The shortage of computer chips that chip-maker Intel had expected to end next year now will extend into 2024 as manufacturers scramble to add equipment and boost production, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger told The Wall Street Journal. “We have seen that equipment shortages are really impeding the ability of the industry to ramp supply at...
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RUSSIA CUTS INTEREST RATE, MAKES BOND PAYMENT IN DOLLARS
On 29 April, Russia’s central bank trimmed its key interest rate for the second time during that month, dropping it from 17 percent to 14 percent. The bank had doubled its rate to 20 percent to defend the ruble after Russia attacked Ukraine and Western countries froze half the bank’s foreign exchange assets. The bank...
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EUROPE MUST ACT NOW TO SECURE METALS, REPORT WARNS
To fulfill its announced plan to shift to carbon-neutral energy by 2050, Europe will need 35 times more lithium, up to 26 times more rare earth metals, twice as much nickel, and 35 percent more copper than it uses today, a new study warned. Russia is a major exporter of minerals. After Russia attacked Ukraine,...
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RUSSIA ENDS GAS EXPORTS TO POLAND, BULGARIA. GERMANY AND ITALY ARE NEXT
Last week, state-controlled Gazprom, Russia’s largest natural gas company, cut off deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland because the two countries failed to pay for the gas in rubles, Russia’s national currency. Russia had previously warned that “unfriendly” nations would be required to pay for their gas supplies in rubles, which Ursula von der Leyen, president...
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TOP TREND 2022: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES: MORE COUNTRIES LINING UP
Together, Russia and Ukraine ship a disproportionate share of the world’s barley, corn, wheat, vegetable oils. Russia also is a key supplier of nickel, pig iron, and fossil fuels. Those exports have now slowed to a trickle and, in some cases, ceased entirely. Ukraine has cut exports of cattle, oats, sunflower oil, and wheat to...
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TOP 2022 TREND, DRAGFLATION: GLOBAL ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWS
During this year’s first quarter, the U.S. economy shrank 1.4 percent and the European Union’s economy grew 0.2 percent compared to 0.3 percent in 2021’s final three months. (See related story in this issue.) Spain’s GDP expanded 0.3 percent, a fraction of the 2.2 percent it saw in last year’s fourth quarter. In France, the...
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FLEEING FROM URBAN COUNTIES SPEEDS UP
More than two-thirds of U.S. counties with an urban center and a population of 250,000 or more lost population last year for the first time in 50 years, according to federal data analyzed by the bipartisan Economic Innovation Group. Eighty percent of exurban counties—those lying outside suburbs but not far enough out to be “rural”—gained...
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DURABLE GOODS ORDERS GAINED IN MARCH
U.S. orders for durable goods posted a 0.8-percent gain in March, reaching $275 billion. Durable goods are items intended to last at least three years, such as cars, washing machines, and lawn mowers. Demand for cars and electronics propelled the increase, notching the fifth month of gains out of the past six. New orders for...
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ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE APPLICATIONS DOUBLE IN APRIL
During April’s third week, the number of applications for adjustable rate home mortgages doubled from the last quarter of 2021 as interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages climbed to their highest since 2009. Fixed-rate loans averaged 5.37 percent late last month, compared to 5.20 percent the week before. The rate averaged 3.17 percent a year...
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STRAPPED AMERICANS HITTING UP FRIENDS AND FAMILY FOR LOANS
About 25.6 million Americans, more than 10 percent of all adults, borrowed money from family or friends between 30 March and 11 April to meet basic expenses, the U.S. census bureau’s Household Pulse survey reported. The number is 25 percent more than a year earlier. Millennials did the most borrowing. There are nearly 40 million...