Follow the COVID Effect on Economies/ Virtual Capitalist

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

The Top 10 Most Valuable Nation Brands

In this year’s report, Brand Finance highlights the impact COVID-19 has had on nation brand values—in 2020, the top 10 nation brands have seen a 14% drop in brand value, on average.

Here are the most valuable nation brands of 2020, and their change in value since last year:

RankCountry2020 Value (USD, $T)Change since 2019
1🇺🇸 United States$23.7-14.5%
2🇨🇳 China$18.8-3.7%
3🇯🇵 Japan$4.3-6.0%
4🇩🇪 Germany$3.8-21.5%
5🇬🇧 United Kingdom$3.3-13.9%
6🇫🇷 France$2.7-12.8%
7🇮🇳 India$2.0-20.8%
8🇨🇦 Canada$1.9-13.0%
9🇮🇹 Italy$1.8-15.8%
10🇰🇷 South Korea$1.7-20.6%

Despite a 14.5% decrease in value, the U.S. managed to maintain its top position with a nation brand value of $23.7 trillion.

Like many other countries, 2020 has been a tough year for America. From recording the most COVID-19 cases and deaths to dealing with a controversial presidential election, the economic powerhouse faced a tremendous amount of international scrutiny this year.

Despite all this, the United States remains one of the most successful and dominant economies worldwide—the only close competitor is China, with a nation brand value of $18.8 trillion.

Over the Years: China’s Steady Climb

While China still ranks below the U.S. in total brand value, its percentage decrease from last year was far lower than the other nations on the list. China stayed relatively stable with a modest 4% drop, about 10 percentage points less than the global average.

China’s stability this year is nothing new. In fact, the country has been steadily closing the brand value gap between itself and the U.S. since 2015:

Trump Should Have Passed on Appointing Barr

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

Retiring did not mean Barr was done working. The year after he left Verizon, he joined the boards of two publicly traded companies, Dominion Resources and Time Warner. From 2009 to 2018, Dominion paid Barr $1.2 million in cash and granted him another $1.1 million in stock awards, according to SEC filings.
Time Warner paid him $970,000 in cash and $1 million in equity awards for serving on its board from 2009 to 2016,  when the company agreed to combine with AT&T. That deal was lucrative for Barr—he disclosed $1.7 million of income related to it on his financial disclosure report. But the merger was troubling to Trump, whose Justice Department tried to block it. During his confirmation hearing, Barr promised to recuse himself from the case as attorney general.Barr also served on the board of Och-Ziff Capital Management, joining in 2016, the same year a firm subsidiary pled guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Och-Ziff agreed to pay $412 million in penalties. It also paid Barr $190,000 in cash and $530,000 in stock awards from 2016 to 2018. The attorney general no longer serves on the boards of Och-Ziff,  Dominion Resources or Time Warner.
Barr also worked for the CIA from 73 to 77, he’s deep State and a Statist. There is a lot more dubious things on Barr.