On this episode of Guide to the Global Economy, Ryan Murphy sits down with Josh to go inside the IMF's economic outlook projections for the Chinese economy, and in particular why the Fund isn't changing its forecast for China's GDP growth - yet. The IMF seems to adjust its projections for other major economies often, but less so for China. Why?

And because it's August here in Washington, no one's in town. So, for Under the Radar this week, Ryan shares an interesting story on the geopolitical competition between Taiwan and China in Central America. Over the past five years a number of countries in the region have changed their recognition of Taiwan's status, leaving Guatemala as one of the few holdouts. But, in Guatemala's upcoming runoff elections, candidates have taken opposing sides in the issue, leaving a great deal at stake for Taipei.

The number of people on strike in the US between 2014 and 2019 held consistently around 145,000, but with the writers strike in Hollywood that number has spiked after the pandemic. What are the economic forces that may be enabling the protests? Gank digs into the issue in our By the Numbers segment this week.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 8/4/23