“The economics of systems collapse… Economists in the mainstream have not even begun to understand the implications of ecological systems collapse…
“Rapid climate change is the best-known element in this new geological period, but massive biodiversity loss in what is likely to be the world’s sixth known mass extinction event is a major element. Worsening chaos and instability are not some passing crisis, but a fundamental reality for all of us from this point onwards.”
https://theecologist.org/2023/aug/02/economics-systems-collapse
“Factory activity around the world took a further turn for the worse in July, private surveys showed on Tuesday, a sign that slowing growth, inflationary pressures and weakness in China were taking a toll on the global economy.
“The downturn highlights the dilemma for policy-makers who embarked on aggressive tightening cycles in a battle to keep inflation at bay and yet also need to try and forestall potential recessions.”
“Oil Exploration Grows But Discovered Volumes Fall To New Lows.
“Spending on conventional oil and gas exploration is rebounding and expected to top $50 billion this year, the highest since 2019, but operators are still waiting for the results they had hoped for. Rystad Energy research shows that despite the rising investments, discovered volumes are falling to new lows.”
“The fuel that’s the engine of the global economy is surging again, as hot weather hampers diesel supplies in a market that’s still reeling from the loss of Russian exports.
“Diesel futures in Europe and the US are trading at highs not seen since January, accompanied by a jump in Asia.”
“A second wave of inflation could dash US rate cut hopes.
“The US could experience a second wave of inflation, perhaps starting as soon as the next Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to be reported, according to StoneX market strategist Vincent Deluard. Inflation could pick up to a 3.5% annual rate in July due to base effects and a rally in the oil price, now over $80 per barrel from under $70 earlier this year.”
“Fitch downgrades US debt on debt ceiling drama and Jan. 6 insurrection.
“Fitch Ratings downgraded its US debt rating on Tuesday from the highest AAA rating to AA+, citing “a steady deterioration in standards of governance.” The downgrade comes after lawmakers negotiated up until the last minute on a debt ceiling deal earlier this year…”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/01/business/fitch-downgrade-us-debt/index.html
“Heat Is Costing the U.S. Economy Billions in Lost Productivity.
“As much of the United States swelters under record heat, Amazon drivers and warehouse workers have gone on strike in part to protest working conditions that can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. On triple-digit days in Orlando, utility crews are postponing checks for gas leaks…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/climate/heat-labor-productivity-climate.html
“Extreme Heat and Aging Power Grids Are a Deadly Combination…
“Last week the largest US grid — serving 65 million customers from Washington, DC to Illinois — issued an emergency alert raising concern about its ability to maintain enough power reserves as people crank up their air conditioners. Fragility is commonplace across US energy infrastructure…”
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-extreme-heat-power-outage-electric-grid/#xj4y7vzkg
“New York struggles to shelter, process asylum-seekers amid heat.
“Knees to their chests, dozens of men from countries such as Venezuela, Mali, and Senegal sat on a dirty New York City sidewalk outside a Manhattan hotel Tuesday, awaiting asylum processing. Some had been there for days, in a line that wrapped around the block and that underlined the challenge facing thousands of migrants in New York.”
“Despite net zero emissions being a “global priority” in the fight against climate change, “not a single person in the [energy] supply chain believes the UK net zero targets will be achieved”, a report has found…
““Funding problems and project viability will only worsen with the current higher interest rates.””
“UK House Prices Fall Most Since 2009 as Borrowing Costs Rise…
“The first hard data about prices for the latest month indicate the 13 interest-rate increases from the Bank of England since the end of 2021 have strained the ability of consumers to pay more for properties. The market is now in its deepest slump since the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.”
“The appointment of US Federal Reserve ex-chairman, Ben Bernanke, to oversee a review of the Bank of England’s economic forecasting is “frankly humiliating”, R3 Mortgages founder and director, Riz Malik, has said.
“Malik suggested that this appears to be an admission by the BoE that they may have made mistakes and that they require assistance.”
“Protests erupt in Italy over cuts to poverty relief scheme.
“In Naples, trade unionists and far-left activists organised a rally outside the headquarters of welfare agency INPS, while in a small town in Sicily an unemployed man threatened to set the office of the mayor on fire. They are all set to lose the so-called “citizen wage”, a subsidy introduced in 2019…”
“Investment flows poised for historic shift after ‘giant leap’ by Bank of Japan.
“Analysts hail ‘de facto abolishment’ of Japanese government bonds cap… The shock decision, which the BoJ denied represented a policy change, was tantamount to calling time on a controversial, seven-year monetary experiment known as yield curve control that set Japan’s central bank far apart from global peers, analysts said.”
https://www.ft.com/content/40d9ea33-fb26-4fc1-96de-716d8de03773
“China’s currency regulators are asking some commercial banks to reduce or postpone their purchases of U.S. dollars in order to slow the yuan’s depreciation, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
“The informal instruction, or the so-called window guidance, is the latest in a series of steps taken by authorities this year to bolster a currency that has been hit by China’s faltering post-pandemic economic recovery and rising yields for the U.S. dollar and other major currencies.”
“Plunging sales of new homes and the reported cancellation of a share placement by China’s biggest property developer on Tuesday underscored the depth of the country’s real estate crisis.
“Reports that Country Garden had abruptly pulled an attempt to raise $300 million by issuing new shares in Hong Kong coincided with the release of data late Monday showing new home sales by China’s 100 biggest developers dropped by 33% in July from a year ago.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/01/economy/china-real-estate-country-garden-intl-hnk/index.html
“Authorities in Papua New Guinea have declared a 30-day state of emergency nationwide as of July 31 due to ongoing fuel shortages.
“Puma Energy earlier implemented fuel rationing measures July 19-22, restricting the distribution of fuel amid delayed payments for fuel by the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) due to foreign exchange shortages.”
“Sri Lanka struggles to irrigate rice paddies in South, avoid power cuts.
“Sri Lanka is struggling to provide water to rice paddies in Southern Sri Lanka at the tail end of the Yala minor cultivation season amid low water levels in a key reservoirs, officials said. The Samanalawewa reservoir is a key source of power for the Southern provincial grid…”
“Pakistan Faces Gas Crunch After Deciding Not to Buy Pricey LNG.
“Pakistan will not purchase costly liquefied natural gas shipments for early next year, a move that threatens further fuel shortages in the cash-strapped nation… While Pakistan last month won final approval for a $3 billion aid program to help ease the nation’s dire need for cash and rescue its economy, LNG suppliers are still wary of the country’s credit risk.”
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/pakistan-faces-gas-crunch-after-deciding-not-to-buy-pricey-lng-1.1953205
“Iran announces nationwide shutdown due to soaring heat.
“A two-day national holiday is due to start tomorrow as the health ministry put hospitals on high alert and warned the vulnerable to stay indoors. This year has already seen heat records broken across the world, with devastating consequences.”
https://news.sky.com/story/iran-announces-nationwide-shutdown-due-to-soaring-heat-12931849
“Saudi Arabia’s borrowing costs hit record high.
“Enormous growth in Saudi banks’ borrowing costs, triggered by successive interest rate rises in the US, will put the Crown Prince’s projects under new pressure as the kingdom grapples with a dramatic economic slowdown. MBS is channelling hundreds of billions of dollars into projects such as the $500bn Neom region, which will feature a ski resort and a 170-kilometer linear city, consisting of two vast, parallel mirrored buildings.”
“Disabled survivors of Beirut port blast long for support, justice.
“People hurt or disabled by the catastrophic explosion told AFP that Lebanon, bankrupt and politically paralysed, has failed to deliver adequate medical care, financial support or justice. “The state forgot about us,” said the soft-spoken Salameh…”
“Lebanon clashes: Thousands flee violence at Palestinian refugee camp.
“The UN says more than 2,000 people have been forced to flee violence between rival factions at a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. The clashes between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement and Islamist groups left 11 people dead, the UN says.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-66354364
“Migrants between life and death in Tunisia-Libya desert.
“…hundreds of migrants [are] arriving daily in Libya after being abandoned in the desert borderland by Tunisian security forces, according to Libyan border guards and the migrants themselves. By the time they reach Libya, the migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are ready to drop from exhaustion…”
“Four Nigerians, rescued in Brazil, survived 14 days on a ship’s rudder.
“On their tenth day at sea, the four Nigerian stowaways crossing the Atlantic in a tiny space above the rudder of a cargo ship ran out of food and drink… Their remarkable, death-defying journey across some 5,600 kilometers (3,500 miles) of ocean underlines the risks some migrants are prepared to take for a shot at a better life.”
“South America is bracing itself for the impact of El Niño, with flooding and droughts intensified by climate change forecast to deliver a $300bn hit to growth for the region’s economies…
“South America, which is dependent on agricultural exports and already vulnerable to rising temperatures, is particularly exposed to the extreme weather that El Niño cycles can bring.”
https://www.ft.com/content/49c62a3d-b49f-4e49-ae7c-6223a44f132f
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
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So let me get this right we cant make the ipcc targets so they probably need to be extended or the temperatures need to be increased. Zero carbon fantasy isn’t possible either. The all electric green economy cant work due to the grid being too old. Ai will not be possible due to the large amounts of water and energy needed. Meanwhile we have 1/1000 flood events happening everyday and this will more than likely increase. Flash droughts and severe drying is also going on. Musk wants to go to mars to find little green martians to save us but he can’t get his extra duty rocket off the launch pad without blowing it up. It appears we will be on pace to go well beyond 4C by end of the decade but lets not be debbie downers. But who needs science or facts to keep civilization running.
How about a possible correction in the first link?
8,000,000,000 plus Clever Apes, ” have not even begun to understand the implications of ecological systems collapse…” & their participation in Anthroprogenic Global Warming nor the consequences of the stupidity pandemic that has gone global.