Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT

In the year’s first quarter, the U.K. economy grew 0.8 percent, driven by a spending spurt after the kingdom lifted Omicron-related restrictions on movement. But Britain’s GDP flatlined in February and contracted 0.1 percent in March, the Office for National Statistics reported last week. The service sector, which usually leads the country’s growth, slid 0.2...

In April, China’s retail sales contracted 11.1 percent, year over year to their lowest pace since March 2020, and industrial output shrank by 2.9 percent, the worst month since early 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics reported, both figures disappointing expectations. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted a 6.1-percent loss in retail trade but that...

The consumer price index in Europe’s largest economy grew by 7.8 percent in April, year over year, the fastest pace since the country reunified in 1990, the National Statistics Office reported. Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics office, had predicted a 7.5 percent gain. It was the second consecutive month with inflation running above 7 percent....

Heatwaves, droughts, and floods threaten the world’s wheat harvest this year, as the Ukraine war and Western sanctions already have shrunk the world’s supply of food staples and set record prices, as well as acute shortages, in many parts of the world. We have documented the world’s food crisis in “Soaring Food Prices Hit Poor...

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. ICE BUYS MORTGAGE DATA...

SURGING OIL PRICES DRIVE RECORD INFLATION IN GERMANY Prices in Germany shot up 7.8 percent in April, year over year, the fastest since 1981, after setting a record pace of 7.6 percent in March. The increase was driven by higher energy costs. Producer prices in March saw the greatest annual surge since records began being...

TOP 2022 TREND, DRAGFLATION: CHINA’S ECONOMY IS SHRINKING China’s Caixin purchasing managers index (PMI) for service industries plunged to 36.2 in April from 42 in March, IHS Markit reported on 4 May, signaling a growing weakness throughout the nation’s economy. Readings below 50 indicate contraction; the lower the number, the harder the fall. The subindex...

As inflation keeps rising, so too will interest rates. Here is a summary of recent hikes. BANK OF ENGLAND BOOSTS INTEREST RATES AGAIN On 5 May, the Bank of England (BoE) raised its key interest rate for the fourth time in as many meetings, boosting it from 0.75 to 1 percent as inflation raced at...

AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s most profitable shipping line, became even more profitable in this year’s first quarter, booking $19.3 billion in revenue for the period, up 55 percent from 2022’s first three months. The company netted $6.8 billion in profits, more than double the previous quarter’s. However, “we are assuming a slowdown in the second...

The European Commission has proposed banning all imports of Russian oil by the end of this year, the Financial Times reported. To be enacted, the measure would require all 27 member countries to agree.  However, Viktor Orban, Hungary’s autocratic prime minister, has so far opposed any bans on Russian fuels. Also, as a deterrent or...