“Central banks will have to slash rates as the world’s fiscal bubble bursts… The main prop of global economic recovery is wobbling. The world economy has been kept afloat for a quarter century by serial bubbles. Each has masked the weakness of underlying growth.
“As successive bubbles pop, the economy fails to self-correct by the normal process of the business cycle. It takes ever more monetary stimulus to right the ship…
“Today we are in the final phase of the great fiscal boom… The ECB and then the Fed will have to carry out a violent policy pivot, slash rates, and ultimately mop up debt with fresh QE. Almost nobody in the markets is prepared for that surprise.”
“Central banks’ trillion-dollar problem… Bloated balance sheets need to come down without endangering financial stability.
“…the trillion-dollar problem facing central banks is how to shrink their footprint without sparking ructions.”
https://www.ft.com/content/98cfe9c2-d7de-4825-8d8c-508b309c142f
“US and China’s joint climate plan leaves key questions unanswered…
“The joint plan also is notable in what it lacks… There are no specific emissions cuts laid out in this generic framework, nor is there any firm commitment to phase out fossil fuels, which is a major priority for activists and some countries at the UN’s climate summit, known as Cop28, starting in Dubai in two weeks’ time.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/15/us-china-climate-plan-analysis
“China’s state planner urges coal miners to expand production…
“National Reform and Development Commission (NDRC) spokesperson Li Chao said in a press conference that the NDRC would strengthen coal production monitoring and encourage local governments and companies to expand coal output.”
“China home prices fell the most in eight years in October, signaling the property slump is worsening even after the government ramped up efforts to revive demand…
“The drop adds to evidence of a persistent housing downturn… Fresh stimulus measures rolled out at major cities since August have done little to turn around the sector.”
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/china-housing-gloom-worsens-as-prices-fall-most-in-eight-years-1.1999282
“U.S. renewable, grid battery projects battle transformer shortage.
“U.S. developers building renewable energy projects and power storage for grids are scrambling to procure critical components, leading to rising costs and project delays. Supply chain problems have tightened supply of high-voltage transformers necessary to connect wind and solar farms and batteries to the grid, projects that are key to the energy transition.”
“Hydrogen Fuel Is Gaining Traction With Truckers [US]…
“California is requiring that beginning Jan. 1, new trucks calling at the state’s seaports be zero-emission vehicles. The state is also requiring that a growing share of truck sales and fleets in the state run on clean fuels, with a goal of phasing out diesel big rigs over the next two decades.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hydrogen-fuel-is-gaining-traction-with-truckers-20fca3e3
“The UK Energy Secretary is poised to approve a landmark hydrogen heating trial in a north Yorkshire town despite growing local protests.
“It is understood Claire Coutinho is “minded to approve” the scheme in Redcar, with an announcement expected in weeks. Government support for the project will pave the way for Northern Gas Networks (NGN) to start supplying up to 2,000 homes with hydrogen.”
“Vandals have targeted the delivery of wind turbine blades to a development in the Scottish Borders… It led to the cancellation of a delivery planned for Tuesday…
“The firm has faced criticism for the disruption caused by the slow-moving convoys… The scheme was originally refused by Scottish Borders Council due to its “unacceptable impacts” on the nearby Penchrise Pen fort.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-67425557
“UK to offer higher subsidies for offshore windfarms after crisis talks…
“Ministers have agreed to raise the starting price of the government’s next auction for offshore wind subsidies by around two-thirds to £73 per megawatt hour to help more offshore windfarm projects to move ahead despite higher costs.”
“Germany to back €20 billion bid to build hydrogen pipe network…
““We are moving forward to solve the chicken-and-egg problem, namely first the infrastructure and then the ramp-up, and then to organise it accordingly,” explained Thomas Gößmann, head of the board of Germany’s gas transmission grid operators FNB, who spoke alongside Habeck.”
“Germany’s hydrogen ramp-up is slowing soon after it kicked off…
““The discrepancy between planned projects and final investment decisions is far too great,” said Patrick Lammers, EON’s board member in charge of customer solutions. “We need instruments to speed up the hydrogen ramp-up.””
“The German government has ordered a freeze on all payments from its centrepiece climate transformation fund, after the country’s top court ruled €60bn allocated to it was illegal.
“Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government was left scrambling to contain the economic and political fallout… admitting that the ruling had thrown its energy and climate policy plans for years ahead into disarray.”
https://www.ft.com/content/e36830bf-0fb4-4878-944c-0bf9088478d2
“‘Feminisation of poverty’: France’s cost-of-living crisis is hitting women hardest…
“Poverty is worsening in France and women and children are the main victims, the charity Secours Catholique has warned in its annual report, highlighting the burden of inflation, childcare and entrenched gender inequality on single women and mothers.”
“European Commission cuts its 2023 growth forecast to 0.6%… Latest downgrade comes amid rising expectations of stagnation in the coming quarters…
“Finding ways to kick-start the EU’s moribund economy and falling global competitiveness has become the commission’s most pressing task, as growth remains tepid despite a €800bn stimulus programme rolled out across the bloc.”
https://www.ft.com/content/f0858e34-a5e7-4ddf-8537-edf5aab7b7ce
“Russia’s Key Economic Sectors Shrug Off Sanctions…
“The rebound illustrates the limits of the sanctions that US President Joe Biden said were designed to cut Russia’s economy in half and turn the ruble into “rubble” as punishment for the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.”
“Loan sharks taking advantage of desperate Australians amid cost-of-living crisis, Asic warns…
“The chair of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, Joe Longo, recently told a parliamentary inquiry that lenders were targeting people unable to access mainstream credit, which offered lower fees and rates.”
“A shirt for rice: bartering to survive in inflation-battered Argentina.
“An old T-shirt for a handful of rice or some eggs: ever more Argentines are relying on barter to survive in a fast-worsening economy dominating the debate ahead of presidential elections Sunday… In and around the teeming Argentine capital, it is an increasingly common sight for people to knock on doors asking for second-hand clothes to wear, barter or sell.”
https://www.enca.com/opinion/shirt-rice-bartering-survive-inflation-battered-argentina
“Peru adds cabinet crisis to economic recession.
“A new chapter in Peru’s seemingly constant political crisis is affecting President Dina Boluarte’s cabinet, which has lost two ministers in the past 10 days, just as the economy has entered into a recession.”
https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/peru-adds-cabinet-crisis-to-economic-recession
“Mexico building rail rival as water shortages drain Panama Canal.
“At Mexico’s narrowest point, between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the government is building a railway to rival the Panama Canal, with promises of economic bounty but amid fears of environmental and social harm.”
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2023/11/16/mexico-rail-rival-panama-canal/
“Gas-Supply Cliff Is South Africa’s Next Crisis, Energy Body Says.
“South Africa’s supply of natural gas is set to plunge within the next three to four years and there’s a risk of a shortfall triggering the country’s next economic crisis, the head of an industry body warned… The country is also seeing a decline in the amount of gasoline and diesel it can refine as its processing plants close…”
“Malawi deploying army, intelligence operatives to enforce currency trading rule after 44% devaluation…
“Fearing steep price increases and worse poverty, Malawians responded angrily to the November 9 devaluation of the kwacha and are planning protests. The government increased fuel and electricity prices a day later.”
“UN warns that food aid running out for Sudanese refugees in Chad.
“Food aid for more than half a million refugees who have fled from Sudan to Chad will run out next month without extra funding, a World Food Programme official said on Wednesday. “By December, there will be no assistance,” Pierre Honnorat, Chad country director for the U.N. agency, told Reuters.”
“Tanzania’s Threat to Expel Burundians Sets a Dangerous Precedent.
“John, a Burundian living in Tanzania’s Nyarugusu refugee camp, is the embodiment of the instability that more than 100,000 other Burundian refugees are facing as the Tanzanian government renews threats to forcibly repatriate Burundian refugees if they do not return “voluntarily.””
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/15/tanzania-burundi-refugees-forced-repatriation/
“Israeli lawmakers urge the West to accept refugees from Gaza, in WSJ op-ed…
“Since much of the infrastructure and homes in Gaza have been destroyed, as a result of the war, the two lawmakers urged European Union states to consider taking in Gazans who wish to flee the war-torn coastal enclave in a similar fashion as the large number of Syrian refugees in 2015.”
https://allisrael.com/israeli-lawmakers-urge-the-west-to-accept-refugees-from-gaza-in-wsj-op-ed
“UN Human Rights Chief ‘alarmed’ by reported abuse of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
“United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said he is “alarmed” by reports that Afghan refugees are being abused in Pakistan as the country carries out its policy of forced mass deportation… According to the UN, more than 327,000 refugees have been repatriated to Afghanistan from Pakistan.”
“Indonesia faces new refugee crisis as Rohingya boat pushed back to sea.
“The situation appeared more volatile than in previous years, with refugees and residents shouting at each other, and refugees clinging to each other in an effort to avoid being marched into the water. The people of Aceh have previously welcomed refugees…”
“N. Korean state security officials tell farmers to hand over rice in exchange for government-supplied corn…
““MSS officials are able to receive corn rations, but farmers are barely able to secure even one to two months’ worth of food rations in exchange for their back-breaking work. Yet, these security officials take advantage of their higher social standing to swap out their corn for rice while the farmers who shed their blood, sweat, and tears laboring away in the fields aren’t even able to eat a proper meal with rice.”
“A hospital in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, has been evacuated by police after nearby gang violence.
“More than 100 patients – nearly half of them children – had to be removed from the Fontaine Hospital Center, according to its director Jose Ulysse… Haiti is currently in the grip of unprecedented levels of lawlessness.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-67435216
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a “Climate” thread.
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Inflation is falling, but Americans are still paying an extra $680 a month due to high prices
High inflation still costing Americans an extra $680 a month compared with 2 years ago
The consumer is ‘stressed,’ but inflation is ‘coming down,’ analyst says
Federated Hermes chief equity strategist Phil Orlando on the Fed’s rate hikes being ‘over,’ the holiday retail outlook and remaining Q3 earnings.
Inflation may be cooling, but the average American is still shelling out a lot more money for everyday necessities.
The typical U.S. household needed to pay $205 more a month in October to purchase the same goods and services it did one year ago because of still-high inflation, according to new calculations from Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.
Americans are paying on average $680 more each month compared with the same time two years ago.
But when compared with January 2021, shortly before the inflation crisis began, prices remain up a stunning 17.62%.
Inflation has created severe financial pressures for most U.S. households, which are forced to pay more for everyday necessities like food and rent. The burden is disproportionately borne by low-income Americans, whose already-stretched paychecks are heavily impacted by price fluctuations.
I feel it ain’t going to get any better…though I am grateful…others are far worse off reading here like in Argentina…as OFW Gail likes to write..
Ain’t enough to go around….at least for the common folks, that is!
The very rich are doing very comfy and are blind ..their net worth keeps increasing…how could it not be otherwise?
What is with all this hydrogen stuff? I thought it was a net energy loser. Someone please chime in.
Kali, its light, slippery molecules make transport, storage and distribution an expensive headache. Potentially dangerous, too:
“Hydrogen possesses the NFPA 704’s highest rating of 4 on the flammability scale because it is flammable when mixed even in small amounts with ordinary air; ignition can occur at a volumetric ratio of hydrogen to air as low as 4% due to the oxygen in the air and the simplicity and chemical properties of the reaction.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_safety
Thanks! Seems like accidents waiting to happen.
I seemed to recall Alice Friedemann covering the topic. I tracked down one of several articles she has written on hydrogen:
“Hydrogen is the dumbest, most ridiculous energy alternative. It is insanely far from being renewable with the highest negative energy return of any alternative, because far more energy is used than you ever get back to split the hydrogen from natural gas or electrolyze it from water, compress or liquefy it, construct incredibly expensive and short-lived steel containers and pipelines, and deliver the hydrogen to non-existent hydrogen fuel cell heavy-duty trucks, locomotives, and ships.”
https://energyskeptic.com/2022/hydrogen-production-would-use-waaaaaaaaay-too-much-water/
MINING All the Metals We Mined in One VisualizationPublished 2 days ago on November 15, 2023
By Bruno Venditti Graphics/Design: Joyce Ma
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/all-the-metals-we-mined-in-one-visualization-2022/
The above infographic visualizes all 2.8 billion tonnes of metals mined in 2022 and highlights each metal’s largest end-use using data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Iron Ore Dominance
Iron ore dominates the metals mining landscape, comprising 93% of the total mined. In 2022, 2.6 billion tonnes of iron ore were mined, containing about 1.6 billion tonnes of iron.
Metal/Ore Quantity Mined in 2022 (tonnes) % of Total
Iron ore 2,600,000,000 93.3%
Industrial metals 185,111,835 6.6%
Technology and Precious Metals 1,500,008 0.05%
Total 2,786,611,843 100%
Mind boggling the vast tonnage of mass that is ripped from the Earth and converted into some usable form for what is a small part of humans that are in so called advanced countries.
Remarkable it is taking place on this scale without much concern for the long term….but renewables will save us.
We’ve been busy – and for a while:
“The earliest known mine for a specific mineral is coal from southern Africa, appearing worked 40,000 to 20,000 years ago. But, mining did not become a significant industry until more advanced civilizations developed 10,000 to 7,000 years ago.”
https://www.earthsystems.com/history-mining/
Thanks Justin…agree…one reason of many for the Roman Empires decline was the mines were played out with the energy source available to them. Actually, Emperor Trajan
Conquered Dacia for it’s gold mines.
But with the industrial revolution it really allowed us to hit pay dirt …
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-HlRHr8XkyQ&t=5s&pp=ygUQTmF0ZSBoYWdhbiBzaW1vbg%3D%3D
Well, this commenter on that video thinks we have plenty! 🤪
@eclipsenow5431
7 months ago
Total and utter rubbish! Memorise this next phrase: “ALL RENEWABLES CAN BE MADE FROM SUPER-ABUNDANT MATERIALS and RECYCLED INDEFINITELY!” Simon is only partially correct – sometimes renewables and batteries DO use rare earth’s for a specific performance boost – but this is usually a more expensive niche market. Michaux just cherry-picks the expensive rare earth brands and ignores all the ‘plainer’ brands.
EG: 95% of Solar brands use silicon – which is 27% of the Earth’s crust.
Wind is made from iron (5%), aluminium (8%) and fibreglass (renewable glass fibres and renewable polyester resins).
Half of Tesla’s batteries are LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate). The USGS reserves from 2022 show we have TEN TIMES the lithium we need for a world of 1.4 billion LPF EV’s.
Riiight. If we just mine and recycle enough materials the biosphere will be restored to health, the climate to stability and we will all live happily ever after.
Howl are we going recycling plastics?
how to save the world
Links of the Month: November 2023
Posted on November 13, 2023 by Dave Pollard
https://howtosavetheworld.ca/2023/11/13/links-of-the-month-november-2023/
I was surprised that the world mines 4.5 million tons of lead. It made me wonder about something which also surprised me. I wondered if people employeed in lead mines suffer from negative health effects as a result of their job. I am surprised that I neve asked myself that question before since negative health effects from lead exposure are so well known. And I am not talking about lead from bullets.
I found this,
https://www.worstpolluted.org/projects_reports/display/84#:~:text=Health%20Effects&text=Acute%20lead%20poisoning%20can%20happen,but%20constant%2C%20exposure%20to%20lead.
Possible production cuts from OPEC?
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/OPEC-Said-To-Consider-Additional-1-Million-Bpd-Output-Cut.html
Capitalism has been a beautiful scam.
This is a reprint from a comment that I made on Collapseofindustrialcivilization:
It is getting reported in the Main Stream Cinema that OPEC is considering reducing output due to low prices caused by low demand caused by a slowing global economy cause by a rise in interest rates caused by massive government and private debt globally due especially to the Corona Virus pandemic assistance payments if I can follow the story through all of the smoke and mirrors.
I myself can not prove that the MSM narrative is false. But I suspect that it is. More specifically I suspect that there has been some sort of inversion of cause and effect