“Real estate prices around the world are flashing the kind of bubble warnings that haven’t been seen since the run up to the 2008 financial crisis, according to Bloomberg Economics.
“New Zealand, Canada and Sweden rank as the world’s frothiest housing markets, based on the key indicators used in the Bloomberg Economics dashboard. The U.K. and the U.S. are also near the top of the risk rankings.”
“‘Extremely cruel move:’ US Jobless workers brace for early end to unemployment benefits in 25 states…
“On Saturday, the $380 in weekly jobless benefits Robyn Gregorieff and her husband had depended on for basic needs is getting slashed by 79%, leaving the couple with just $80 a week to live on.”
https://money.yahoo.com/jobless-workers-brace-for-early-end-to-unemployment-benefits-133105068.html
“US food banks brace for demand as Republicans end unemployment benefits…
“Food insecurity among Americans surged during the coronavirus pandemic and has remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.”
“Americans Hoarded ‘Mattress Money’ to Survive During Pandemic… People prefer keeping cash ready at hand when perceived risks are high…
“This is hoarding. Mattress money. This is our defense and survival mechanism that tells us that we need to hoard food and wood and stay in the cave,” Geller says in an interview.”
“Secretive ‘prepping’ community growing amid pandemic, racial unrest…
“Cyber attacks, nuclear warfare, civil unrest, hurricanes and snowstorms. These are just a few of the catastrophes survivalists across North Carolina are preparing for.”
https://www.wral.com/secretive-prepping-community-growing-amid-pandemic-racial-unrest/19723456/
“The Pandemic Supercharged the [US] Corporate Debt Boom… Stressed companies piled on debt as interest rates plummeted, but could face a reckoning in the next economic downturn…
“Nonfinancial companies issued $1.7 trillion of bonds in the U.S. last year, nearly $600 billion more than the previous high, according to Dealogic.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pandemic-supercharged-corporate-debt-boom-record-11623681511
“Mall owner Washington Prime Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday, aiming to slash $950 million in debt, hand ownership to creditors and weather the lingering financial challenges facing commercial property landlords.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/mall-owner-washington-prime-group-files-for-bankruptcy-11623668786
“UK Army ‘must help get food to shops’: Lorry driver shortage after Brexit and Covid sparks calls for military to be put on standby to deliver groceries…
“Pub and restaurant chains are also not getting the fresh produce deliveries they expect… there are fears the situation might affect tanker deliveries of fuel to petrol stations.”
“No lights, no camera: UK TV producers face equipment shortage.
“Britain’s high-end film and television producers are facing a shortage of cameras and other key equipment as the industry struggles to keep up with unprecedented demand for new shows caused by lockdown-induced drama binges.”
“European Central Bank tensions over how and when to discuss ending its emergency bond-buying program are starting to bubble over into the public domain…
“ECB officials pledged last week to continue bond-buying at a faster pace through the third quarter, even as staff raised their forecasts for the region’s economy.”
“Debt burden increases as Europe extends corporate life support…
“When the tsunami hits, regulators are afraid that banks aren’t ready. Andrea Enria, head of banking oversight at the European Central Bank, warned that about 40% of eurozone banks are not properly aware of loans that are unlikely to be repaid.
“Despite the obvious risks, many are actually lowering the probability of defaulting on new loans.”
https://texasnewstoday.com/debt-burden-increases-as-europe-extends-corporate-life-support/313506/
“Spanish Public Debt At An All-Time High: Eur 1.39 Trillion…
“According to data from the Bank of Spain, the debt of Spanish public administrations as a whole rose in Q1 2021 to 1.392,733 trillion euros, a record high [and] 125.3% of GDP…”
“Emerging market economies face higher interest rates as inflation jumps…
“Emerging market economies may find it more difficult to refinance debt as countries look to raise interest rates to tackle higher inflation, the Institute of International Finance said.”
“‘Debt is Africa’s biggest problem’…
“Africa must devise sustainable strategies to avert contracting new and odious debts, so as to free up more resources for investment in critical areas such as healthcare, the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) has said.”
https://southerntimesafrica.com/debt-is-africas-biggest-problem/
“Hyperinflation has hit the prices of food items and household products across Nigeria, countrywide findings by Nigerian Tribune have shown.
“The development has effectively pushed many Nigerians into poverty as they find it extremely difficult to feed and meet their other daily obligations.”
https://tribuneonlineng.com/food-prices-soar-push-more-nigerians-into-poverty/
“Decade-high food prices hit Asian consumers and businesses…
“The impact of the soaring prices of agricultural staples from wheat to vegetable oils to sugar over the past few months is now hitting consumers and businesses in Asia.”
“Medical bills and debt are bankrupting Indians already ravaged by Covid.
“Roughly two-thirds of Indians don’t have any health insurance. Overcrowded govt hospitals & poor facilities prompt them to spend out of pocket for better treatment in private hospitals.”
“Lebanon is bleeding, its children left to die… Hospitals warn that chronic medical shortages will force them to halt elementary lifesaving procedures such as kidney dialysis: “We have to call a million pharmacies just to find one or two needles,” said one dialysis physician.
“Hospitals are canceling operations. Laboratories are running out of testing kits.”
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1875436
“How bad are global shipping snafus? Home Depot contracted its own container ship as a safeguard…
“Home Depot has reserved its own ship, bought merchandise on the spot market and flown in power tools as it copes with supply chain headaches.”
“The National Retail Federation is calling on the White House to address the logjam at US ports that is snarling commerce as the economy swiftly recovers from the pandemic.
“”The supply chain disruption issues, especially the congestion affecting our key maritime ports, are causing significant challenges for America’s retailers,” Matthew Shay, the NRF’s president and CEO, wrote…”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/14/business/retailers-port-congestion/index.html
“Disruption to shipping could delay Christmas orders…
“Disruption in the global container shipping industry shows no sign of being resolved quickly and could lead to shortages in the run-up to Christmas, say industry experts.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57446437
“Zombies Are on the March in Post-Covid Markets… Bankruptcies have tumbled as central banks’ crisis response keeps weak companies alive. It’s a debased form of capitalism that saps vitality…
“…investors in relatively risky bonds are making a bet on a potent and enduring dose of financial repression, in which central banks keep propping up markets, and effectively force everyone to lend to the government, and to companies, at otherwise uneconomic rates.”
“Why the internet is just one domino away from collapse… After large swathes of the internet went down last week, experts warn that even larger outages could be on the horizon…
““We tend to forget that the fact that the internet works on a day-to-day basis is close to a miracle,” says Corinne Cath-Speth, an anthropologist at the Oxford Internet Institute…”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2021/06/12/internet-just-one-domino-away-collapse/
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a ‘Climate’ thread.
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