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MultiVersus Tier List - All 23 Characters Ranked
By James Carr on January 9, 2023 at 11:03AM PST
MultiVersus, is shaking up the platform fighter scene in a massive way. Now that MultiVersus has launched as a free-to-play game, everyone can jump in. MultiVersus aims to include any and all characters from Warner Bros. vault of IPs and has added new ones since launch, like Morty, Gizmo, Black Adam, and Marvin the Martian. The free-to-play fighting game also has its own unique spin on the Smash Bros. formula, with the main play mode being a 2v2 fight. The characters are designed to work in pairs, adding a level of teamwork not found in other platform fighters. The game has been such a success thus far that the servers have struggled to contain the crowd at times.
Since launching MultiVersus has been on a tear of adding new characters to the roster, including a few unexpected additions. Since launch both Rick and Morty from the hit animated TV show have joined the fray as their own characters. Gizmo from the Gremlins as also been added. Player First Games also hasn't been shy about announcing some of the future characters, with Black Adam and Stripe from the Gremlins both coming in the future.
Another unique mechanic that MultiVersus has is the Toast system. After a match ends you have the chance to toast bother your opponent's and your teammate for a job well done. If you receive a Toast, you get 20 coins, which can be used to unlock new characters or extra perks. Toasts can be purchased with coins, unlocked by leveling characters, or at certain tiers of the battle pass. Here is how the current MultiVersus roster ranks and which character is the best.
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22. Jake
Jake from Adventure Time is a hybrid bruiser, which means that he has the flexibility to take hits and deal damage in pretty much any direction. However, this means that Jake doesn't have anything that he is particularly good at, with his kit falling short in some aspect or another compared to the rest of the roster. Jake's biggest issue is his special abilities. His neutral special where he eats someone has no range, and his other three specials are slow to use. For a relatively fast-paced game means that Jake is regularly getting his moves interrupted.
Jake does deal solid damage and there isn't a single character on the roster that feels like they are so bad they shouldn't be played, but Jake just doesn't have anything going for him that another character does better. His best move is his aerial down attack, where he busts out a skateboard and bounces off enemies heads, but that isn't enough to keep him from taking the bottom slot on this list.
21. Steven Universe
There are currently three support characters in MultiVersus, something that makes this Smash clone stand out. The support character can provide buffs and support to their teammate in the 2v2 mode at the cost of dealing less damage and not being able to tank too much damage. The reason Steven Universe is this low is that one of the support characters is so much better than the other two, that it would be a bad idea to play one of the other supports over them.
As for Steven himself, his move set is focused around creating shield walls, which can be used as platforms or bounce enemies off of. In theory these shields could be used to help your teammate recover or to block an enemy trying to get back from being knocked off the ledge. However, you can only have one shield in play at a time and you can't be very precise with their placement. Steven also has a heal, but that requires you and your teammate to stand in a zone, which can be difficult to do in such a fast-paced game.
21. Marvin the Martian
Marvin the Martian is a Vertical Assassin, who unfortunately doesn't hit as hard or have as useful combos as the other Assassins in MultiVersus. Marvin is focused on projectiles, with his neutral, up, and down attacks all variations on his blaster. His side attack is a basic melee combo, but it doesn't offer the same speed or damage output as other characters, which is a huge problem since Marvin has the downsides of being an Assassin, the biggest being his low damage threshold for getting knocked out.
His special attacks are more interesting, but many of them feel either situational or have too long of a cooldown to be relied on. His neutral special reverses the direction of all friendly projectiles currently in the air, which has some uses, but requires you to be focused on and aware of all friendly projectiles at all times. His heaviest hit is his up special, which spawns in his spaceship, which fires a heavy rocket in towards Marvin. This rocket can KO enemies easily, but the ship can be destroyed before it fires the rocket and it has a long cooldown. Marvin is exactly useless, but there is no reason to pick him over the rest of the MultiVersus roster.
20. Reindog
Reindog is the one of the other support characters in MultiVersus and the only character created specifically for the game. Reindog gets put above Steven because his support abilities are easier to use. His neutral special lets you tether to your teammate, dealing damage to enemies the tether touches and giving you the option to pull your teammate towards you. Reindog is a better brawler as well, with his normal attacks moving faster and dealing more damage than Steven's.
Reindog's downfall is that his charge attacks don't have much launch. He can charge a projectile attack that has a solid horizontal launch but that's about it. Playing a support character requires your teammate to understand the support character and work around their abilities, asking for more coordination than you're going to get out of a random player.
19. Finn
Finn from Adventure Time is one of three Assassin's on the MultiVersus roster and he is unfortunately the weakest of the three. One of his major downfalls is that in order to charge his attacks and send opponents flying, he has to move around the map while charging. While this might let you catch an opponent running away from you, it typically results in you needing to play out your charge attacks far in advance.
Finn does have an interesting passive ability, which is that both he and his teammate can collect gold coins that drop during the match. These coins can be used to purchase either a speed buff, a projectile shield, or BMO, which changes Finn's down special to a chop using BMO. While his passive and the shop are interesting abilities, it doesn't provide enough of an advantage for the amount of management and focus it requires from you during a match. Finn also has pretty short range compared to the other two Assassins.
18. Batman
Batman is a Bruiser equipped with many gadgets and a solid pick for MultiVersus. The main focus of Batman's attacks is using gadgets like the Batarang or grappling hook to extend combos out further. He can also use his smoke bomb to gain an invisiblity buff, which will weaken enemies he attacks. Batman gets a lower place on the list because while he is an excellent fighter with strong combos, he lacks in the finishing department.
While he does have some charge attacks for knocking enemies back, he doesn't quite have the launch of some other fighters on the roster. His focus is on being in the enemies faces and dealing damage, but you might need to rely on your teammate to get the final blows without getting enemies to really high damage percentages.
17. Taz
Taz from Looney Tunes is a special case for this list and for MultiVersus as a whole right now. Taz has a pretty average kit, focused around eating and spitting on his enemies, building up stacks of Tasty which will eventually turn his enemies into cooked chickens, leaving them debuffed and unable to attack. Taz has pretty short range, but he moves quickly so you can get in people's faces relatively easily.
Anyone who has been playing MultiVersus might have dealt with his side-special, the Taz-Nado. That move was broken, stun-locking and launching players at low damage to the point of being broken. As part of the open beta launch, this move has been nerfed significantly, placing Taz at this spot on the list.
16. Garnet
Garnet from Steven Universe is another Bruiser character, and while she can pack quite a punch, her hit boxes and move set leave something to be desired. Garnet is one of only a handful of characters who does not have a passive ability and her up attacks can be difficult to land. Her overall range and ability to hit other characters feels a bit off, but if you can figure her out she deals quite a bit of damage.
She can do a charged side attack that launches her fists at people and a down attack that causes a shock wave projectile to fire at people. Her neutral special creates a field that slows down projectiles, which can come in handy against enemies who rely on projectiles. Garnet doesn't feel great to play, but her damage output can be quite impressive.
15. Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is one of the Tank characters in MultiVersus, who across the board are pretty powerful. Pretty much all of the Tank characters can take far more damage before getting launched than other characters and none of them seem to sacrifice much in the damage department. Her passive ability charges whenever she blocks a projectile or attack with her shield charging her Amazon Shout.
The two best parts of Wonder Woman's kit are her down special, which will shield both her and her teammate from incoming attacks for a period of time, and her neutral special, the Lasso of Truth, which lets you snag either an enemy or your teammate and pull them in. Her regular attacks hit fairly hard and being able to confirm a kill by pulling an enemy in with the Lasso of Truth make Wonder Woman a pretty great character, even if she doesn't have the versatility some of the higher ranked characters have.
14. Gizmo
Gizmo, from Gremlins, is another support character in MultiVersus. Gizmo's support ability, which is both his passive and his neutral special attack, is focused around musical notes. These musical notes, when six of them are applied to an enemy, silence them from using any cooldown based abilities. Gizmo also has a bow and arrow for his neutral attack, along with a popcorn up attack and a side special car that he can drive around.
Gizmo has a relatively high damage output, especially as a support character. As a result of his role, he doesn't have much launch velocity on his charged attacks. Gizmo can tank a relatively high amount of damage, making him a useful tank for squishier characters like the assassins. The biggest downfall for Gizmo is that his support ability, the silence, is overly difficult to land. It requires six musical notes to connect in short succession and you can only spawn about four on the map at a time. When on the ground they go above Gizmo's head and in the air they go to the side. Since the music notes don't deal damage, it feels like you need to spend too much time trying to land the silence for it to be worth using.
13. Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny of Looney Tunes fame is one of two Mages currently in MultiVersus. As a Mage his moves take a bit of setup and require cooldown management, but if you can get a handle on him he is a powerful character. Bugs' passive is if he crouches he will pull an item box out of the ground and toss it to his teammate, as long as it's not on cooldown. Bugs moves very fast and his regular attacks are also quick, letting him fly around the map dealing damage. This speed also makes him difficult to hit.
As for his special attacks, his neutral will drop a safe from the sky that can be hit into enemies after it lands. He can also launch a rocket with his aerial side special and dig a tunnel with his down special. The rocket and the safe both deal a ton of damage and have great launch, but the cooldowns are pretty lengthy, so you will need to be smart with their usage.
12. Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the other Mage in MultiVersus and this combo-character can be quite lethal once you get a grasp on their moves. Jerry can provide a buff to allies if they pick him up after he gets launched using the neutral special. Tom and Jerry are designed around the idea that they are really just fighting each other and everyone else is collateral damage.
One of Tom and Jerry's best moves is also one of the most complicated in the game. After firing Jerry with the sling shot, Tom can hit a Tennis ball towards Jerry. If the ball doesn't hit an enemy, Jerry sends it back towards Tom, who can launch it with a charged Tennis Racket swing for maximum damage. When Jerry is away from Tom, he will usually do attacks at the same time as Tom, giving you extra range to work with. Like Bugs, Tom and Jerry are complicated, but powerful once mastered.
11. Arya Stark
One of the Assassins in MultiVersus, Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, is similar to the last two characters as she can be a bit difficult to figure out, but is quite lethal. She moves very fast and has a ton of range with her attacks, making her a menace to deal with. Her passive gives a bunch of different buffs, depending on the situation. She deals extra damage when attacking from behind and gets a small buff after dodging an attack. When an enemy is KO'd, a small pie spawns, debuffing and slowing any enemy that goes over it. She gets enraged when her teammate is KO'd, giving her a small boost.
Her main special, Face-Stealer, is a lunging stab that will steal someone's face if they are in range. With the face, Arya can use the neutral special again to reveal the face, which will stun an enemy if they are within close range. Her side special throws a dagger, which she will dash to if you use the ability again. Her normal attacks also can be put together into high damage combos, making her a great but complicated character.
10. Morty
One half of Rick and Morty, Morty is a brawler character who relies heavily on gadgets. His kit revolves around grenades, which he can throw using his neutral special. Once thrown, his neutral attack, which is a laser gun, will track the grenade and explode it. He also had the ability to pause and set up a portal to travel through with his air side special, which gives him some armor. His side smashes involve his massive arm or axes, depending on if you are in the ground or the air.
Despite requiring a ton of cooldown and projectile management, Morty isn't too difficult to pick up. He also deals a pretty hefty amount of damage and can even assist his partner with his Temporal Back-Up down special, which heals and can yank people back to the main stage. Morty's main flaw is that none of his attacks, his grenades, have a ton of knockback. Even when your opponent has over 100 damage, Morty struggles to send them flying. A hard hitting partner would make an excellent team with Morty.
9. LeBron James
LeBron James, from Space Jam: A New Legacy and, well, real life, is a Bruiser character who plays like a Mage. LeBron's entire kit is centered around his basketball, which he can throw as his neutral special. If it hits an enemy, it will deal damage and bounce off of them. If it hits a teammate, it will attach to them and fire off in the same direction as their next attack.
His side special attack has him jump up in the air and slam his basketball down, sending out a shock wave. This attack launches enemies upward pretty far, but destroys the basketball. He can summon a new one with his neutral special or will get one automatically after attacking an enemy. It can be a little difficult to manage the fast moving basketball projectile, but LeBron's normal attacks deal plenty of damage without the ball, making him a solid pick for any player.
8. Harley Quinn
MultiVersus has continued the trend of sticking Harley Quinn into anything DC-related. Another Assassin, Harley Quinn strikes a great balance between being a powerful damage dealer without being overly complicated. Harley can light people on fire for additional damage after hitting them with an explosive or confetti blast. Her neutral special is a bomb that she can detonate at will that sticks to enemies. She can stick an enemy and knock them off the stage, finishing them with the explosion.
Harley has plenty of quick combo attacks that are easy to use and land. Her side charge attacks have a ton of launch, letting you take enemies out at a lower damage. Her up special swings a baseball bat, launching enemies straight up. If any enemy is above you, they can be up specialed off screen with ease.
7. Black Adam
Black Adam is a Hybrid Bruiser and one of the few MultiVersus characters to receive the expert label on the roster. This hard-hitting DC villain has a high skill ceiling and can deal a ton of damage in a short period of time thanks to his moveset. Abilities like his neutral attack, Lightning Surge, deal a ton of damage and has a large launch, but it comes with one major drawback, something common with the rest of his moves; Black Adam moves a bit slow and many of his attacks have a long build up animation before they are used. Couple that with some strange move priorities when faced with quicker enemies and Black Adam becomes a clunky fighter.
That isn't to say he is bad by any means. Many of his lightning-based special attacks, like his side special, Zehuti's Foresight, spawns a ball of lightning that deals a ton of damage if landed. Black Adam also benefits from being a heavy character, letting him reach a high damage percentage before getting easily knocked out. Black Adam has the potential to be a great fighter, but most players are going to need to spend a decent amount of time getting a feel for his moveset before they can even start to get good with it.
6. Iron Giant
Another Tank character, the Iron Giant is the largest character in the game and it's not close. His large size makes him susceptible to getting combo-locked, but he can take a high amount of damage, and deals it just as well. His passive ability allows him to build a rage meter and when it fills, his moveset changes and he cannot be knocked back until his special silver health is depleted.
He has some strong combos and because of his massive size, he has the best range for melee attacks in MultiVersus. His down special, Cannonball, launches him into the air and he comes plummeting back down, dealing massive damage and launching enemies far. His size can get you into trouble, but with a little bit of practice he is a force to be reckoned with.
5. Rick
One half of Rick and Morty, Rick is a mage with a focus on horizontal attacks. Rick has access to a number of gadgets as well as some powerful melee attacks, making for a well-rounded character that is a bit of a powerhouse. While his neutral attack fires a slow moving, relatively weak laser, his side attack is quick and deals high damage. His up air can provide buffs if done near teammates but the big move here is his down air attack, which is a powerful spike that can send opponents off-screen without needing super high damage.
As for his special moves, his neutral attack spawns a Mr. Meeseeks, which can be directed to attack in any direction. His side special sends out a portal, which will spawn an exit if someone travels through it. His up special is a jetpack, which propels Rick up into the air and smashes enemies upward. His down attack is a polymorph, which turns opponents into small Reindogs that have lowered damage outputs. While Rick deals similarly high damage to his partner Morty, Rick doesn't suffer the same shortcoming of not being able to finish opponents, making him one of the best characters in Multiversus.
4. Superman
Superman is the best Tank in MultiVersus for a couple of reasons. First, he can take a ridiculous amount of damage before he starts getting launched completely off screen. He moves fast and has quit regular combos that he can deal fast damage with. He can also dodge upwards, making for easier recovery. His ice breath, his neutral special, lets him freeze enemies and deal damage with strong range.
The best part of Superman's kit are his aerial side special and aerial up special can be used for quick knockouts. Both moves have Superman fly in the direct you point and if he runs into an enemy they can be grabbed and thrown. If an enemy gets launched even halfway up the screen, Superman can snag them in the air and throw them out-of-bounds. The move feels a bit cheap, but it's a great and consistent finisher.
3. Velma
Velma from Scooby-Doo is the third support character in MultiVersus and she has an incredible set of moves that allows her to deal damage, buff her teammates, and heal herself almost simultaneously. Her neutral attack fires out supportive words, which seek her teammate. If it hits her teammate, they become targeted and the words will hasten them, heal Velma, and fire off an additional word bubble. If it hits an enemy, they become targeted and take damage from the attacks. Her neutral special works similarly, but is a beam that is fired from Velma and can be extended if she hits her teammate.
Velma's combos and special attacks are powerful, letting her rack up damage quickly, but her passive is what makes Velma top tier. During the match Evidence will appear on the stage that she and her teammate can collect. If Velma collects enough Evidence without getting KO'd, she can call the police. The police car will target an enemy and if it catches them, it will disable their abilities and attempt to drive them off the ledge. Nobody likes a snitch, but this move can almost guarantee a KO, on top of an already impressive move set.
2. Shaggy
Player First Games and Warner Bros. leaned all the way into the ultra-instinct Shaggy memes, when making MultiVersus. His neutral ability allows him to charge his rage and become enraged, where he deals additional damage. This bruiser has a great set of combos and his neutral charge attack gives him a shield while charging, so you can get the move off even under pressure. Another great move is his up special, which is an uppercut. While enraged, this move hits multiple times, making it a perfect finishing move.
Also while enraged, Shaggy inflicts weakened, making them fly even further when hit. HIs down special has him pull a sandwich out of the ground that he can throw. It deals damage to enemies and if it passes your teammates, it heals them. Shaggy is an absolute powerhouse of a character and his moves are relatively simple to use and understand, which makes him the best pick for MultiVersus.
1. Stripe
Another Gremlin, Tripe is an assassin character with great range and mobility, dealing a high amount of damage without any real trade-offs. Stripe moves very quickly, but the main draw is his side attack, where he swings his massive claws. This move has a ton of range and seems to take priority over most other moves in the game. His neutral attack has Stripe throw a buzzsaw, either on the ground or in the air. His up and down attacks are similar to his side swipes, moving quickly in a small area.
Another thing that makes Stripe powerful is that he isn't as squishy as the other assassin characters, allowing him to take more damage before getting launched off-screen. His neutral special is a gun. All of his other special attacks, like the side special which has him ride a skateboard on the ground or fly with a chainsaw in the air, marks enemies with a target temporarily. When marked, the gunshots auto-aim at the enemy, which is great for finishing off opponents when you get a strong launch, but they don't quite make it all the way off the screen. As it stands, Stripe is the best character in MultiVersus.
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Wildlife Management Boards in COSEWIC status assessments
Process to include Wildlife Management Boards in COSEWIC status assessments
Process to include Wildlife Management Boards1 (WMBs) in the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) Status Assessment process.
Wildlife Management Boards (WMBs) in British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Quebec were established under land claims agreements to manage wildlife in their jurisdictions. Because COSEWIC has been mandated to evaluate the status of wildlife species at risk in Canada, it is important that COSEWIC and the Wildlife Management Boards work together for wildlife species that fall into their joint jurisdictions. Discussions between COSEWIC and the Wildlife Management Boards resulted in a process to ensure that the WMBs have opportunity for input during the preparation and review of status reports for wildlife species within their management area.
As a first step, COSEWIC prepared a list for each WMB showing the wildlife species assessed by COSEWIC in the jurisdiction of each WMB, and the wildlife species' scheduled assessment updates. Each WMB was asked to verify that the wildlife species occurred in their jurisdiction. COSEWIC will add to and amend the lists of "WMB species" as necessary. The WMBs were also provided the COSEWIC assessment criteria and supporting explanatory material.
There will be regular communication between COSEWIC, the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee (ATK SC) and the COSEWIC Secretariat with designated WMB contact persons. COSEWIC will continue to provide information to the Wildlife Management Boards on assessment procedures, meetings, calls for bids for reports and calls for membership. Meetings with WMBs will be scheduled when required, following a request by a majority of WMBs. Where feasible, such meetings will be coordinated with regular COSEWIC meetings. These measures will ensure that the Wildlife Management Boards remain apprised of COSEWIC's activities, and facilitate their involvement in the process of wildlife species assessment.
If the Chair of COSEWIC convenes an Emergency Assessment Subcommittee for a wildlife species found within the area of under the jurisdiction of a WMB, he or she will invite the WMB to select a non-voting member of that Subcommittee.
Wildlife Management Boards will be involved in each stage of wildlife species assessment, as detailed below.2
Wildlife species proposed for designation
WMBs will be kept informed by COSEWIC about the schedule of wildlife species expected to be examined. This information will be provided to the WMBs by the Secretariat, together with background information on why the wildlife species should be assessed.
COSEWIC will seek and welcome input from WMBs to its COSEWIC Candidate list and scheduling of assessment.
Status report commissioned
At least one month before posting its annual call for bids, for each wildlife species, the COSEWIC secretariat will ask the WMBs how they want to be involved in report production. Responses received from the WMBs will be forwarded to the relevant Species Specialist Subcommittees (SSC) Co-chair, who will take it into account.
WMBs may provide input on the Call for Bids for each report, amount of funding likely required to complete the report, and the selection of authors. Final selection of report writer remains a responsibility of each SSC.
Status report prepared and reviewed
For the purpose of status report preparation and review, WMBs are considered range jurisdictions: i.e., WMBs will be contacted by report writers to request available information on wildlife species, including harvest studies and other surveys or reports.
WMBs will have at least 3 months to review and provide comments on draft status reports and may suggest additional sources of information.
WMBs will have 3 months to provide additional comments after receiving the Interim Status report. WMBs may waive their right to a 3-month review to expedite the assessment process. COSEWIC requires a response by all jurisdictions two months before its meeting.
ATK inclusion will be coordinated with the ATK Subcommittee.
WMBs and SSC and ATK SC Co-chairs will communicate directly regarding incorporation of comments into wildlife species status reports.
The COSEWIC Secretariat will assist with requests from WMBs to circulate their review comments to other WMBs.
Two months before each Wildlife Species Assessment Meeting, COSEWIC will provide WMBs with the revised copy of the Interim Status Report that will be sent to all members. The WMBs will be invited, by letter to the Chairperson from the COSEWIC Secretariat, to provide the relevant SSC Co-Chair their comments, recommendation for a national designation and the reason for their recommendation.
Wildlife species status assessment
WMBs wishing to be involved in the status report review process will be invited to send observers to SSC meetings or to participate via teleconference.
WMBs that have been involved in the review process may send observers to COSEWIC Assessment meetings. Observers will be welcomed at the discretion of the Chair of COSEWIC.
WMBs will be contacted through conference calls to communicate assessment results after the COSEWIC Assessment meetings.
(1) "…any board or other body established under a land claims agreement that is authorized by the agreement to perform functions in respect of wildlife species," Species at Risk Act, S.C. 2002, c.29.
(2) Implementation of the process contained in this appendix is evolving over time and minor changes may be made based on experience gained and feedback from WMBs.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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A bumpy ride ahead: Australia's economy and the 'new normal'
May 4, 2015 3.26pm EDT
Hui Feng, Griffith University
Hui Feng
Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute and Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University
Hui Feng does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Griffith University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.
What goes up must come down: Australia's economy is in for a wild ride ahead. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
As the federal government prepares to hand down its 2015 budget, it's clear declining revenue from the mining sector will have a significant impact on the bottom line. In this 'Economy in transition' series, we explore the new economy facing Australia and the opportunities available to help the country shift from a minerals-led powerhouse, to a smart competitor in emerging global sectors.
Australians, fasten your seat belts and prepare for a bumpy ride ahead. We have had an early taste of the new normal for the Australian economy – and there are more painful changes on the way.
The early signs have been impossible to ignore: a sharp and continuous drop in commodity prices, a slump in the value of the Australian dollar. Prospects for the budget position are weak (with the AAA rating on the line) and productivity is stagnant. Unemployment is hovering above the 6% comfort zone, asset prices are rising but the real economy is sluggish.
Australia emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis, but has to confront some of its long term implications. Those implications are bound to transform the structure of the global economy and Australia's place in it.
Australia and the global imbalance
Before the GFC, the structure of the world economy was dominated by an imbalance between global supply and demand. This had resulted in a polarised concentration of surpluses and deficits within creditor countries (such as China, Japan and Germany) and debtor countries (the United States). To put the scale of the imbalances in perspective, the gross surpluses and deficits have accumulated from roughly 50% of global GDP in 1995 to about 150% of global GDP in 2011, and absolutely from US$15 trillion to US$100 trillion.
Simply put, it was an imbalance in which China produced much more than it could consume and the US piled up much more debt than it could service. That only made sense because China financed the US debt that was, in turn, used to purchase Chinese exports.
As one of the major providers of energy and resources to East Asia, Australia benefited handsomely from the rise of China. Soaring commodity prices drove the biggest mining and energy investment boom in Australia's history.
Instead of a banana republic that former Prime Minister Paul Keating once warned of, Australia found itself the envy of the developed world.
The global rebalance
However, the global financial crisis prompted a painful process of rebalancing. Two structural and strategic trends that emerge in the post-crisis era are of particular relevance to the Australian economy.
First, the global economic gravity has decidedly shifted from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific area. The US is likely to recover from the mess but its long term growth will trail that of China, as it needs to deleverage its debt through an increase in productivity and (more conveniently) monetary manipulation.
Discontent has wracked European Union over austerity measures arising from the GFC and the Euro debt crisis that followed, going so far as to threaten the integrity of the union altogether. The long term challenge there will be to rebalance inequities between wealthy industrial nations like Germany and less well-off EU members in the south, as well as boosting productivity.
For the Indo-Pacific economies, there are other factors at play. Even under a slower rate of growth, China is set to eventually overtake the US as the world's largest economy in both nominal and real terms. As China attempts to climb up the value chain, part of its manufacturing capacity will be relocated largely within the Asia Pacific region, making the latter an increasingly dynamic environment for production and innovation.
In addition, if well managed, India could become a second engine of world economic growth under Prime Minister Modi's ambitious national initiative of Make in India, which aims to transform the country into a new global manufacturing hub.
Australia will stand to benefit from these structural changes. Australia has established itself as a key member in the emerging bilateral and multilateral trade and investment regimes in Asia.
Bilateral free trade deals with regional powerhouses, China, Japan and Korea will further strengthen Australia's role into the production network. The negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, of which Australia is a member, is likely to gain momentum this year.
China's strategic move to recycle part of its foreign reserves into funding infrastructure expansion in Asia (through the newly established Asia Infrastructural Investment Bank), and the potential rise of India, will generate renewed demand for commodities. Australia, with its expertise in agriculture production and processing, has strategic advantage in servicing the emerging middle class in Asia.
The recent buzz word in China is the notion of the "new normal". Chinese president Xi Jinping used the phrase to describe a new phase of economic development in the post-crisis era that is centred on moderate but stable growth.
For the Chinese leadership, the most crucial challenge is to shift from investment and exports to domestic consumption, and generate more output from innovation and technological progress. That would help achieve a more sustainable and higher productivity growth.
Between 1978 and 2014, China's real GDP has been growing at a phenomenal 9.7% year on year. It is not clear at this stage how that number will change over time. Some predict it could be as low as 5% under the "new normal" conditions of the future.
But think of it this way: if the soon-to-be largest economy in the world achieves an annual growth of even 5% for the next decade or so, that is still great news for its trading partners – particularly Australia.
As China heads for the "new normal", so to will Australia – and we had better prepare for it. The mining boom is over, yet the demand from China will continue. It will be more moderate but sustainable.
As a result, Australia's two-speed economy will be more or less rebalanced as the non-mining sectors gain increased access to labour and capital. The free trade agreement with China will boost our capacity in agriculture and the service sectors, opening those sectors to a massive and increasingly wealthy population that is seeking a higher quality of life.
There will be adjustments for a transition to the new normal, in economic and political terms, and plenty of uncertainty ahead for both advanced and emerging economies.
Some changes are easy, but many are structural and far-reaching. Now is not the time for complacency. Australia must be on the front foot if it wants to make the most of the "new normal."
Mining boom
Economy in transition
Uyghur people protest outside the UN headquarters in Genevea in November 2018. Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA
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Australian writer Yang Hengjun is set to be charged in China at an awkward time for Australia-China relations
Two universities are conducting internal reviews of research collaborations linked to the suppression and surveillance of the Uyghur minority in western China. Tracey Nearmy/AAP
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It's true, research says. Reuters/Ashlee Espinal
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text:
Whitney Tilson: "Why The Hell Didn't I Listen To Charlie Munger?"
Posted By: Guest Post Apr 3, 2018, 3:52 pm
Whitney Tilson, one of the world's most followed value investors, announced the closure of his hedge fund in September 2017.
[mungrt]
See 2017 Hedge Fund Letters.
"If I were managing only my own money, the fund's recent results wouldn't bother me quite so much," Tilson wrote in a letter to investors.
"But investing and running a money management business are two very different things, and reporting sustained underperformance to you was making me miserable."
But Mr. Tilson is hardly going away. After many years in the spotlight, Mr. Tilson is turning his attention to a new business venture named Kase Learning that will offer seminars on value investing, hedge fund entrepreneurship and short selling.
During a recent discussion at his Manhattan office, Mr. Tilson shared a never-before-told story about Charlie Munger's personal advice to him on short selling.
What follows is a slightly edited transcript of Mr. Tilson's story as told to Jesse Koltes.
The Charlieton: You're a well-known follower of Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. What do you make of the fact that Munger and Buffett recommend against short selling, and why did you decide to short stocks in your fund?
Whitney Tilson: I'll tell you something, a story I've never told publicly. My very first experience with shorting was with Farmer Mac and then MBIA. That was with Guy Spier, who was pitching Farmer Mac to Bill Ackman and me as the long. Bill correctly identified it as a short and helped get Guy out. We all shorted it.
These were two of the first activist short campaigns in history. No short seller ever talked about shorts back then. Today, it's a daily event that somebody's going after some company publicly.
The companies did not like it. They sicced the SEC and Eliot Spitzer's office on us. That was a very unpleasant early experience. They pitched a story to The Wall Street Journal that ran that talked about this cabal of market-manipulating short sellers.
This is back in 2002. I was three years into my fund. I managed less than $10 million. Here I am getting smeared in The Wall Street Journal. Then, a day later, I was getting subpoenas from the SEC and the New York Attorney General. i.e. Eliot Spitzer. I thought my life was over.
Here I am getting smeared in The Wall Street Journal…I thought my life was over
I called Buffett up to ask for a little bit of advice. He said, "Whitney, this too shall pass. It doesn't appear you've done anything wrong and I know it feels very vivid right now but this will pass,."
Then he said, "You know what, Whitney, I'll bet Charlie would have something to say about this. Why don't you call him up?"
I said, "Mr. Munger? I've never talked to him. I don't know him. Does he even know who I am? Will he take my call?"
Buffett chuckled and said, "Oh, yeah. Charlie knows who you are. He'll take your call. Give him a call." I called him up and sure enough, he picked up the phone. He's my hero. Imagine, you know?
Charlie had some very interesting things to say. The first thing he said was, and I still remember the exact tone of voice and his exact words. He said, "First of all, Whitney, you and Bill are exactly right about MBIA." Then, he said, "The idea that anyone would ever think that this company is triple A is so ludicrous," in those exact words.
I was feeling pretty good—my hero thinks my analysis was correct!
Then he said, "From a societal perspective, Whitney, I think it's a good and healthy thing that you and Bill are out there raising correct, legitimate questions about this company and companies like this. I think it's a healthy thing."
But he said, "My advice to Whitney Tilson is don't do it because," he said, "If you go around in life stepping on people's air hoses, they're going to hate you and they're going to attack you
If you go around in life stepping on people's air hoses, they're going to hate you and they're going to attack you
and they're going to do things like smear you in the Wall Street Journal and sic regulators on you and do things to make your life miserable."
"You know, Whitney, shorting is a tough business." He said, "I remember back when I was just a young guy and I shorted a few stocks. I remember I'd shorted the Yen once and they all ended up working out but the Yen doubled against me or something before it finally worked out." He said, "It cost me a lot of sleepless nights." He said, "I eventually concluded that just wasn't worth it and I stopped doing it. That would be my advice to you, Whitney."
Then he paused, sort of like he was almost speaking to himself. He sort of chuckled and said,
You know what? Young guys seems to have to learn this for themselves.
I look back on that moment as one of the great mistakes of my career – why the hell didn't I listen to Charlie Munger? Charlie Munger himself, my idol, told me, "Whitney, just don't do it?" Instead, I did it for another 15 years and it was still early. I'd only shorted two stocks in my life up to that point.
Here I am hundreds of stocks later, millions of dollars of losses later. If I was really clever, I would have stopped right then. I would have listened to Charlie Munger.
Editor's Note: Mr. Tilson has offered readers 20% off on all Kase Learning seminars. Visit KaseLearning.com and use code TC20 to register.
Article by Jesse Koltes, The Charlieton
If you are interested in contributing to ValueWalk on a regular or one time basis - email us at info(at)valuewalk.com
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