It turns out that our previous post misrepresented the urgency of a test of America’s with-us-or-against-us principle. Europe may wait, for now. Instead, a man called Jensen Huang is in the hot seat. He runs Nvidia, a very rich company that produces computer chips. He is said to have persuaded Donald Trump to allow him to continue to do business with China. Evidently not. The Americans have changed their mind, costing Nvidia over $5 billion. Mr Huang has now been summoned to Beijing, presumably to sort his company’s future. This isn’t quite a journey to Canossa. Rather it recalls the story of the man with two mistresses. One mistress like to mother the man; the other was indulged like a daughter. The first mistress visited the man on odd days; the other, on even days. The man was content with that arrangement. One day the even-day mistress got her days wrong and showed up on an odd day. Drama ensued. The man’s friends told him, well, it’s come time for you to make a choice. Which mistress and which role do you prefer? The man’s friends were wrong. The man did not, could not, make that choice. He could not distinguish between what he wanted and what he needed. What happened next was easy to foresee. The mistresses made the choice for him. Talleyrand is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Talleyrand that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. © 2025 Talleyrand |