No mention of energy/resource-constraints or environmental limits but FWIW:
“Eight months after the novel coronavirus burst out of Wuhan, China, it has created unprecedented economic and social disruption, with economies cratering across the globe and more destruction to come…
“The pandemic, which is mild as the great plagues of history go, demonstrates that the complexity of this global civilization has become a source of new vulnerabilities. And with the legitimacy of many institutions resting on their ability to solve problems quickly and effectively, Covid-19 challenges political leaders and institutions in ways that they cannot easily manage.
“The world needs to get used to that feeling. The pandemic’s legacy will be crisis and chaos…”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pandemic-is-a-dress-rehearsal-11596495140
“With federal unemployment benefits ended Friday and no deal in sight, some of the 32 million unemployed Americans are resorting to food banks for the first time in their life…
“Over 11 percent of US households were food insecure at least some time during the year in 2018, the most recently available figure. It’s a number that has certainly risen during the pandemic.”
“One Utah congressman says the prospect of the United States taking itself down amid political, racial and economic divisiveness is greater than any threat coming from another nation.
““I worry a lot that we may destroy ourselves, that we may commit national suicide in a way,” Republican Rep. Chris Stewart said Monday.”
“Airline executives and labor unions are pushing for billions of dollars in additional federal coronavirus aid as the threat of layoffs this fall looms for employees and Congress debates a new aid package to help the country to weather the pandemic…
“…executives have warned that demand growth stalled…”
“The Federal Reserve and other central banks are heading for a collision with shadow lenders — the firms with a sinister nickname that are increasingly dominating global finance…
“Global regulators contend that it’s shadow banks where the stresses showed up in March, with hedge funds dumping U.S. Treasury securities and bank loan funds and some money market funds hemorrhaging deposits. That led to wild swings in asset prices, forcing central banks to pump liquidity into markets.”
https://www.pionline.com/markets/fed-headed-clash-hedge-funds-other-shadow-banks
“The British government has urged medicine suppliers to prepare for the country’s exit from the EU single market and customs union on Dec. 31 by building up six weeks’ worth of stocks in case of disruption to imports…
““We recognise that global supply chains are under significant pressure, exacerbated by recent events with COVID-19,” the health ministry said in a letter to medicine suppliers which it published on Monday.”
“Italy enjoyed oversized purchases of its government debt by the European Central Bank in June and July, standing out as the main beneficiary of ECB efforts to support the virus-stricken euro zone economy, data showed on Monday…
“Italy went into this crisis with already high public debt and meagre economic growth.”
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/italy-enjoys-oversized-ecb-support-152034216.html
“Analysts are warning that a wave of corporate debt defaults driven by Covid-19 has yet to wash across Europe.
“Moody’s said it expects the corporate debt default rate in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea) to reach 6.2% in 12 months – the highest level since the financial crisis – from 2.8% now.”
“Lebanon’s foreign minister resigned on Monday, blaming the government for failing to act to address a financial crisis he said threatened to turn the country into a failed state.
“…in my country there are many bosses and contradictory interests,” Nassif Hitti said in a statement. “If they don’t unite in the interest of the Lebanese people…
“…then the ship, God forbid, will sink with everyone on board.””
“As temperatures soar to record levels this summer — reaching 52 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in Baghdad last week — Iraq’s power supply has fallen short of demand yet again, creating a spark for renewed anti-government protests.
“Iraq has imposed a strict lockdown and 24-hour curfew.”
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/08/04/business/ap-ml-iraq-electricity-woes-.html
“China’s economy appears to have rebounded sharply from the coronavirus outbreak after an historic contraction. But many people are still unemployed.
“Jobseekers have been encouraged to become street vendors…”
“Despite avoiding the need to enact the lockdowns that have significantly impacted economies in Europe and the United States, South Korea has not been able to avoid a COVID-19 induced recession.”
https://thediplomat.com/2020/08/covid-19-pushes-south-korea-into-recession/
“The number of people fleeing from North Korea is increasing again and homeless children begging for money are seen even near Pyongyang amid protracted sanctions and the coronavirus lockdown.
“According to a source on Monday, North Koreans are gripped by fears of a severer famine than in the 1990s.”
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/08/04/2020080402078.html
“As Victoria’s Covid-19 outbreak threatens to spiral out of control and beyond its borders, Australia faces another pandemic-related crisis.
“We are sailing into a food shortage and few are talking about it.”
“One of the biggest problems for Australia is that unlike previous recessions we did not enter this one with a strong economy.
“The stores of economic success were already depleted after six years of flat household income growth and thus we have had a bust without any boom.”
“A Dunedin travel agent is warning if his industry were to collapse it could leave billions of dollars of New Zealanders’ refunds stuck overseas.
“Brooker Travel Group and helloworld managing director Andrew Carmody said the wider New Zealand travel agent industry was trying to recoup about $2.6 billion worth of refunds from cancelled trips.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12353430
“The pandemic is still wreaking havoc and stimulus is running out before the rebound reaches self-sustaining “escape velocity”. Cliff edges are approaching: furlough payments for workers are being cut; and loan guarantees for firms will expire, as will moratoria on corporate layoffs.
““We’re going to hit a crunch in September and October,” said David Owen from Jefferies.“
“The coronavirus pandemic is worsening the humanitarian situation in the world’s deadliest conflicts and threatens to unleash economic devastation that will intensify violence, United Nations diplomats and experts warn…
“”There’s a very high level of concern that its economic impact is going to spark more disorder, more conflict,” said New York-based UN expert Richard Gowan.”
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here and visit my Patreon page here.
