Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT

INFLATION CRIMPS GLOBAL GROWTH The world’s economies slowed this month because of high inflation combined with rising interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reported. Manufacturers in the world’s largest economies are grappling with continued supply chain blockages and higher costs for supplies, due in significant part to China’s two-month shutdown to combat a surge in...

CHINA’S COVID LOCKDOWN HARMS DOMESTIC, GLOBAL ECONOMIES Adidas, Intercontinental Hotels Group, and Starbucks are among the multinational firms that have seen revenues sink because of China’s draconian anti-COVID lockdowns, which have shut an estimated 325 million people in at least 46 cities into their homes or workplaces for two months. Affected areas include tech hubs...

Commodity investment funds have drawn a net inflow of $28.7 billion in new cash this year through 10 May, the Financial Times reported. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI commodity index was up 37 percent this year as of 25 May, even after receding from higher marks in March. In contrast, MSCI’s global equities index has...

It’s the same old story, what goes up, must come down. And weak economic growth and rising inflation is a threat to home sales in the EU. House prices in Europe are poised to decline as interest rates rise in response to record-setting inflation, the European Central Bank (ECB) said in its semi-annual financial stability...

The price of emerging economies’ bonds has cratered, with the benchmark JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified index falling 15 percent so far this year, its worst performance through late May since 1994, the Financial Times reported. Investors have yanked $36 billion out of developing nations’ bonds so far in 2022, the FT said. “It’s the worst...

Faced with a toxic combination of global food shortages and rising prices, 26 nations so far have reduced or halted food and fertilizer exports to ensure their citizens have enough and pay the lowest possible prices, the International Food Policy Institute reported. Nations have curbed shipments of beans, corn, lentils, edible oils, sugar, and wheat;...

The Bank of Russia cut its interest rate again last week, with bank governor Elvira Nabiullina warning that the months ahead “will be difficult for both companies and citizens.” As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its fourth month, so do Western sanctions, barring most Russian banks from doing business, slashing the number of Western countries...

Each week, we report instances where the money junky hedge funds, private equity groups and the already big companies swallow another piece of the global economy. Here are some more of what the BIGS have been gobbling up and how the Bigs keep getting bigger and the rich keep getting richer. SAUDIS PAY $3 BILLION...

YELLEN REJECTS SUGGESTION TO RAISE 2-PERCENT INFLATION TARGET Advanced nations should not adjust upward their 2-percent inflation targets just because inflation is running at high rates, U.S. treasury secretary Janet Yellen told reporters on 19 May in Bonn, Germany, where she was attending a meeting of finance ministers of the G7 nations. “The challenge is...

Companies hawking haute couture, pricey perfumes, and three-figure bottles of cognac expect sales in China to return to COVID-era highs and to accelerate in the U.S., despite roaring inflation and an extended sell-off of luxury-company stocks. Antoine Arnault, CEO of the Berluti division of luxury conglomerate LVMH, and Gildo Zegna, head of Italy’s Ermenegildo Zegna...