“How conflicts around the world are breeding our next pandemic… New breeds of drug-resistant bacteria are proliferating in war-torn parts of the globe — and spreading from the battlefield to hospitals and across borders…
“According to Arkadii Vodianyk, the World Health Organization’s AMR lead in Ukraine, the effect of that conflict on the spread of superbugs is already apparent. “The map — it looks terrible,” Vodianyk says. “We suspect the impact will be very big.””
“Little sign of Olympic truce as conflict rages around the world.
“The belief in sport as a unifying force for peace is as old as the Olympics themselves – as is the reality that the Games have never been free from external tensions [but] this summer’s Olympics will be playing out at a particularly fraught time…”
“Geopolitics overtakes inflation at top of sovereign wealth fund worry list.
“Geopolitical rivalries, including brewing trade battles between the United States and China, now trump inflation as the biggest worry for sovereign wealth funds and central banks managing some $22 trillion in assets, an Invesco survey published on Monday showed.”
“Bigger Debt Loads and Erratic Politics Are Haunting Bond Markets…
““Politicians will attempt to further delay the inevitable course correction,” said Christoph Rieger, the head of rates research at Commerzbank AG. “Some countries may test how far they can go until their debt ratio reaches a critical point.””
“Developing countries face worst debt crisis in history, study shows…
“Debt service is absorbing 41.5% of budget revenues, 41.6% of spending, and 8.4% of GDP on average across 144 developing countries, according to the study… pressures [are] greater than during both the Latin American debt crisis of 1982 and the debt crisis of the 1990s.”
“Hugh Hendry [Scottish hedge fund manager] warns: ‘The money system is dying’…
““Something is going to break,” says Hugh Hendry, “and it’s going to feel really, really scary and there’s going to be a big correction.” The famed former global macro hedge fund manager, in a discussion about the yen, raises the red flag on the money system of the world.”
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/video/hugh-hendry-warns-money-system-231316673.html
“The US debt crisis is terrible:
“Currently, every new dollar of US public debt generates just $0.58 of GDP… By comparison, in the 1960s this metric was as high as $9.80, and in 2000 it was $4.00, or 7 times above current levels. Over the last 4 years, US national debt has skyrocketed by $11.6 trillion while US added $6.6 trillion in GDP.”
https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1814678667353862162
“‘Recession pop’ is in: Why so many listeners are returning to music from darker economic times [US]…
“Even 2024′s viral TikTok hit, “I’m looking for a man in finance,” captures some of the feelings of frustration and financial vulnerability that are increasingly widespread. Economists have wrestled with the growing disconnect between how the economy is doing and how people feel about their financial standing.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/21/recession-pop-explained-how-music-collides-with-economic-trends.html
“[UK] Universities face cash ‘catastrophe’ with threat of mergers and course cuts. Academics plead for emergency bailout to save jobs.
“Universities are facing a financial crisis before the new academic year with an analysis finding that scores will have to cut courses, shut departments and put thousands of jobs at risk.”
“Five protesters and one police officer hurt in French reservoir demonstration. Violence erupts after about 4,000 gather in La Rochelle…
“Droughts in France have heightened tensions over water resources, and critics say building large reservoirs to feed agricultural irrigation is a wasteful practice that favours large farms.”
“France says multiple Olympic accreditation requests rejected over security fears.
“French security services rejected more than 4,000 applications for Paris 2024 Olympics accreditations, including over espionage and cyberattack concerns, according to the country’s interior ministry.”
“German authorities are under pressure to shut down a cultural hub in Berlin, which is accused of being a front for Russian spies and propaganda.
“The Russian House in Berlin features a cinema, a travel agency and a book shop and advertises itself as a meeting place for Russians.”
“Russia convicts US journalist of spying in a trial widely seen as politically motivated…
“Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted Friday of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security prison on charges that his employer and the U.S. government have rejected as fabricated.”
“American B-52 bombers intercepted near russian border in tense standoff.
“Russian media and the local Ministry of Defence report the scrambling of MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighters from the Russian Federation’s territory. The aircraft were said to have intercepted two American strategic bombers, B-52H, on Sunday, 21 July, as reported on the Bulgarian Military portal…”
“Western countries are currently engaged in active preparations for entering into a direct conflict with Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says…
“This, according to the Serbian leader, is because “Russia has a lot of oil, gas, phosphates, gold and silver, and everything they need.””
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/218169/West-preparing-for-direct-military-conflict-with-Russia
“China central bank cuts two key rates to support flagging economy…
“The one-year loan prime rate… was cut from 3.45 percent to 3.35 percent, having been last lowered in August. The five-year rate, the benchmark for mortgage loans, was reduced from 3.95 percent to 3.85 percent, following a trim in February. The two rates are at historic lows…”
“Bohai Bank to sell US$3.5 billion in loans to China’s bad banks in bid to shore up capital…
“China’s banks have been struggling with rising bad debt after a real estate market slump and as the economy struggles to regain momentum. Margins have also narrowed to record lows after lenders were called on by Beijing to help businesses and consumers with cheap loans.”
“A Chinese actor was enslaved in a compound running online scams.
“The United Nations estimated in a report last August that more than 200,000 people are being forced to work as scammers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. For Xu Bochun, left down and nearly out in Shanghai by pandemic layoffs, a month’s work as a movie extra in balmy southwest China sounded like easy money. It turned out to be anything but.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/22/myanmar-cyberscams-china-trafficking/
“South Korea warns North Korea will ‘pay a fatal price’ after new wave of trash balloons…
“South Korea has warned that North Korea will pay a “fatal price” after Pyongyang flew a new wave of trash-filled balloons across the border, as Seoul blared propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts for the fourth day in a row.”
“Weeks of escalating student protests over a quota reform for government jobs have spiraled into Bangladesh’s worst unrest in living memory with over a hundred deaths in the past few days.
“The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has imposed a nationwide curfew and deployed the military, following clashes between demonstrators and police during student protests.”
https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-sees-toughest-civil-unrest-in-decades/a-69720385
“Finally recognizing the Israeli opioid disaster…
“Incredibly, Israelis today are the largest consumers per capita in the world of opioids, and an untold number of them are addicted or have already died. No one knows the fatality figures here…”
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-811126
“Israel and Yemen braced for wider war after escalation of hostilities…
“Houthi-controlled areas were bracing for the prospect of regular missile, drone and aerial attacks on Sunday, after the first Israeli air strikes in Yemen since the war in Gaza started. Residents of Houthi-controlled Hodeidah woke up to palls of black smoke over their port city, while in Eilat, Israel, air-raid sirens sounded.”
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2024/07/21/israel-yemen-houthi-attacks/
“Hezbollah is prepared for a war – and is changing its tactics against Israel amid global alarm…
“Dozens of communities on both sides of the border are now shattered ghost towns. About 60,000 Israelis have fled their homes while an estimated 100,000 Lebanese have abandoned their villages.”
“Erdogan threatens to build naval base in Cyprus amid tensions…
“Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that his country was ready to build a Cyprus naval base “if necessary”, 50 years after Turkish forces invaded the now-divided island.”
“Türkiye pushes for diplomatic, economic influence in Africa…
“Türkiye grows its clout in international affairs while seeking to make new friends on the world stage. A recent high-profile visit to Niger by Turkish ministers and a new deal with Somalia for oil and gas exploration showcases Ankara’s rising ties in Africa.”
“Refugees fear for lives amid fighting in western Libya…
“An Eritrean refugee and an aid worker say that heavy fighting has put a Libyan detention center packed with refugees at risk as militias also use the center as an army barracks. The Eritrean refugee, who has been held in the detention center for about three years, told The Associated Press: “We are surrounded by war …airstrikes.””
https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsParis/358523.aspx
“‘We are all going to die.’ Refugees in Sudan appeal for safe passage as ‘foreigners’ ordered to leave Khartoum…
“With days left until a deadline set by the Sudanese army for “foreigners” to leave capital city Khartoum, refugees who already fled wars and dictatorships in other countries say they are not being granted safe passage…”
“With No Recovery in Sight, Lithium Prices Force Miners to Reevaluate Output…
“The price of the material that’s vital to the energy transition has plunged by around 80% since late 2022, and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence sees the current glut deepening through 2027.”
“The Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage shows the danger of monopolization…
“It’s not just that so many firms rely on CrowdStrike, but that cloud infrastructure relies on hugely powerful companies such as Microsoft, which then subject firms to exclusionary and anticompetitive practices that concentrate services and offerings into an increasingly narrow range of options.”
“Global IT outage shows dangers of cashless society, campaigners say…
“The Payment Choice Alliance, which campaigns against the move towards a cashless society, lists 23 firms and groups, at least some of whose outlets take only credit or debit cards. “There will always be outages,” said Ron Delnevo, the PCA’s chair. “But if there is no alternative, then the whole thing can collapse around you.””
You can read the previous “Economic” thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a ”Climate” thread.
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Hope your weekend visit went well, Justin…lots of hugs and memories.
Seems more and more debt…promises to be paid back are piling high upon the future from your posts.. something gotta give..
China to allow delayed retirement to combat population woes
By Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-allow-delayed-retirement-combat-population-woes-2024-07-22/
HONG KONG, July 22 (Reuters) – China will gradually raise its statutory retirement age, now among the world’s lowest, to allow people to work longer, as it struggles to relieve soaring pressure on pension budgets, with many provinces already facing deficits.
The reform is urgent, with life expectancy having risen in China to 78 years by 2021 from about 44 years in 1960, outstripping the United States, and is projected to exceed 80 years by 2050. Sunday’s announcement came in a key policy document that also rolled out plans to sharpen a strategy to combat a declining birth rate and an ageing population that fell for a second straight year in 2023, and is seen falling for decades.
National health authorities expect the cohort of those aged 60 and older to rise from 280 million to more than 400 million by 2035, or the equivalent of the entire current populations of Britain and the United States combine.
Of course, with inflation, the funny money won’t be so funny but will be worthless.
“Hope your weekend visit went well, Justin…lots of hugs and memories.”
Thank you, Vince. It was very pleasant. I was lucky enough to wander around gorgeous Inverary Castle on Saturday. The vaulting walls of the spectacular central hall, which boasts Scotland’s highest ceiling (21m / 69 feet), are decorated entirely with lethal weapons – swords, spears, guns etc. I found myself smiling wryly at that.
Re China, I imagine that older people lingering in their jobs for longer would exacerbate youth unemployment, but then there aren’t really painless economic remedies for demographic crises.
So many drums beating for war!
And funny how it suddenly becomes common knowledge that we are overdue for a “correction”. And since when has anyone dared to suggest what we got now ‘aint “correct”?
It literally feels like the book 1984. Someone inside the machine pushes a button and, just like that, the old narrative disappears into the waste incinerator and the new narrative seamlessly takes its place.
Some years ago someone posted a “funny” video that showed just how orchestrated our media really is. I forget the headline, but it was literally dozens of clips of talking hairdo’s reading the EXACT SAME WORDS on the TV news. Over and over and over again.
They tell us what to think, and when to think it.
Excellent comment. And what’s even weirder is so many people believe all of that.
Something is gonna break soon and it can’t be fixed again it will not be pretty at all.
Heather, agreed. Amazing how long the system can levitate for though.
On the “Give a Shit” scale about this species, 10 being the greatest value, I’m at minus 4.
I’m sick of 8 billion egos & the scum that can’t admit when they are wrong.
For full transparency – This morning I went to a dental appointment at 8:00 AM. They did not have an appointment for me so I scheduled a future appointment. When I got home I looked at the appointment card. What a dumb ass! The card was for a different appointment. Wow! That’s really stupid. All one has to do is think critically & look at both sides of a card to see what the reality is. That’s far beyond this species when it comes to their continued financial or physical existence. Someone is not going to get repaid in this wonderful capitalist system. There are no mistakes, only stupid actions. Put your brain in gear before you engage your ego.
My many experiences with stupidity & lack of ego gives me the ability to call anyone stupid when they are stupid. Hard to deny the power of “On the Job Training”.
Once again from “HEE HAW”; “That’s not stupid, that’s merely foolish.” 😉