“Across the world, protests have erupted due to a variety of reasons, including many demonstrations intended to voice opposition to national policy or change in government…
““There has been an increase in protests, both here in the US and around the world,” said Shanna Kirschner, assistant professor and chair of the political science department…
“Kirschner thinks that the world is currently in a wave of protests that are driven by inequality, political discontent and climate and environmental grievances.
““People were more likely to show up to protests unrelated to the pandemic if they had been experiencing economic hardship,” Kirschner said. “Because they are just mad, they want to go protest.””
[Worth remembering that there was a huge uptick in civil unrest *before* the pandemic in 2019 with 47 jurisdictions around the world experiencing large-scale protests.]
https://alleghenycampus.com/19540/international-2/wave-of-global-protests-why-now/
“New applications for US unemployment benefits saw little improvement last week, according to official data Thursday, ticking up slightly and remaining at worrying levels more than 11 months into the Covid-19 pandemic…
“”An ongoing high level of layoffs and a large deficit in payrolls indicate conditions in the labor market remain weak,” said Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics.”
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/us-jobless-claims-data-points-143352217.html
“US policymakers lose faith in official unemployment rate: Decline in labour force participation during pandemic means headline number is too rosy…
““Published unemployment rates during Covid have dramatically understated the deterioration in the labour market,” Jay Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, said during a speech last month…”
https://www.ft.com/content/10c3d7aa-8b92-42d0-97f7-e2090561fc42
“U.S. worker productivity fell at its sharpest pace in nearly 40 years in the fourth quarter, the government confirmed on Thursday…”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/04/us-productivity-q4-2020.html
“Congress looks poised to extend another $15bn in aid to beleaguered US airlines — a reprieve for employees, but one that raises questions about the industry’s final destination…
“US passenger traffic remains at a third of 2019 levels and the International Air Transport Association forecasts a full recovery globally only in 2024. It is unclear when big US airlines will be able to support their current payrolls without subsidies.”
https://www.ft.com/content/8a086032-0d1b-414b-9ac9-a4f33e849ca9
“The Texas electricity market faces “insurmountable distress” as more gas and service bills come due, power industry officials said on Thursday at a hearing into financial fallout from the state’s February blackout…
““The market is facing a financial crisis and it’s a very severe financial crisis,” Catherine Webking, executive director of an industry lobby group told state lawmakers at a hearing in Austin on Thursday.”
“New York City rents have fallen more last year than they did during the Great Recession across all boroughs, driven by the pandemic, according to StreetEasy’s November 2020 Market Reports. And 2021 will also be a “long road to recovery.”
“The report notes that Manhattan rents dropped the most out of the three boroughs analyzed — falling a whopping 12.7% year over year.”
https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/new-york-city-rent-falls-great-recession-covid/
“‘God help us if interest rates go up’: Never has a [UK] Chancellor spent so generously to preserve jobs and commerce, now the figures are frightening…
“As an economic journalist who has been writing on budgets for more decades than I care to remember, I have never seen the tectonic plates of the national finances move so dramatically and on such a scale as in the latest forecasts.”
“The UK car industry has had its worst February for sales since 1959 as dealerships across the UK remained closed through national lockdowns.
“British consumers bought only 51,300 cars in the month, a 35.5% year-on-year decline, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).”
“For the first time ever the debt of eurozone countries will this year likely become equal to their combined wealth, the EU’s economy chief said on Wednesday.
“The 100% debt-to-GDP ratio will be the legacy of the huge borrowing undertaken to cushion the impact of the coronavirus lockdowns.”
“The rapid unraveling of Greensill Capital has brought global financial turmoil to small-town Germany once again, and this time the first victim is the municipality of Monheim am Rhein.
“The town of about 40,000 just north of Cologne may lose the 38 million euros ($46 million) deposited at Greensill Bank, the lending arm of Lex Greensill’s trade-finance conglomerate, according to a spokesman for the municipality…
“The episode is already serving up echoes of the financial crisis more than a decade ago when local German lenders suffered losses in complex U.S. sub-prime mortgage securities created far from their door.”
“Global financier Greensill Capital has moved closer to a collapse that could cost tens of thousands of jobs in businesses in Europe, the US and Australia, after a court released papers that cast doubt on its insurance of A$10bn (£5.55bn) of loans issued to its customers.”
“Electric vehicle (EV) bubble may have burst… Tesla Inc has entered bear market territory.”
https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/news-and-analysis/electric-vehicle-ev-bubble-may-have-burst
“Industrial metals plunged on Thursday as a collapse in nickel prices and a jittery mood among investors on wider markets combined to drag down copper by almost 5%.”
https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/nickel-collapse-triggers-slide-across-industrial-metals
“By Warren Buffett’s criteria, current stock prices are their most overvalued at least since World War II.
“The seemingly relentless rise of the stock market coincides with central-bank balance sheets that have continued to balloon since the Great Financial Crisis. While the major central banks generally do not target stock-market levels directly, a goal of their policies has been to push financial markets towards riskier investments, which, of course, include stocks.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/03/the-mother-of-all-stock-market-bubbles/
“‘The pandemic ripped a hole in an already deflating bubble’… Central bankers’ ability to deal with the consequences of their actions has been severely diminished, according to Sanjeev Lakhanpal, partner at systematic fund manager Wimmer Horizon…
“He argues that all this bad behaviour – spending without producing, borrowing without any savings – will soon come home to roost.”
“From lawnmowers to refrigerators, there are supply chain problems at companies all around the world…
“COVID has slammed the brakes on everything, from steel and aluminum production, to electronic control boards.”
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/03/04/massachusetts-supply-chain-problems-covid-19/
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here. I’ll be back over the weekend with a ‘Climate’ thread.
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