| A panel of scientists say most people won't need booster shots. China's economy may be headed for another slowdown. Walmart denied agreeing to partner with Litecoin. Here's what you need to know this morning. Covid-19 vaccines work so well that most people don't yet need a booster, an all-star panel of scientists from around the world said in a review that's likely to fuel debate. In other virus-related news, U.K. medical chiefs recommended shots for kids as young as 12. Médecins Sans Frontières called on a group of WTO members to stop blocking a proposal that would waive patents and other intellectual property on treatments and vaccines. The Philippines will impose smaller, targeted lockdowns and provide perks for the vaccinated. Indonesia eased restrictions further after it reported the fewest new cases since May, while New Zealand extended Auckland's lockdown for at least another week. And international air travel is expected to recover sooner outside Asia than within the region. Asian stocks look set for a steady open after the U.S. snapped a five-day drop ahead of inflation data that could impact expectations of the likely timeline for a reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus. U.S.-traded Chinese technology shares declined for a fourth day on Beijing's regulatory crackdown. The S&P 500 rose as energy companies paced gains after crude oil extended a rally to a six-week high. And commodities prices have surged to a 10-year high.  | China's economy likely slowed further in August, with data on consumption, industrial output and investment due Wednesday set to reveal the damage caused by a delta outbreak. The extent of the slowdown will be closely watched for signs that it's serious enough to prompt authorities to change their current stance of slowly withdrawing liquidity from markets and keeping stimulus limited. Meanwhile, China urged the U.S. to take steps to repair their frayed relations, as the Biden administration considers a new investigation into Chinese industrial subsidies. And China Evergrande, which is quickly becoming the country's biggest financial worry, is facing mounting protests by homebuyers, retail investors and even its own employees. Walmart denied agreeing to partner with Litecoin, refuting an earlier "inauthentic" statement that sent the cryptocurrency soaring as much as 33%. According to the release on GlobeNewswire, Walmart would start letting its customers pay with Litecoin, a relatively obscure instrument that isn't among the top 10 cryptocurrencies. Company founder Charlie Lee described the report and tweet as an "unfortunate situation." In other crypto news, Coinbase is looking to raise $1.5 billion from a bond sale and Cathie Wood's Ark is letting one of its funds invest in Canadian Bitcoin ETFs. A toilet-training program designed to help treat cow urine in a more sustainable way could help minimize the environmental impact of toxic substances produced by the waste. The toilet-training program for calves is not dissimilar to how young children are potty-trained. In a trial of 16 cows, researchers rewarded the animals with food when they successfully urinated in a specific latrine pen, called a "MooLoo." However, if the cattle let go too early, they were squirted with cold water. The scaling up of the program could reduce harmful urine patches in paddocks and barns. This is what's caught our eye over the past 24 hours: One of the big questions hovering around China's various crackdowns is "why now?" Why go after some of the country's biggest corporate success stories (think Alibaba, Tencent and Didi) as well as the real-estate sector which makes up a good chunk of the overall economy (almost 30% of gross domestic output), at a time when China is grappling with the Covid pandemic and slower global growth? On the most recent episode of the Odd Lots podcast, Dan Wang, a tech analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, gives us one explanation: "I think what the government realized last year over Covid was that, my goodness, a lot of people are using online services, for example, for food delivery or for online education. And for the most part, the Chinese internet space has been, I would say, pretty minimally regulated until basically the last two, three years. I think over the last five years, when I visited a bunch of tech companies when I was living in Beijing, they would often say that there are fewer regulations relative to the U.S. and relative to every other industry in China ... I think the most important impetus is that the government realized how much more online everyone became last year in China — probably something like this happened in the U.S. as well — and so they can't let this be an ungoverned space for much longer. The other 'why now' issue is that I think much more broadly, my view is that China will not open its borders for at least 12 more months, potentially for many years. And I think that's because Covid is still ravaging quite a few parts of the world and 99% of Chinese don't want to leave China right now. And so there's sort of not that many costs to China for maintaining its borders shut."
In other words, China's closure to the world has given it the impetus and the motivation to embark on an internal reckoning with its own economy. If you're looking to understand more of what's going on, the whole episode with Dan is well worth a listen. You can follow Tracy Alloway on Twitter at @tracyalloway. | 
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