We have been reporting in the Trends Journal that nations are taking measures to distance themselves from the dollar by trading with their own currencies. Other steps being taken include Asia and Europe’s central banks’ plans to create their own digital currencies. In line with Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency and other central banks in Sweden, Uruguay, and China, the Bank for...

As reported in the Trends Journal over the past few months, the world auto market is in decline. Even the U.S., whose economy and currency appear solid in comparison to most in the global economy, the auto-market slowdown is hitting home. Stage 1: Delinquent U.S. auto loans (loans that are at least 90 days late) are on the rise, particularly...

The German car industry is “in the middle of a far-reaching upheaval,” said Herbert Diess, the chief executive of Volkswagen (VW).  Last spring, the company said they laid off 7,000 employees to pay for research and development of electric vehicles (EV).  VW has cut 30,000 employees just within the last three years.  VW owns Audi, which also plans to shed...

Last week, multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and well-known business tycoon, announced he was seeking the Democratic nomination for president. His announcement was preceded by a nearly $40 million media blitz. Bloomberg has said he will commit at least $500 million to his campaign. Under the rules of the Democratic National Committee, Bloomberg will not qualify...

Researchers are reinventing wood for the 21st century, making it transparent and embedding it with electronic sensors. The reason: concrete, steel, and glass – the staples of commercial construction – are not only finite resources but making them also emits an estimated 11 percent of the world’s excess CO2. Growing a steady supply of construction timber would not only withdraw...

Bioscientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have brought a new version of the E. coli bacterium into the world. What’s notable is that this one can live without eating. Biologists generally divide life into two groups: one eats food and the other absorbs carbon dioxide and sunlight. Weizmann’s group has, for the first time, erased that line. Researchers have...

Diagnosing the early signs of Alzheimer’s Disease – before obvious symptoms develop – is still tricky. But it may become less so due to work done by Spanish scientists at Madrid’s Complutense University. Using noninvasive imaging methods, the researchers found that different layers of tissue in the retinas of Alzheimer’s patients’ thickened and thinned in distinctive patterns. Because the retina,...

U.S. equities hit new highs this week.  While the biggest of U.S. companies have reduced spending on equipment and other capitalist investments, the cheap money flow into the equity markets keeps pushing the overvalued stocks higher. According to Atlanta Federal Reserve reports, one in five manufacturers cut spending in the first half of 2019. In fact, the Organization for Economic...

There are now calls from the OCED, the IMF, and the ECB for more government fiscal stimulus, as the monetary fixes are reaching their limits. For example, in Canada, they lost some 1,800 jobs in October. The loss was offset by the government taking taxpayer money to create public sector jobs, which will cost in benefits including pensions and healthcare....

This past Friday, ECB President Christine Lagarde warned of a sluggish economy, and she stepped up her call for the ECB to inject fiscal stimulus to boost the bloc’s growth. “We have a unique possibility to respond to a changing and challenging world by investing in our future, strengthening our common institutions, and empowering the world’s second largest economy.” Interestingly,...