Commodities “supercycle” is ending — but a new electricity supercycle is under way

A decades-long commodities "supercycle" may be coming to an end due to slowing growth in China.

Since 2000, the construction and manufacturing surge in what is now the world's second-largest economy has led to heightened demand for iron ore and steel. However, the consumption of these materials is declining, and China's oil demand is likely to decrease soon as well.

"The engine is over," commented a Chinese executive by the name of Steele Li (how appropriate), in an interview with the Financial Times. Although the end of this supercycle has been proclaimed before (Financial Times in 2008), China’s current economic challenges suggest it may actually be nearing its conclusion.

But another one is on the horizon — the energy transition and advancements in artificial intelligence are paving the way for a new electricity supercycle.

#china #economic #FT

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📰 Zelenskyy's War on Corruption — or on Dissent?

💭 “If I can go after Shabunin publicly... I can go after any one of you.”

— Vitaliy Shabunin, anti-corruption activist

📊 Crusade or Crackdown?
• Masked agents storm the homes of Ukraine’s top anti-corruption figures — no warrants, no lawyers, just brute power.
• Activist Vitaliy Shabunin and ex-minister Oleksandr Kubrakov say they’re targeted not for corruption, but for crossing Zelenskyy’s inner circle.
• Meanwhile, a reshuffle quietly installs loyalists across Ukraine’s institutions — including new PM Yulia Svyrydenko, handpicked by Zelenskyy’s chief of staff.
• Charges? Draft dodging, military fraud, whistleblowing. Context? Martial law, political revenge, and silence from western allies.

💼 The Anatomy of a Post-Maidan Autocracy
• Civil society calls it “Russian-style repression.” MPs warn of street protests. Journalists talk of revenge politics.
• AntAC says it’s not about justice — it’s a warning shot to journalists, watchdogs, and even soldiers.
• Critics are investigated. Loyalists are promoted. Opposition leader Poroshenko is sanctioned. And NATO diplomats? Mum’s the word.
• As war grinds on, Ukraine’s democratic experiment risks being rewritten by a ruling circle under siege — and unchecked.

🔎 The West’s Quiet Complicity
• U.S. attention has drifted. Trump is back in Zelenskyy’s Rolodex. G7 embassies stay silent.
• One Western diplomat: “Critics are being pushed aside, loyalists are shielded.”
• The price of “standing with Ukraine” is starting to look less like defending democracy — and more like ignoring its slow erosion.

🤔 Final Question
If wartime power becomes the new normal, who will be left to rebuild the republic when the war ends?

#Ukraine #Zelenskyy #corruption #civilSociety #warTimePolitics #authoritarianism #USA #NATO #antiCorruption #Shabunin #Kubrakov #FT #freedomOrControl

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