“5 Charts showing how covid impacted the global economy in 2020: Many countries went into months of lockdown in 2020 in a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19, which reduced cross-border travel and accelerated job losses.
“Governments increased spending to cushion the economic damage, but are now left with a huge debt pile to reckon with in the coming years.
“Meanwhile, central banks around the world slashed interest rates and purchased more assets to inject more money into the financial system.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/28/5-charts-show-covid-impact-on-the-global-economy-in-2020.html
“15 Concerning Charts About The US Job Market:
“The current employment losses as a percent of peak employment is now back to the worst level seen during the Great Recession.”
“Covid Recession Hurting State And Local Budgets, And The US Economy:
“As President Trump golfs in Florida after disrupting the Congressionally-authorized Covid relief package, state and local budgets continue suffering from the Covid pandemic.”
“Debt and food bank queries on rise before pandemic hit [Scotland]:
“Queries over debt problems, food banks and problems with the Universal Credit benefit were increasing even before the coronavirus pandemic took effect, an annual analysis of data from Citizens Advice Scotland has revealed.”
“U.K. hit with worst recession in 300 years as country grapples with mutated COVID-19 strain:
“The world is making adjustments following a new strain of the coronavirus, spreading in the United Kingdom and beyond as the country’s government says it has entered its worst recession in 300 years. Christmas in London was effectively canceled, many residents felt.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/united-kingdom-worst-recession-300-years-mutated-covid-19-strain/
“Hedge funds’ £1bn bet on more UK retail misery: Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are biggest targets for short-sellers.
“Hedge funds have placed a £1 billion bet that there is more trouble in store for the nation’s retailers, despite 2020 having been the most miserable year for the British high street since the financial crisis more than a decade ago.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/hedge-funds-1bn-bet-on-more-retail-misery-chch65cvj
“£530bn Covid corporate debt mountain threatens UK’s economic recovery: Bank loans and overdrafts to businesses spiked to almost £530bn [in the UK] this year, threatening to undermine the economic recovery as companies struggle under the weight of debt.
“Firms borrowed hand over fist to survive the pandemic, making enthusiastic use of government-backed loans to stay afloat.”
“A debate is playing out in the German-speaking media about whether inflation or deflation was behind the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s…
“Hans Werner Sinn, a well-renowned economist and former chairman of the Ifo Institute for Economic Research claimed, ‘People lost their savings and life insurances which became worthless. Ten years later, Adolf Hitler became chancellor. I don’t say that something like that will happen again, but we need policies that prevent it from the outset. We need tighter budget limitations.’”
“Italy’s birth rate is expected to diminish further as the economic strife and uncertainty brought on by the pandemic exacerbate its demographic crisis.
“Italy registered 420,000 births in 2019 – the lowest rate since the country’s unification in 1861 – while deaths totalled 647,000.
“The birth rate could fall to around 408,000 this year, while coronavirus fatalities will drive total deaths beyond 700,000…”
“Covid-19’s $3 Trillion Price Tag Rocks Japan’s Economy:
“…Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s team capped off the last 12 months circulating a truly scary number: 106,610,000,000,000.
“That’s the size, in yen terms, of Tokyo’s annual budget for fiscal 2021.
“Tokyo consumer prices fell the fastest in more than a decade, while Japan’s jobs market and retail sales remained subdued, data has shown, raising the risks of a return to deflation as the COVID-19 pandemic hammers demand.”
“Japan’s industrial output growth stalled in November after rising for five months, underscoring the fragile nature of the global economic recovery due to a recent resurgence in COVID-19 infections…
““The recovery pace is slowing a little more than expected,” said Takumi Tsunoda, senior economist at Shinkin Central Bank Research Institute.”
“Chinese banks are expected to face headwinds raising funds next year as profit-conscious investors cling to the sidelines, expecting a wave of bad loans to hammer the sector and erode already slimming margins.
“The sector is ending its worst annual performance in years after putting aside record provisions due to COVID-19 while Beijing urged banks to sacrifice profits to help the economy.”
“Vietnam’s economic growth slowed this year to its weakest in at least three decades, buffeted by the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and a sluggish global economy, government data showed on Sunday.
“The economy expanded 2.91% this year after having posted gross domestic product growth above 7% for two consecutive years…”
“After a year marked by disasters, tragedies, the worst economic and financial crisis in the country’s history, and mounting health hazards posed by an alarming surge in coronavirus infections, the Lebanese must brace themselves for “challenging tsunamis” at various levels in 2021, including the threat of social unrest and security disturbances…”
“The congestion at the port in Lagos has become so bad that it can cost more than $4,000 to truck a container 20km to the Nigerian mainland these days, almost as much as it costs to ship one 12,000 nautical miles from China.
“A long-running crisis at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, the main commercial entry points into Africa’s largest economy, has been exacerbated by the pandemic-induced economic slump and recent unrest in Nigeria’s commercial capital. Dozens of ships idle at sea, while hundreds of trucks sit in traffic for days or weeks waiting to enter and exit the port.”
https://www.ft.com/content/a807f714-7542-4464-b359-b9bb35bdda10
“Coronavirus infections have barely touched many of the remote islands of the Pacific but the pandemic’s fallout has been enormous, disrupting the supply chain that brings crucial food imports and sending prices soaring as tourism wanes.
“With a food crisis looming, many governments have begun community initiatives to help alleviate shortages…”
“COVID-19 lockdowns have obliterated a US retail sector already struggling to survive before the coronavirus hit, which has in turn contributed to the collapse of the global garment trade and wreaked havoc for millions of workers…
“In March, as U.S. retailers canceled or failed to pay for existing orders worth billions of dollars, the effects quickly rippled down the supply chain.”
“Market Edges Toward Euphoria, Despite Pandemic’s Toll:
“Investors of all stripes piled into stocks this year, creating levels of froth reminiscent of the dot-com boom. Analysts say there’s room to go higher, but some worry about a bubble.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/26/business/investors-bull-market-pandemic.html
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with either a ‘Climate’ thread.
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