“When JPMorganChase reported earnings in mid-July, CEO Jamie Dimon quipped: “This is not a normal recession… the recessionary part of this you’re going to see down the road.” This observation is spot on.
“…while small businesses are closing at Armageddon rates and large business bankruptcies are skyrocketing, the real recessionary pain has yet to be felt. Mr. Dimon was referring to the time when the helicopter money is no longer forthcoming, when production levels reflect all of the business failures, and when the unemployed aren’t receiving more [stimulus] income than they had been earning in their now defunct jobs.”
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the proposal a “tailored and targeted” plan focused on getting children back to school and employees back to work and protecting corporations from lawsuits
“…while slashing the expiring supplemental unemployment benefits of $600 a week by two-thirds.”
“With millions of Americans set to lose $600 a week in extra federal unemployment benefits — an economic lifeline during the pandemic — many thousands have yet to receive that money.
“State unemployment agencies have been so swamped with claims that more than $100 billion of benefits owed still haven’t been paid…”
“The number of people claiming unemployment benefits per job vacancy in Britain has increased fivefold since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an employment thinktank.
“The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) said approximately eight people are claiming benefits support for every job opening, up from 1.5 people per job before the crisis began in March.”
“France’s unemployment rate rose 24.5% in the second quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s Ministry of Labour said Monday.
“A total of 4.149 million job seekers in metropolitan France registered in the second quarter with Pole emploi, a French governmental agency which logs unemployed people.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/frances-jobless-rate-rises-sharply-in-2q-2020-07-27
“Families across Europe are being put off traveling by the fear of contracting coronavirus, a lack of money as a result of being furloughed or laid-off altogether, and onerous quarantine rules.
“Hoteliers and restaurant owners across the Mediterranean are lamenting the absence of foreign visitors and glumly contemplating the loss of billions of pounds’ worth of revenue.”
“Spain’s tourism sector risks losing more than 40 billion euros during this summer, due to the Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19)…
“Last week, 10,220 persons in Spain tested positive for the COVID-19, while the town of Totana, Murcia has been shut after 55 persons were infected at a pub.”
“Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 15.33% in the quarter from 14.41% in the first quarter of 2020…
“Tens of thousands of firms in Spain have signed up for a temporary program by which the government partially subsidizes workers wages to avoid job losses. These workers aren’t included in the unemployment figures.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/spain-jobless-level-hits-153-in-second-quarter-2020-07-28
“The Turkish lira slumped towards a record low against the euro as investors’ long-running concerns over monetary policy in Turkey…
“The decline in the lira demonstrates that despite an aggressive effort by the central bank to keep the lira supported against the dollar, the currency remains under pressure.”
https://www.ft.com/content/4eac90b5-e49c-49e9-aa29-bb018d858e65
“Eid al-Adha shopping market gloomy amid soaring inflation, pandemic in Turkey’s Istanbul.”
Photos:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-07/27/c_139244363_2.htm
“Is this the beginning of an Israeli Spring?
“…The sense that the country was crumbling and Netanyahu just didn’t care also became contagious.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/27/is-this-beginning-an-israeli-spring/
“Unprecedented unemployment and the resultant financial crisis is pushing many Israelis to sell sperm to local sperm banks, the Times of Israel reported on Saturday. Sperm banks have reported a 300 per cent increase in donations.
“Donors apparently include soldiers who have been demobilised as well as students, many of whom were laid off from work or put on unpaid leave.”
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200727-israelis-sell-sperm-during-unemployment-crisis/
“Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the Lebanese government’s issuer rating to C, its lowest grade…
“Facing its worst financial crisis since the country’s independence in 1943, Lebanon defaulted on $31 billion in eurobonds in March and then turned to the International Monetary Fund in May for a $10bn bailout package.
“With IMF negotiations stalled, the economy has deteriorated further. The currency, pegged to the dollar since 1997, has plunged more than 80 per cent.”
“Clashes between Iraqi protesters and security forces in central Baghdad killed at least two demonstrators overnight, security and medical sources said on Monday.
“It was the first such deadly incident in months at Tahrir Square, which became a symbol of anti-government protests during months-long mass unrest last year.”
“Rubber bullets and teargas have been used against protesters along the N1 highway near Joostenberg Vlakte [Cape Town, South Africa].
“This after the group Gatvol Capetonian called on communities across the city to block roads and bring the city to a standstill on Monday morning.
“Gatvol Capetonian was hoping to disrupt the lives of citizens to highlight the plight of communities in relation to various issues, including housing, job opportunities and poor service delivery.”
https://ewn.co.za/2020/07/27/cape-protests-rubber-bullets-teargas-used
“Almost a quarter of the population of Sudan are going hungry as conflict, rising food prices and the coronavirus take their toll. About 9.6 million people now face severe food shortages, the highest number recorded in the country’s recent history.”
“The world is gearing up for a battle over developing-country debt like few it has seen before. Rich and poor countries are at loggerheads with private investors that, over the past decade, replaced governments as the biggest creditors to emerging markets…
“”Even before the crisis, a lot of countries were facing a lot of debt pressures,” said Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of the IMF’s African Department, “And you now have this really massive and all-encompassing shock.””
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1958507/covids-next-economic-crisis-developing-nation-debt
“Asian airlines carried only 724,000 international passengers in June, a 98% slump from a year earlier, as restrictions on movement suppressed air travel, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said…
“”“The industry is in a perilous condition… Airlines in the Asia Pacific region are rapidly depleting cash reserves and incurring massive losses.””
“The long-term returns of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC have dropped within a whisker of a record low struck during the financial crisis, and its chief executive cautioned on Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic would weigh on performance…
“Even before the coronavirus struck, Lim said, investors were grappling with risks such as high indebtedness at companies, policy constraints and stretched valuations.”
“The world stands on the cusp of its third financial slump in a quarter of a century, as the cash unleashed by central banks is insufficient to stem the shrinking consumption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said the former official who steered Hong Kong’s capital markets through the previous crises…
““I fear that the third financial crisis may be on the horizon,” Jospeh Yam said…”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/next-global-financial-crisis-looms-093000445.html
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