“Two measures of corporate and economic health were flashing red on Friday as shipping group Maersk reported a fall in global demand for sea containers and advertising giant WPP said clients in the U.S. tech sector were slashing their marketing spend.
“A.P. Moller-Maersk lowered its estimate for global container trade this year as companies reduce inventories and higher interest rates and recession risks in Europe and the United States drag on global economic growth.
“The company, one of the world’s biggest container shippers, said it expects container volumes to fall by as much as 4%. It had previously forecast a decline of no more than 2.5%.”
https://www.reuters.com/markets/two-measures-corporate-health-flash-red-2023-08-04
“Is A Debt Crisis The Next Economic Shock?
“…one prediction for the second half of this year is that we will hear more about debt sustainability – which I define as the ability of companies, households or governments to meet their debt payment obligations… Another deepening of an existing theme to watch for the remainder of 2023 is the tension between democracy and populism.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeosullivan/2023/08/05/is-a-debt-crisis-the-next-economic-shock/
“The fact that the Bank of Japan must intervene to mitigate the rising cost of debt caused by a marginal shift in interest rates starkly underscores the enormity of the current debt problem.
“Let there be no doubt: this situation is not exclusive to Japan. The Fed, ECB, BOE, PBOC, and others are on the brink of confronting the very same predicament.”
https://twitter.com/TaviCosta/status/1687807575256088576
“US Debt Rating Downgrade May Drive Up Interest Rates.
“…the change could have potentially serious consequences for the United States and the broader global economy. This is because debt issued by the U.S. Treasury is a global benchmark for interest rates and has long been considered one of the safest — if not the safest — interest-bearing investment in the world.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-debt-rating-downgrade-may-drive-up-interest-rates-/7212454.html
“The Fed may have saved the economy by hiking rates for 18 months—and may have guaranteed crisis for emerging markets.
“Many emerging economies rely on the dollar for trade, and most borrow in the U.S. dollar – all at rates influenced by the Federal Reserve. And when U.S. interest rates go up, many countries – and especially developing ones – tend to follow suit. This is largely out of concern for currency depreciation.”
“America’s Truckers, Cargo Pilots and Package Carriers Are Fed Up.
“Surging demands on transportation workers are fueling labor standoffs at companies critical to U.S. supply chains… The renewed activism comes on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic, when demands on train operators, package carriers, and truckers surged to handle a deluge of business.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-truckers-cargo-pilots-and-package-carriers-are-fed-up-1543bfee
“Trucking Firm That Got $700 Million U.S. Bailout Declares Bankruptcy.
“A pandemic-era lifeline that the Trump administration predicted would turn a profit for the federal government failed to keep Yellow afloat. The trucking industry has been under pressure over the last year from rising interest rates and higher fuel costs, which it has struggled to pass on to shippers.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/business/yellow-trucking-bankruptcy.html
“Echoes of Australia’s Gas Ban Will Ring Across Four Continents…
“A region that still supplies about 40% of the country’s east-coast gas market is running dry, and reforms to encourage more production (introduced in 2021 by the same premier now presenting himself as a climate campaigner) have failed to inspire viable projects. Victoria’s gas ban is best understood as an incremental way to start addressing that looming shortage.”
“UK offshore wind at ‘tipping point’ as funding crisis threatens industry.
“Britain faces being left with no hope of meeting its crucial climate crisis goals and losing its status as a world leader in offshore wind energy without an urgent overhaul of government support, ministers are being warned.”
“Siemens Energy CEO on $2.4 billion wind turbine hit: We were ‘going too fast’ with new products…
“In June, Siemens Energy scrapped its profit forecast and warned that costly failures at wind turbine subsidiary Siemens Gamesa could drag on for years… The Siemens Gamesa board is currently undergoing a review of the quality issues, which some analysts have suggested could turn out to be pervasive across the industry.”
“Is Germany’s great economy sinking into ‘slowcession’?
“…Carsten Brzeski, global head of macroeconomics at the Dutch bank ING, describes the German economy as being “stuck in the twilight zone between stagnation and recession”. It was May when the country’s economy was confirmed as being in recession. Revised official figures showed its performance was worse than originally thought…”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/06/is-germanys-great-economy-sinking-into-slowcession
“Germany’s industrial output fell for a second consecutive month in June, figures published on Monday show, with a drop of 1.5% far wider than the previous month’s slip of 0.1%.
“The German Economy Ministry warned that high energy prices and interest rates had taken their toll, despite rising demand.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/germany-factory-output-plunges-amid-economic-gloom/ar-AA1eTe8Z
“The eurozone’s custodians have set a course for the biggest policy-inflicted blow since the currency was created.
“The combination of higher interest rates and renewed restraint in government spending is threatening to strangle expansion and raise the risk of a nasty recession. The delayed pain from hikes in borrowing costs that began last year will crescendo in 2024…”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/euro-masters-set-economy-painful-040009072.html
“China’s exports likely contracted further in July, imports downturn seen slowing.
“China’s exports likely contracted further in July, as manufacturers in the world’s second-largest economy struggled for buyers in markets grappling with high inflation and rising interest rates, a Reuters poll showed on Monday.”
“China can no longer ‘extend and pretend’ on municipal debt…
“Local governments are fundamental to China’s economy, with Beijing tasking provincial and city officials with meeting ambitious growth targets. But after years of over-investment in infrastructure, plummeting returns from land sales and soaring COVID costs, economists say debt-laden municipalities now represent a major risk to China’s economy.”
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/china-can-no-longer-extend-pretend-municipal-debt-2023-08-06/
“China’s economic losses from natural disasters surge to billions, adding more pressure to struggling economy.
“A magnitude-5.5 earthquake has struck eastern China as rain continued to pelt the north-eastern regions in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri, adding more pressure to the country’s struggle to recover its economy from the COVID pandemic.”
“India: Tensions escalate between Hindu and Christian communities after surge in deadly violence.
“The remote northeastern state of Manipur has been engulfed by ethnic clashes since May. The conflict between the majority Meitei community that live in the valley and the tribal Kuki population that inhabit the hills has claimed more than 140 lives and left 60,000 homeless.”
“As many as 141 people have been arrested and 55 FIRs registered in connection with the violence and rioting at Haryana’s Nuh district on Monday, the police informed on Friday…
“Earlier, on Monday, violence erupted between two groups during a religious procession. Two homeguards were shot dead and about a dozen policemen were injured during the violence.”
“Pakistan’s Imran Khan sentenced to three years in prison, arrested…
“The 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician was accused of misusing his premiership from 2018 to 2022 to buy and sell gifts in state possession that were received during visits abroad and worth more than 140 million Pakistani rupees ($497,500).”
“Pakistan’s Textile Crisis: Economic Woes Leave Industry in Tatters…
“Pakistan’s industrial manufacturing sector — like elsewhere in the world — has suffered from the slowdown in global consumption and the rise in energy costs following the outbreak of war in Ukraine. But the difficulties of the textile sector, which accounts for 60 percent of Pakistan’s exports, are compounded by the critical state of the economy and months of political chaos.”
“Saudi City of Future Enlists Dutch Help to Grow Crops in Desert…
“Food security is a priority for the planners of Neom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s $500 billion showpiece project to turn an expanse of desert the size of Belgium into a high-tech region that may eventually host millions of people. The urgency has only grown since the global pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the fragility of supply chains and highlighted risks to food security in the Middle East.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/saudi-city-future-enlists-dutch-040000528.html
“Saboteurs bomb Iraqi power grid as temperatures surpass 50 degrees Celsius.
“An explosive device targeted an energy transmission tower in Iraq’s Diyala Province on 4 August, Shafaq News reported. According to a security source, the explosion occurred in the Mouradia area, approximately 15 kilometers southwest of Baquba.”
“Despite Hamas’ crackdown, Gaza protests continue in rare defiance…
“Years of successive crises in the besieged Gaza Strip have seemingly reached a boiling point, with Gazans erupting in anger against the Hamas movement in the last two weeks. Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets last Sunday and again this Friday.”
“Ethiopia’s government Friday declared a state of emergency in Amhara, resulting from ongoing clashes between military and local Fano militiamen. This came in the form of a press release issued by the office of the prime minister, Abiy Ahmed.
“The press release outlined a recent Council of Ministers resolution. It noted that the Amhara region is unable to quell what was described as illegal action being taken by armed forces.”
“Sudan Raises Fuel Prices Amidst Unrest.
“The Sudanese Ministry of Energy and Oil announced raising the prices of benzene and gasoline in the country, according to international fuel prices, amid a continued fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.”
https://see.news/sudan-raises-fuel-prices-amidst-unrest
“Tunisia: New shortage of subsidized bread…
“At the root of this complex, multi-factorial shortage are low cereal production against a backdrop of severe drought, and malfunctions in flour supply circuits, as pointed out by connoisseurs of the Tunisian economy. As a result, the disruption in durum wheat supplies has led to a shortage of semolina…”
https://northafricapost.com/70163-tunisia-new-shortage-of-subsidized-bread.html
“Heat derails some grain cars on Moldova train headed to Ukraine river port.
“Six grain wagons in a 61-car train headed for a Ukrainian river port derailed in Moldova on Saturday as extreme heat weakened the rails, the country’s railway system said. “The preliminary cause of the accident is the extremely high temperature, which caused the rails to lose their strength,” the Moldovan railway said in a statement.”
“Global food commodity prices rose for the first time in months [led by wheat and oil], as trade disruptions of grain and extreme weather fuel supply concerns worldwide…
“Against a global backdrop of rising food prices, several countries recently announced restrictions or a ban on rice exports to ensure the supply in the domestic market, such as India, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Russia.”
“30 Countries with Lowest Life Expectancy in the World [poor Chad, pictured, ranks lowest of all]…
“To determine the countries with the lowest life expectancy in the world, we headed over to a United Nations report on life expectancy at birth for 2021 and 2020 by country, the latest years on file. We then calculated the rank of each country for each year, and apportioned 70% to its 2021 rank and 30% to 2020, as the latest year is more relevant.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/30-countries-lowest-life-expectancy-135956376.html
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
If you found value in this content, please help me continue this work by becoming a patron of my work via Patreon. And if you are already a subscriber or have donated – thank you! It is an enormous help as the cost-of-living crisis ratchets up here in the UK.
The last little piece on the continued colonial immiseration of the continental home of humanity should gladden the minds of the right-wingers here.
Keep them suffering, kill them by any means necessary, steal any and all mineral and biotic resources the lands of Africa possess, and you will be doing the legacy of Churchill et al proud.
Way to go, boys! You’re really sticking it to the “globalists” now!
From the Post article: “Economies have a choice of whether to build their energy infrastructure around a fickle, finite geological resource or the limitless bounty provided by renewable technologies.”
Limitless bounty!!! 😂🤣🤦🏻♀️🤯
Yeah, I don’t think so.
I was incorrect once again recently, my apologies to everyone. I opined that one cannot really understand the subtleties of an entire nation simply by visiting a random city for a few days. Apparently, if the observer is astute enough, it can be done.
https://indi.ca/the-body-horror-of-the-highway/
I luxuriate in the heart of the empire while taking full advantage of my white privilege as I always have. At the same time, I cannot miss the fact that something is missing or wrong and cant help but weep for the exploited people and ecosystems that are destroyed to maintain it.
Lou, your article made me think of the ever more pertinent Chris Rea song, “The Road to Hell”:
Well I’m standing by the river
But the water doesn’t flow
It boils with every poison you can think of
And I’m underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows
And the perverted fear of violence
Chokes the smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bell
This ain’t no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to hell
And all the roads jam up with credit
And there’s nothing you can do
It’s all just bits of paper flying away from you
Oh look out world, take a good look
What comes down here
You must learn this lesson fast and learn it well
This ain’t no upwardly mobile freeway
Oh no, this is the road
Said this is the road
This is the road to hell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcW-BSEB3ng
The high inflation is a real thing and it’s visible in local events. I went to a wine festival this weekend and there another event at the same time. I thought it would be really busy it wasn’t. I do not think people have the disposable income anymore between paying for gas, groceries and mortgage everyone is broke. Thinking we can reset this economy to another one with no resources is insane on its face. I expect to hear more insanity for solutions when there are none left as we spiral into a more severe collapse.
“I went to a wine festival this weekend…” I trust you got pleasantly squiffy, Heather. 😎
Ordinarily, the tourist season here in the Hebrides would be an interesting barometer of domestic and international consumer confidence but ongoing problems with the ferry services have meant that people have been unable to book in advance, which has skewed figures. All I can say with confidence is that it is not as busy as last year.
Just saw a sign in a UK protest: “The masses have nothing to lose,be afraid!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK68yyrKUOA