“As infection rates start rising in some European countries, the potential for civil unrest and political aftershocks is growing as patience wears thin, say analysts…
“Even before the pandemic, Europe was in the grip of rising political anger, and mainstream parties were rocked by populist stirrings that have been reshaping the continent’s politics. But the pandemic is making many on the continent angrier still, fueling protests, further polarizing politics and exposing long-simmering political and social tensions.”
https://www.voanews.com/europe/analysts-potential-civil-unrest-rising-europe
“The pandemic has effectively pulled away the first rung of the jobs ladder for many young Europeans…
“Youth unemployment has long plagued Europe, lingering for years following the 2008/09 global financial crisis and hitting southern countries such as Spain and Greece especially hard.
“Yet early signs show things are about to get worse.”
“President Aleksandar Vucic backtracked on his plans to reinstate a coronavirus lockdown in Belgrade this week, but it didn’t stop people from firing flares and throwing stones while trying to storm the downtown parliament building.
“A number of people were injured during clashes in front of the parliament that started peacefully but soon turned violent…”
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/serbia-sends-mixed-signals-virus-lockdown-clashes-71666961
“The outlook for Spain’s economy is looking grim, particularly its leading tourism sector. By the end of the year, economists predict that unemployment rates in Spain will rise from 14% to a whopping 23%.”
“The French government said it was geared for a possible surge in coronavirus cases in the coming months but ruled out another nationwide lockdown…
“…we’re not going to impose a lockdown like the one we did last March, because we’ve learned… that the economic and human consequences from a total lockdown are disastrous,” new prime minister Jean Castex said.”
https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/1546066.html
“German exports rebounded less than expected in May as demand remained subdued despite the lifting of lockdown measures introduced to contain the spread of the coronavirus, data published on Thursday showed.”
https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/german-exports-rebound-less-than-expected-in-may
“In his summer economic update to the House of Commons, Rishi Sunak warned the UK is facing “profound economic challenges” as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
“The chancellor admitted Britons are anxious about losing their jobs and rising unemployment, with the UK economy having shrunk 25% in just two months – the same amount it grew in the previous 18 years.”
“European governments that frantically assembled plans to help their economies weather the coronavirus lockdowns are starting to focus on a cliff edge: how to prevent cascading bankruptcies that could derail the rebound.
“The next big idea gaining traction among officials and economists is potentially taking stakes in small and medium-sized businesses…”
“Usually, an uptick in debt levels pushes bond prices lower and yields higher. However, in this case, the Fed has essentially created a backstop to the debt market…
““The Fed has created its own monster. It can’t stop buying assets otherwise the whole system will collapse,” tweeted Otavio Costa, portfolio manager at Crescat Capital.”
https://www.fxstreet.com/news/fed-creates-monster-debt-problem-202007090327
“Unemployment in the United States has risen to historic highs in recent months due to covid-19.
“Businesses struggled to stay afloat due to social distancing rules, and livelihoods were lost, much like the 2008 financial crisis. But a new study finds that the current crisis has hit the US economy even harder.”
https://www.livemint.com/news/world/covid-hit-us-jobs-much-more-than-2008-crisis-11594275571759.html
“United Airlines warned employees for months that mass layoffs loomed if travel didn’t rebound, and the airline put a grim face on the expected tally Wednesday.
“In a memo to employees, the Chicago-based airline said 36,000 employees, or 45% of its front-line workers in the USA and more than a third of its overall workforce of 95,000, face layoffs on or around Oct. 1.”
“Brooks Brothers, the 200-year-old company that dressed nearly every U.S. president, filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, the latest major clothing seller to be toppled by the coronavirus pandemic.”
https://japantoday.com/category/business/famed-clothier-brooks-brothers-files-for-bankruptcy
“…housing courts are reopening, and eviction moratoriums are expiring in the coming weeks, if they haven’t already. CARES Act benefits that expanded unemployment are running out.
“Unless lawmakers intervene, the $600-per-week supplement will expire at the end of July.
““The United States is facing an eviction crisis of biblical proportions,” Aaron Carr, founder and executive director of the Housing Rights Initiative, a nonprofit housing watchdog group, told me.”
https://www.vox.com/21301823/rent-coronavirus-covid-19-housing-eviction-crisis
“The rift between the United States and China threatens to become a chasm….
“This rapid descent into conflict has taken many by surprise. For most of this century, Sino-U.S. competition was moderated by the need to work together on a range of global economic, financial, and geopolitical issues that mandated cooperation.
“But these cooperative impulses have almost entirely disappeared…”
https://thediplomat.com/2020/07/the-us-china-cold-war-has-already-started/
“The deployment of three US nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to the South China Sea have further tested strained relations between China and the United States.
“The US naval exercises represent an enormous aggregation of firepower. Adding to tensions, the US deployment coincides with Chinese war games in the same vicinity.”
“The director of the FBI has said that acts of espionage and theft by China’s government pose the “greatest long-term threat” to the future of the US… He said China had begun targeting Chinese nationals living abroad, coercing their return, and was working to compromise US coronavirus research.
“”The stakes could not be higher,” Mr Wray said.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53329755
“For Melbourne business owners like Mary Gurry, the city’s return to stage three restrictions is nothing short of devastating…
“The Victorian Chamber of Commerce predicts that this six-week lockdown will spell the end for some businesses.”
“Sudan began loosening lockdown measures Wednesday in and around the capital after three months of tight restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic…
“The confinement measures have compounded Sudan’s economic crisis, characterised by galloping inflation and foreign currency shortages.”
“For many of those scavenging for goods in Lebanon, poverty is a new, and bitter, experience…
“As Lebanon entered a Covid-induced lockdown earlier this year, the destruction of the middle class remained largely out of sight, but now, as it reopens, there’s no escaping the dystopian scenes of desperation repeated across the country.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/08/middleeast/lebanon-economy-crisis-intl/index.html
“Hunger linked to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic could kill more people than the disease itself, Oxfam has warned…
“The bleak scenario is outlined in its report, The Hunger Virus, and equates to as many as 12,000 people dying per day.”
““D&B is currently forecasting that the global economy will contract by 5.2 per cent in 2020 – the biggest decline since the Second World War and a far stronger contraction than the 1.7 per cent recorded in 2009 during the global financial crisis,” the report said.”
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