“As the United States struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic and attendant economic disruption, another problem may be looming – murder rates have risen in many of America’s largest cities.
“Murders are up by double-digit percentages in cities across America, including New York, Philadelphia and Chicago…”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/12/us-stats-latest-pandemic-economic-crisis
“Three of 10 Americans who lost work during the coronavirus pandemic said they may have trouble paying for food or housing after a $600-per-week enhanced unemployment payment expired last month, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday…
“The poll was conducted amid a surge of coronavirus cases in many states and as the Nov. 3 presidential and congressional elections draw closer.”
“New York is the worst state in the United States for its economic outlook, according to a ranking compiled by a conservative think tank…
“The authors said high taxation and regulation plus poor growth hampered NY. They also noted that many people are fleeing New York for other states.”
“Britain is officially in its deepest recession since records began following the unprecedented economic shutdown in response to the coronavirus crisis…
“…as Rishi Sunak looks to wind down the scheme by October it risks pitching people out of work just as the economy is beginning its recovery.”
“The plunge in French unemployment to 7.1% — the lowest rate since 1983 — conceals the start of what is set to be a prolonged labor market crisis in the euro area’s second largest economy.
“A measure of people who wish to work but are not counted as unemployed because they were unable to look for a job in confinement — the so-called halo around unemployment — rose to a record of more than 2.5 million.”
“South Africa is in a “debt-trap twilight zone” that will cause of the cost of borrowing over 30 years to sharply steepen in the next year over that of 10-year debt, according to the country’s biggest independent fixed-income investor.
“A collapse in tax revenue because of the impact of a coronavirus-related lockdown has exacerbated surging debt levels…”
“Islamabad will send its army chief to Saudi Arabia this weekend to try to resolve a growing diplomatic spat in which Riyadh is demanding Pakistan’s early repayment of a $3bn loan…
“The dispute between the two longtime allies is putting pressure on the fragile external finances of the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan and pushing Pakistan further into the arms of its other traditional ally, Beijing.”
https://www.ft.com/content/49d24c4b-345e-492b-8a8f-c1a550173ee1
“It’s not a good sign for any economy when debt collectors are booming and in China right now, the industry is on a hiring spree…
“China is the midst of “an unfolding debt crisis”, says Joe Zhang, a business consultant and until last month vice chairman at the country’s largest debt collector YX Asset Recovery.”
“The Philippines is poised to plunge to its deepest slump on record this year as consumers remained too wary to go out and spend with the pandemic still beyond government control, analysts said on Wednesday…
““We just saw very bad figures on GDP led by domestic demand, which used to be our main driver,” he added.”
“The cost of fruit and vegetables could surge by 60 per cent as the impact of coronavirus border closures threatens to throttle Australia’s food supply chain.
“The country is facing a shortage of 71,000 workers to pick fruit as travel restrictions force backpackers to return home…”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8620135/Why-cost-fruit-vegetables-set-soar-SIXTY-cent.html
“As Latin America continues to battle the coronavirus outbreak, some economies in the region could see a “record-breaking contraction” not seen since World War II, according to investment bank Goldman Sachs.
“Latin America and the Caribbean have become a new global epicenter of the pandemic…”
“Crisis-wracked Venezuela’s yearly inflation rate rose to over 4,000 percent in July, the opposition-controlled parliament said on Wednesday.
“Inflation over the last 12 months dipped to 3,500 percent in June from almost 3,700 percent the previous month, but it is back on the increase.”
https://www.rfi.fr/en/wires/20200812-venezuela-inflation-accelerating-parliament-says
“A new risk to global supply chains is emerging as exhausted seafarers stuck offshore for months halt work, a breaking point caused by restrictions on crew changes amid coronavirus precautions…
““The Covid-19 pandemic has made crew changes extremely difficult, and we’re starting to see fleet inefficiencies emerge,” Braemar ACM Shipbroking Ltd. said in a report…”
“The IEA has lowered its oil demand projections for the first time in several months, saying that the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic “has plateaued in many regions”…
“…this reflects “stalling of mobility as the number of Covid-19 cases remains high, and weakness in the aviation sector.””
“In 2008, the world had a big problem because of too much debt. Since then, the debt has skyrocketed everywhere, even in India and China. Ten years ago China had virtually no debt. Now they have got a lot of debt. Everywhere does.
“The next time we have a problem and we are having it now, it is going to be the worst in my lifetime. It is a simple statement. The debt is much, much, much higher now. It has to be worse… The next [crisis] is going to be horrible.”
“Like banks in the 2008 financial crisis, Facebook and other tech giants are “too big to fail”, according to research from Oxford University that calls for new regulations to protect users, and society, in the event of a possible collapse…
““The demise of a global online communication platform such as Facebook could have catastrophic social and economic consequences for innumerable communities that rely on the platform on a daily basis,” Öhman and Aggarwal write…”
“Tourism has been the fragile pillar on which thousands of wildlife conservation projects stood for decades, helping to protect wild, trafficked and refugee animals, restore vital habitats and educate the public about sustainability.
“When that pillar crumbled overnight amid global travel bans, the system collapsed.”
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/wildlife-conservation-struggles-pandemic-scn/index.html
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here and visit my Patreon page here.
