Episode 274: Pandas, Ports, and Competing with China’s BRI

<p>Today, Les, Jess, Jamil, Morgan, and special guest John Lipsey all sit down together - in person! - to discuss America’s stolen pandas and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation’s (DFC) recent loan of $550 million to Sri Lanka to support the construction of a deep-water shipping terminal.&nbsp;This loan is a recent example of DFC’s efforts to support the building of global infrastructure, while also supporting U.S. foreign policy.&nbsp;</p><br><p>What’s the difference between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and America’s DFC lending? Can the US DFC compete with China’s BRI globally? Should we have let China take back our pandas?</p><br><p>Want to learn more about this topic? Check out these articles that our experts used to frame our discussion:&nbsp;</p><br><p><a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/news/giant-pandas-depart-smithsonians-national-zoo-and-conservation-biology-institute-for-china" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://nationalzoo.si.edu/news/giant-pandas-depart-smithsonians-national-zoo-and-conservation-biology-institute-for-china</a></p><br><p><a href="https://www.dfc.gov/media/press-releases/dfc-makes-more-91-billion-financial-commitments-fiscal-year-2023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.dfc.gov/media/press-releases/dfc-makes-more-91-billion-financial-commitments-fiscal-year-2023</a></p><br><p><a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/mission-creep-development-finance-corporation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.csis.org/analysis/mission-creep-development-finance-corporation</a></p><br><p><a href="https://fortune.com/2023/11/08/us-dfc-china-belt-and-road-553m-investment-sri-lanka-colombo-port/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://fortune.com/2023/11/08/us-dfc-china-belt-and-road-553m-investment-sri-lanka-colombo-port/</a></p><br><p>Follow our experts on Twitter:&nbsp;</p><br><p>@notTVJessJones</p><br><p>@jamil_n_jaffer&nbsp;</p><br><p>@lestermunson</p><br><p>@morganlroach</p><br><p>@JohnCLipsey</p><br><p>Like what we're doing he