with supply-side measures,” Leland Miller, CEO of consultancy China Beige Book, told Barron’s.

In a country reluctant to criticize the government, citizens and private businesspeople have taken to mocking the perceived paltry measures at boosting consumption and reviving the private sector.

One policy measure included tax breaks for small and medium firms. “The tax payable has dropped from 3% to 1%, and the government has issued consumer coupons to stimulate consumption,” said Fan, from the Chengdu bar. “But it doesn’t help us at all.”

Peterson’s Huang said his team first surmised that the shrinking share of the private sector was caused by a decline in internet platforms. But they found the sector’s market capitalization has actually grown since 2021.

“This means the relative decline of the private sector is now broad based in terms of industry, instead of being concentrated on platforms. In other words, without the somewhat recovery of internet platforms, the drop in the private sector reflected in our latest update would be even more visible. This is of course worrying,” he said.