August 25 - Perceptions Versus the Reality of the Chinese Economy; A Possible Settlement of the War in Syria, Then the Next One; Obama's Speech At the National Clean Energy Summit

Full Program

Part 1

We begin and go to Beijing, China and speak with John Gruetzner, the principal and founder of Intercedent, a Canadian business and investment advisory firm. He served as the head of the Canada-China Trade Council in Beijing and has lived and worked in China for over 30 years. We discuss the health of the Chinese economy in terms of reality and perceptions, following Black Monday on the Shanghai stock exchange that triggered a global selloff of stocks that wiped out about three trillion dollars of value to investors worldwide.

Part 2

Then we examine the behind-the-scene diplomacy involving meetings between Russia, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as well as meetings between Iran and Syria that raise the possibility of a settlement of the Syrian civil war that has killed over 250,000 and displaced half the population. David Lesch, a professor of Middle East History at Trinity University in San Antonio and the author of “Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad” joins us to discuss the ruling Assad clan’s loss of 83% of the country’s territory as the Islamic State destroys historical treasures at the UNESCO world heritage site at Palmyra, as well as the end of the current war and the beginning of the next war in Syria.

Part 3

Then finally we look into President Obama’s speech at Monday’s National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas and get an assessment from David Freeman, leading authority on the production, management and delivery of energy to large populations. He is the former head of the TVA, New York Power and the Los Angeles DWP and we discuss the need for political courage in mandating a total and complete switch to renewable energy instead of replacing one atmospheric poison coal, with another, natural gas that emits methane.