“Mr. Miles and Mr. Hermanson are 700 miles apart, leading lives separated by lines of race, age, ideology and income. Yet there’s one opinion they both share: The American experiment is teetering.
““It’s all screwed,” said Mr. Hermanson, who is white. “It seems to me that we’re pretty close to a fall.””
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/on-the-future-americans-can-agree-it-doesnt-look-good/ar-BB15nRWH
“Trillions are now whooshing by at a breath-taking pace.
“The US gross national debt – the total of all Treasury securities outstanding – jumped by $1 trillion over the past five weeks, from May 4 through June 8, and by $2.5 trillion for the 11 weeks since March 23.”
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/06/12/wow-thats-fast-debt-out-the-wazoo/
“A selloff in U.S. government bonds that pushed yields to the highest levels since March petered out almost as quickly as it started, a sign economic pessimism and aggressive monetary stimulus remain powerful forces suppressing longer-term interest rates.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/treasury-yields-retreat-signals-economic-woes-11591959600
“Even as the White House celebrates tentative signs of a labor market rebound, the ripples from Howmet’s decision show that the pandemic’s imprint upon the U.S. economy is hardening into a scar.
“What began in China five months ago as a distant threat to U.S. factories’ supply chains has evolved into a mammoth shortfall in consumer and business spending that could hobble the economy for years.”
“The collapse of oil prices due to the price war and COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the financial underpinnings of the shale patch.
“Some journalists and short sellers have likened the collapses and pending collapses to the recipe followed by Enron in the 1990s: an unsustainable business model and overtly “optimistic” projections.”
“At long last, financial reality has caught up with Chesapeake Energy Corp., avatar of the boom and subsequent bust of North American shale.
“Chesapeake’s spiral toward oblivion accelerated this week with executives said to be preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing…”
“The economic misery enveloping the world, deepened by the crash in oil prices, has sharpened a split within the United States ruling elite.
“Those who support and fund President Donald Trump are aligned with domestic US energy companies that suddenly face a great risk from plummeting oil and gas demand.”
“…oil prices aren’t recovering as the bulls had hoped… consumption hasn’t picked up quite as much as they hoped it would by now…
“Around the world, it’s become clear that getting back to work and play will be halting.” [Boggles my mind that anyone could have thought otherwise!]
“Britain’s record economic slump in April during the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown has put businesses across the country on the brink of financial collapse.
“The Guardian has spoken to three company bosses about the pressure they and their employees are facing at the onset of the deepest recession in living memory.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jun/12/april-was-catastrophic-the-firms-caught-up-in-uks-record-slump
“Boris Johnson will try to force the pace of Brexit talks by telling the EU today that Britain will opt for no-deal unless there is a sign of agreement by the end of next month.”
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic farmers in Italy have resorted to chartering private planes to bring back seasonal workers to help with the summer harvest…
“After the COVID-19 crisis closed Italy’s borders many farmers were left with a stark choice – pay themselves to bring the workers back legally, or risk a reduced harvest and face the financial consequences.”
“Protesters from various political parties across Lebanon, including members from the pro-government Shi’Ite Hezbollah and Amal movements, took to the streets overnight to protest the dire economic situation.
“Many of them chanted: “We are starving”.”
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/lebanon-protesters-chant-we-are-starving-as-financial-crisis-deepens
““”Madness.” One word suffices for Mona to describe the world around her. As she passes through the streets of Idlib City [Syria] on her way home from work, she sees many desperate people standing in line — at a pharmacies, at bakeries, desperate for some bread, desperate for medication.
“All of which cost thousands of Syrian pounds.”
https://www.dw.com/en/syrian-currency-crisis-idlibfacing-the-next-catastrophe/a-53783863
“India’s industrial production shrank by a record 55.5 per cent in April from the year earlier with manufacturing crashing 64.3 per cent, as computed from data released by the government, which didn’t provide a number for the change from April 2019 because of the Covid-19 lockdown.”
“At least 10 million more Pakistanis will drop below the poverty line because of the toll of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government’s new economic survey estimates.
“Around one in four Pakistanis are currently too poor to meet basic needs, but that figure is predicted to rise closer to 30 per cent of the world’s sixth most populous nation.”
“Indonesia will use unprecedented quantitative easing and other emergency monetary and fiscal policies for as long as it takes to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the country’s finance minister.
“With the private sector in retreat after weeks of lockdown, massive state spending was needed to shore up the economy, Sri Mulyani Indrawati said. This was despite concerns among investors…”
https://www.ft.com/content/9420eee8-5ee9-4c7e-ad67-b27d4b1ac539
“The fragile recovery in China’s economy is pointing to a long road back for the rest of the world too.
“A string of top-tier data all showed that China’s factory output, consumer spending and investment continued to improve in May, but there are few signs of a broad based rebound needed to spur a V-shaped recovery.”
“”It’s a bit like trying to whip out the tablecloth from under your set of china [suddenly ending support programmes in Australia],” warns economist Nicki Hutley.
“”It’s not going to come away smoothly — there’s going to be crashes and broken plates everywhere.””
“In a statement to the country, on Sunday, June 14 the [Panamanian] business union announced that they face a strong loss of formal jobs as a result of the fall in demand and consumption. Furthermore, it is important to reach a consensus among all sectors of the country to overcome the crisis.
““If no immediate action is taken, before the end of 2020, we would be facing imminent economic collapse…”“
https://menafn.com/1100324556/Panama-business-execs-send-economic-collapse-warning
“Colombia has hosted over 1.6 million Venezuelans since the once wealthy nation suffered an enormous economic collapse in 2014. Now, with Colombia under lockdown due to the coronavirus, many migrants without official status have lost their ability to earn a living.
“Despite no improvement in conditions, some have decided to return – on foot.”
“No country is emerging unscathed from the Covid-19 pandemic, but the impact on the world’s poorest countries is especially severe…
“The G20 has no meeting planned until November, fully justifying the accusation by Gordon Brown that it has gone awol – absent without lending.”
“Global poverty could rise to over one billion people due to the COVID-19 pandemic… according to a new report.”
“The coronavirus pandemic and its punitive economic effects are about to set off the next global hunger crisis.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/coronavirus-global-hunger.html?ref=oembed
“The risk today of a debilitating 1930s-style overshoot in deglobalisation is massive, particularly if the US-China relationship continues to fray.
“And it is folly to think that a chaotic, crisis-driven retreat from globalisation will not introduce more – and vastly more serious – problems.”
“This is not the first time that globalisation is facing a serious threat to its existence.
“In the 1930s, globalisation did, in fact, come to an end with the onset of two world wars which brought the notion of global trade to a halt.”
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/2020-the-year-of-deglobalisation.798183
“International trade in goods is expected to nosedive by 20% this year after a 5% drop year-on-year in the first-quarter and what could be a 27% plunge in the second-quarter, says the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).”
https://salaamgateway.com/story/pandemic-hit-global-merchandise-trade-could-plunge-20-this-year-un
“In one of the world’s biggest diamond vaults, hidden inside a nondescript office compound on the dusty outskirts of Botswana’s capital, the precious stones just keep piling up…
“Now, as the coronavirus restrictions that froze the global industry for months begin to lift, the unsold diamonds present a dilemma: How to reduce billions of dollars’ worth of stocks without undermining the nascent recovery?”
““This is a really telling signal that we’re in a really massive surplus [of Aluminium],” said Oliver Nugent, a commodities strategist at Citigroup Inc.
““There’s money on the table because the market is paying people to clear markets of this glut.””
https://www.wsj.com/articles/aluminum-glut-revives-financial-crisis-era-storage-trade-11591952519
“The coronavirus pandemic is causing bond yields to decline around the world. Central banks are slashing monetary policy rates and supporting government budgets by purchasing sovereign bonds.
“If this so-called death of yields becomes a trend, interest rates will begin to lose their function…
“Other side effects include the likes of pension funds and insurance companies not being able to raise enough profit by investing in bonds. They would have to invest in equities, forcing them to take higher risks. Banks would have to lend at lower interest rates, leading to lower profits.”
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Datawatch/Death-of-yields-puts-countries-at-risk-of-Japanization
“Central bankers look set to go on a gold buying binge this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, new research shows.
“And the leading reason for the likely desire to buy bars of bullion is fear of another financial crisis, according to a recent report from industry group World Gold Council.”
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