Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - China leans in

Chinese internet moguls are being replaced by chip researchers and engineers on key lawmaking and advisory bodies, a potential sign of Beijing’s lingering distrust for private enterprise and sharpening focus on the tech race with America. Big-name internet entrepreneurs like Baidu Chief Executive Officer Robin Li and Tencent Holdings Chairman Pony Ma vanished from this year’s list of National People’s Congress participants. The conclave, set to begin this weekend, comes at a critical juncture for Xi Jinping as he attempts to steer the economy out of its “Covid-zero” doldrums. Most of his efforts will touch on China’s dealings with the US—both economically and geopolitically. This week, Beijing officials implied America is to blame for the economic turmoil roiling developing countries, deepening the war of words over responsibility for debt pressures afflicting the world’s poorest. The “radical fiscal policy of a certain developed country is the main reason behind the financial difficulties of a large number of developing countries,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. China has previously criticized Washington’s emergency bailout packages during the first years of the pandemic, saying the flood of cash caused the spike in inflation that led the Fed to hike rates—which in turn pushed up debt-servicing costs across emerging markets. —David E. Rovella

US stocks ended the week on a high note, driven by speculation that the Federal Reserve may not, as some have wagered, raise rates beyond peak levels already priced in. A rally in the S&P 500 Friday helped snap a three-week losing streak. The Nasdaq 100 scored its best day since early February. Wall Street sentiment remained upbeat despite good news for the service sector, as some investors wagered the impact of the Fed’s hikes on the economy would be delayed. Here’s your markets wrap.

More than 40% of all US mortgages were originated in 2020 or 2021, when the first years of the pandemic drove borrowing costs to historic lows and triggered a refinancing boom. That’s good news for all the homeowners who locked in cheap loans—but not so great for the Fed as it seeks to cool the economy.

The tight American labor market means most companies aren’t laying people off. But perpetual fears of a downturn (one that’s been predicted for almost a year but has yet to materialize) have some executives unwilling to pay workers more to keep them. The good news for those nervous CEOs, writes Sarah Green Carmichael in Bloomberg Opinion, is that there’s another way to make your employees happy.

Vladimir Putin is talking martial law. As Russia struggles to finally take the destroyed Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, having sacrificed untold number of poorly trained recruits and mercenaries in the process, at home he’s making noises about militarizing the economy. Putin signed a decree Friday laying out new rules for state control of companies should they fail to fulfill defense contracts in the event martial law is imposed. In Washington, President Joe Biden lauded Germany for pledging military support to Ukraine as he met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House. The US is preparing to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine worth around $400 million, including rockets for mobile launchers, ammunition for armored fighting vehicles and demolition munitions. Here’s the latest on the war, including a visit to Kyiv by US Attorney General Merrick Garland and indications Hungary may lift any objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

Ukraine says its forces in Bakhmut, above on Feb. 27, have been under intense pressure as Russian forces struggle to capture the eastern Donetsk town.   Photographer: AFP

Amazon, like other Silicon Valley giants, started the new year by firing huge numbers of employees, 18,000 in the case of Jeff Bezos’s behemoth. Now the company, which a few years back pulled out of a planned outpost in New York, says it’s delaying construction on a second headquarters near Washington. And some of those cashier-less Amazon stores in Seattle, New York and San Francisco are getting the ax, too.

Tesla rival Rivian, which has terminated hundreds of workers over the past year, is said to have told employees that production of 62,000 electric vehicles is possible in 2023, a 24% increase over the production target it recently told investors. Tesla, however, is having a bad week.

The quality and cost of early child care have important implications for kids, to be sure. But it also affects entire nations. From the size of an economy to the performance of students in high school and university, and all the positive knock-on effects that flow. And one of the most significant payoffs of a successful child-care system is higher female workforce participation. These are the countries that are doing child care right.

Bloomberg continues to track the global coronavirus pandemic. Click here for daily updates.

• California weighs $360,000 in reparations to eligible Black residents.
• Running an Airbnb in New York is about to get a lot harder. 
• American consumers keep spending. Retailers worry they might stop.
• More trouble for Apple as its Cloud chief is said to be resigning.
• Singapore prime minister’s estranged brother weighs presidential run.
• No one wants to buy all those hot independent film and TV studios.
• Toblerone just isn’t Swiss enough for the Matterhorn. Let us explain.

The Exhibit: Finding the Next Great Artist opens with introductions. There’s a self-taught oil painter, another painter whose work focuses on contem­porary Indigenous life, and better known artists like Baseera Khan, who had a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum last year, and design-world wunderkind Misha Kahn. They are here to compete for the honor of a “career-defining” exhibition. It’s reality TV for the gallery set. Really.

Baseera Khan  Source: Paramount

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