As we had long forecast, the higher central banks raise interest rates, the lower the Merger and Acquisition trend... which hit record highs during the COVID war when interest rates sank and governments pumped in countless trillions to artificially prop up sinking economies.
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT – Jul 5 2023
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMIC STRUGGLE
China’s factory activity continued weak in June, although less so than in April and May, government figures showed. Exports shrank in May at an annual rate of 7.5 percent.
BOSSES REQUIRING EMPLOYEES TO RETURN TO THE OFFICE ARE LOSING WORKERS
Among employers who have forced employees to come back to a central office, 42 percent report losing more workers than they expected, according to a new survey from office consulting firm Unispace. Twenty-one percent said “key” staff members had quit.
TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST, HSBC LATEST TO FLEE LONDON’S CANARY WHARF
HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, announced on 26 June it will leave its self-named Canary Wharf headquarters and move its 8,000 staff members to smaller digs in “The City,” the London district equivalent to New York’s Wall Street.
MORE THAN 63 PERCENT OF NIGERIANS ARE “MULTIDIMENSIONALLY POOR,” STUDY SAYS
About 133 million people living in Nigeria—roughly 63 percent of the population—are “multidimensionally poor,” meaning they lack adequate food, sanitation, and health care, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics reported.
JAPAN’S ECONOMY EXPANDS MORE THAN PREDICTED, BUT…
Japan’s troubled economy grew at an annual pace of 2.7 percent during this year’s first quarter, according to revised government figures. The initial estimate was 1.6 percent.
CHIEFS OF FEDERAL RESERVE, BANK OF ENGLAND REMAIN INTEREST RATE HAWKS
Jerome Powell, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, and Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey both signaled that they expect, and support, moves by their banks to continue raising interest rates.
WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS JOBS GO WITH IT
It’s plain and simple. Across the globe, as we note in this and previous Trends Journals, there are more and more forecasts for rising interest rates and more fears of recession. Thus, the deeper economies around the world fall, the more jobs will be cut.
ECB MUST CONTINUE TO RAISE INTEREST RATES
The European Central Bank (ECB) should continue to raise interest rates into the future, bank president Christine Lagarde said in a 27 June statement at a financial conference in Portugal.
EUROZONE INFLATION FALLS
Inflation across the 20 countries sharing the euro currency fell to 5.5 percent in June from 6.1 percent in May, beating economists’ forecast of 5.6 percent in a Reuters poll.