Nine days in July in America; hard times in China

First word

MY gut feeling that July 2024 is fated to be a most eventful and unusual time in the history of the world is curiously echoed by the journalism coming out today from the United States and China. They are surprisingly agreed in marking this period as a critical time for the two biggest economies in the world and rival global powers. No one is spurting ahead toward the finish line; each is embattled in its own way.