“As a lethal pandemic, economic and physical insecurity, and violent conflict ravaged the world in 2020, democracy’s defenders sustained heavy new losses in their struggle against authoritarian foes, shifting the international balance in favor of tyranny.
“Incumbent leaders increasingly used force to crush opponents and settle scores, sometimes in the name of public health, while beleaguered activists—lacking effective international support—faced heavy jail sentences, torture, or murder in many settings.
“These withering blows marked the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom.”
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2021/democracy-under-siege
“Canada is talking again about whether most of the country is in a soon-to-burst real estate bubble.
“In Vancouver last month, the benchmark price for detached homes rose by 13.7 percent compared with a year earlier, reaching 1.6 million Canadian dollars. In the Toronto area, the average selling price for detached homes rose by 23.1 percent over the same time period, and a composite price that includes all kinds of housing topped 1 million dollars.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/world/canada/canada-housing-market-covid.html
“Swedish house prices soared to the highest level ever recorded, as a growing number of people make use of unprecedented central bank stimulus to upgrade into bigger homes.
““From a credit perspective, one can only conclude that the market has been gripped by hysteria, which is connected to central banks pumping money into the system,” said Carl Johan Lagercrantz, a portfolio manager at Strand Kapitalforvaltning AB in Stockholm.”
“The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has said that legal action is imminent over the UK’s move to unilaterally extend grace periods on Irish Sea border checks.
“Maroš Šefčovič told the Financial Times that “infringement proceedings” are being prepared.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56285874
“Disruption caused by Brexit took its toll on Anglo-French trade at the start of this year, mirroring declines in commercial activity between the UK and other large EU countries…
“Even though the UK and EU agreed a last-ditch trade deal to avoid tariffs on most goods which came into force on January 1, trade has still been disrupted by higher shipping costs, transportation delays, health certificate requirements and more complex customs requirements at the border.”
https://www.ft.com/content/5b8028a7-edaf-4488-8e96-3761ba8b015f
“Denmark to become first European nation to deport Syrian refugees..
“Denmark has decided to send 94 Syrian refugees to deportation camps and have determined that Damascus and its surrounding areas are now safe to inhabit.”
“Migrants on deadly sea crossing to Italy double:
“A dangerous cocktail of Covid-19, political chaos and resurgent people smuggling has doubled the number of migrants sailing from north Africa to Italy this year, with many more drowning.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/migrants-on-deadly-sea-crossing-to-italy-double-3mrnkzmz5
“‘Only we know what we’ve seen’: migrants re-enter US after Biden lifts Remain in Mexico…
“Nearly 25,000 people out of at least 70,000 who crossed the US-Mexico border and were sent back, under the policy known more formally as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), are now eligible to be reprocessed on the US side.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/05/us-immigration-biden-remain-in-mexico-asylum-seekers
“Venezuela to introduce 1-million-bolivar bill:
“The Central Bank of Venezuela’s new notes were launched as hyperinflation and US sanctions continue to cripple the economy of the oil-producing nation. As inflation skyrockets, the biggest bill is worth just 52 cents.”
https://www.dw.com/en/venezuela-to-introduce-1-million-bolivar-bill/a-56791252
“Militias, corruption and Covid: Rio de Janeiro’s deepening crisis:
“…Brazil is reeling from overlapping crises. The economy has barely grown for almost a decade, held back by the collapse of the commodities boom and persistent mismanagement. And that was before the coronavirus pandemic created both the health emergency and a deep recession”
https://www.ft.com/content/6dfd75c9-579e-445c-82af-2e7c3cb16f9a
“Paraguayans took to the streets once more on Saturday demanding the resignation of President Mario Abdo as the country faces a deepening economic crisis.
“Protesters expressed growing anger over Mr Abdo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but refused to be intimidated by police violence, including rubber bullets being fired at crowds on Friday evening.”
“Thai protesters defy ban on gatherings to demand leaders’ release: The youth-led protest movement that began last year has been reinvigorated by the arrests of prominent protest leaders…
““Release our friends,” shouted the protesters in unison on Saturday, as they gathered in front of a criminal court surrounded by barbed wire. A water cannon could be seen behind the gates of the court.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/6/hundreds-of-thai-protesters-rally-to-demand-leaders-release
“Tens of thousands of people came out in Myanmar on Sunday in one of the biggest days of protest against the coup, despite overnight raids by security forces in the main city, Yangon, on campaign leaders and opposition activists.
“Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in Lashio town in the country’s northern Shan region, according to live video posted on Facebook.”
“Senegal protests: The country is ‘on the verge of an apocalypse’: A top Senegalese official whose job is to settle conflicts has said the country is on a dangerous precipice after four days of protests left at least five young people dead.
“Alioune Badara Cissé, known as the mediator of the republic, urged the authorities to stop threats and intimidation against protesters.”
https://au.news.yahoo.com/senegal-protests-teenager-killed-clashes-121540279.html
“A combination of debt, mismanagement and the coronavirus pandemic could push Tunisian state-owned enterprises to bankruptcy. Tunisia’s state-owned firms are in dire straits…
“Economist Hakim Ben Hammouda has urged the government to “declare an economic state of emergency”.”
https://au.news.yahoo.com/tunisias-debt-laden-public-firms-033944930.html
“Thousands of Algerians demonstrated against the political and military elite in the capital Algiers and other cities across the country for a second successive Friday, as the United Nations human rights body voiced concern at what it called a crackdown on protesters.
“The demonstrations mark a resumption of the street protest movement calling for the old political establishment to depart…”
“Protesters paralyze Lebanon amid political, economic crisis:
“Protesters have closed all major roads leading to the Lebanese capital, causing traffic jams and triggering a call by the head of the hospitals union who warned that such moves are preventing oxygen supplies from reaching medical centers treating coronavirus patients.”
“As Greensill’s Top Client, Gupta [GFG Alliance] Sees Key Cash Source Evaporate…
“Prompted by concerns over the impact of the unraveling of Lex Greensill’s trade-finance firm, Spain’s government has asked a division of Gupta’s GFG to prove it’s solvent before the company will be allowed to push ahead with a takeover of an aluminum plant, according to people familiar with the matter.”
“Europe’s top banking regulator has asked the continent’s lenders for details of their exposure to stricken Greensill Capital and its key client GFG Alliance, as officials try to understand whether the crisis is contained, according to four people familiar with the matter…
“Supervisors at the European Central Bank have asked banks to provide details of outstanding loans to Greensill and GFG, which operates steel mills around the world…”
https://www.ft.com/content/68ea9df2-aa69-4a0b-9462-d3ed6491cee6
“European polymer prices hit record highs this week and are expected to continue to rise as the impact from an already-constrained supply chain was further enhanced by perfect-storm market shocks.”
“‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This’: Chaos Strikes Global Shipping: Off the coast of Los Angeles, more than two dozen container ships filled with exercise bikes, electronics and other highly sought imports have been idling for as long as two weeks.
“In Kansas City, farmers are struggling to ship soybeans to buyers in Asia. In China, furniture destined for North America piles up on factory floors. Around the planet, the pandemic has disrupted trade to an extraordinary degree…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/business/global-shipping.html
Financialization ad absurdum: “Critics are warning of a dangerous bubble as celebrities and speculators make millions on a type of art that doesn’t actually exist.
“Online-only artworks, accompanied by a digital authentication stamp called a NFT or “non-fungible token”, were selling for millions this week even though they could be easily shared or copied by anyone on the internet for free.”
“QE is a lobster pot: easy to get in, hard to get out unscathed: When central bankers manipulate interest rates to encourage or discourage borrowing and spending, they are knowingly distorting prices and behaviour in the financial markets. Conventionally, they have minimised their distortion of market signals by limiting themselves to affecting short-term and variable interest rates.
“But QE takes their distortion further out along the maturity “yield curve”, interfering with the market’s ability to decide how much more a saver should be paid for tying up their money for 10 years rather than one. When you move to negative interest rates, you rob pension and insurance funds of the ability to match their financial assets with their long-term liabilities.”
“World food prices rose for a ninth consecutive month in February, hitting their highest level since July 2014, led by jumps in sugar and vegetable oils, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.
“The Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 116.0 points last month versus a slightly revised 113.2 in January.”
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a ‘Climate’ thread.
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