London’s Heathrow airport, one of the world’s busiest, has limited the number of departing passengers it will accommodate and has told airlines to stop selling tickets for the summer travel season. The injunctions will remain in place until 11 September. The mandates were imposed a day after the airport told carriers to cancel 61 flights...
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
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EURO HITS DECEMBER 2002 LOW AGAINST THE DOLLAR
On 12 July, the euro fell to a value of $0.9998, its weakest value in 20 years, as the Eurozone’s economy was battered by record inflation, energy shortages, record-high fuel prices, and the threat of a global economic slowdown. The euro closed at $1.01 on 18 July. On the same day, the U.S. dollar booked...
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EUROPE’S FACTORY PRODUCTION REMAINS WEAK
Bad economic times are getting worse. The Eurozone’s factory production rose 0.8 percent in May from April as the U.K.’s economy crept back after contracting in April. However, the greater factory output was largely due to a 13.9-percent burst in Irish output by U.S. companies operating there. The increase was attributed to the full restoration...
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TOP TREND 2022, DRAGFLATION: EC ADJUSTS FORECASTS
Inflation across the Eurozone will reach 7.6 percent this year, the European Commission (EC) said, adjusting its forecast of 6.1 percent issued this spring. Prices will inflate by 4 percent in 2023, the EC predicted, twice the European Central Bank’s 2-percent target rate. The EC had forecast 2.7 percent in its spring outlook. In Estonia...
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GASOLINE PRICE SPIKE RIPPLES THROUGH THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Demand for gasoline, as well as its price, have soared in recent months, spurring oil refiners to produce more of the engine fuel. To do so, refiners have claimed a larger share of other petroleum derivatives needed to make gasoline. As a result, the world is seeing a shortage of chemicals needed to make plastics,...
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CENTRAL BANKS AROUND THE WORLD RAISED INTEREST RATES LAST WEEK
At least a half-dozen central banks raised their key interest rates last week as inflation continues to surge unchecked. The Bank of Canada (BoC) surprised observers by hiking its overnight rate from 1.5 percent to 2.5, the biggest single bump since 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. The rate is now at its highest since...
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RUSSIA: MORE SANCTIONS, LESS GAS
Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled natural gas company, says it is unable to guarantee gas deliveries to Europe because of “extraordinary”’ circumstances, Reuters reported. Russia closed the pipeline earlier this month for 10 days of “routine maintenance.” Deliveries are scheduled to resume this week on Thursday. Now, in a 14 July letter to several European gas customers,...
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TOP 2022 TREND, DRAGFLATION: IMF AGAIN CUTS GLOBAL GROWTH FORECAST
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is trimming its global growth projections for this year and next as inflation continues unchecked and the war in Ukraine shows no signs of ending, the Financial Times reported. “Recent indicators imply a weak second quarter and we will be projecting a further downgrade to global growth for 2022 and...
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MARKETS RIGGED: TAIWAN PROVES IT
Taiwan’s government said it will withdraw money from its National Stabilization Fund to keep stock prices from falling further after they already have lost about $340 billion in value this year. The fund was established in 2000 to combat market turmoil caused by “significant occurrences at home or abroad” or “large-scale movements of international capital”...
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WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS JOBS GO WITH IT
Inflation and interest rate hikes are causing companies in many sectors to lay off employees. To illustrate the employment trends and the socioeconomic implications, each week we will list job losses. Tesla laid off another 200 people Netflix cut 3 percent of its workforce Amazon has frozen hiring in some areas Rivian plans to layoff...