Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT

WAR SCRAMBLES EUROPE’S HOPES FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY As Europe’s economy struggles to right itself after the Omicron surge and a storm of inflation, Russia’s attack on Ukraine has dashed hopes for a smooth return to any kind of pre-COVID “normal.” Europe’s energy prices had spiked as much as fivefold last fall; the war has now...

RISING ENERGY, METALS PRICES FUEL INFLATION IN CHINA The annual inflation rate for Chinese factories’ raw materials dipped to 8.8 percent in February from 9.1 percent the month before, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also in February, factories raised the prices for their products for the first time since October. The increases were driven by...

Ford Motor Co. has split itself into two divisions.  “Ford Blue” will make petroleum-powered cars and trucks and try to grow its share of that market, while “Ford Model-e” will make electric vehicles (EVs).  Ford made the split because public acceptance of its EVs “has been so far beyond our expectations,” James Farley, the company’s...

The metaverse—the virtual world where your avatar shops, dines, and hangs out with digital buddies—is a place where the digital streets are paved with real gold. JPMorgan Chase sees this new digital universe as a trillion-dollar market, where $54 billion in goods are selling at an annual rate, more than is spent to buy and...

The London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended trading in nickel after freak trading activity on 7 March by a major nickel processor set off a round of panic buying that sent prices up 250 percent. Tsingshan Holding Group, the world’s largest nickel producer, began a frenzied buying spree on 7 March to cover $8 billion worth...

In an unexpected decision, the European Central Bank (ECB) will begin trimming its monthly bond purchases in March and end them as soon as this year’s third quarter, the bank announced after its policy committee met last week, closing out a stimulus support that has been in place for almost seven years. The decision reverses...

Soaring fuel prices triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine and western embargoes on trade with Russia pose what could be the greatest economic threat to Europe in almost 50 years, the Financial Times reported. While having fallen back from their 20 percent since Russia’s invasion, European officials are rushing a new plan to slash Russian...

Leaders of the European Union’s (EU’s) member nations met on 10 and 11 March to formulate a coordinated response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. In a draft declaration, the leaders pledged to “take more responsibility for our security and take further decisive steps toward building our European sovereignty, reducing our dependencies, and designing a new...

Plagued by the Omicron variant and now the Ukraine War, the world economy is unlikely to grow 4.4 percent this year as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had forecast in January, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in a 10 March press briefing. The previous forecast had been reduced from the IMF’s prediction last fall...