India’s GDP grew 8.4 percent during the three months ending 30 September, The Wall Street Journal reported, compared with the same period in 2020. Although the nation’s economy is recovering from the COVID lockdown, job losses during the shutdown are hobbling consumer spending and creating a drag on economic growth, the WSJ noted. TRENDPOST: The...
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
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SPOTLIGHT: METAVERSE
MORE COMPANIES CREATE, INHABIT VIRTUAL WORLDS Mexican Grill, Verizon, and Vans, which sells skateboarding gear, are among the businesses creating and populating their own virtual worlds in the metaverse in attempts to engage customers and sharpen brand identity, The Wall Street Journal reported. Vans has created an online skatepark where boarders’ avatars can show their...
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SAUDIS CUT OIL DEAL WITH BIDEN
After U.S. president Joe Biden announced he would release 50 million barrels from the country’s strategic oil reserve to cut gasoline prices, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its affiliates (OPEC+) said the move would prompt it to consider abandoning its plan to boost production by 400,000 barrels a day. Last week, after a...
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DRAGFLATION DRAGGING DOWN BRAZIL
Brazil’s economy contracted 0.1 percent in this year’s third quarter, following a 0.4-percent contraction in the second, marking a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. At the same time, Brazil’s inflation rate has passed 11 percent, cutting real wages by 4 percent, government data shows. As Trends Journal readers...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION ON THE RISE
INFLATION: LAST LONGER AND RISE FASTER What was forecast over a year ago is now reality. Inflation rates will rise more quickly, and the rising pace will last longer, than many governments and analysts had previously expected. Of course, now it is “official” since the 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned in...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION ON THE RISE
BRITAIN’S INFLATION SPRINTS ITS FASTEST IN 10 YEARS Inflation in the U.K. edged up to 4.2 percent in October, year over year, accelerating from September’s 3.1-percent pace. The rate at which October’s prices rose was the fastest since December 2011 and more than double the Bank of England’s 2-percent target rate. The U.K.’s core inflation...
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SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING STILL BIGGER
KKR BID TO BUY TELECOM ITALIA SPARKS BATTLE FOR CONTROL The board of Telecom Italia (TI), Italy’s largest telecommunications provider, met Sunday to mull a takeover bid from U.S. private equity firm KKR. KKR already owns 37.5 percent of TI’s “last mile” business that connects individual homes and businesses to the larger network; now KKR...
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JAPAN PLANS NEW STIMULUS AS OTHER COUNTRIES END ECONOMIC SUPPORTS
Japan’s government will send a check for ¥100,000, about $872, to every household in the country with children under 18 years of age and give the equivalent of $22,000 to every small business that can show it has been adversely affected by the COVID era’s economic chaos. Households without children will receive no payment. The...
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EURO HITS 16-MONTH LOW AGAINST THE DOLLAR. HOW LOW CAN IT GO?
The euro plunged to a 16-month low against the dollar as traders “priced in” the European Central Bank’s (ECB) pledge to not raise interest rates until at least 2023. Investors are betting the ECB will boost rates by 0.1 percent in early 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported, after bank president Christine Lagarde told the...
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WILL AUTO ALLIANCES PROTECT CHIP SUPPLY?
Ford Motor Co. and General Motors (GM) have formed partnerships with major semiconductor manufacturers to speed the end of the current chip shortage now hobbling vehicle production and ensure supplies during future disruptions. GM has made deals with Infineon Technologies, NXP Semiconductors, ON Semiconductor Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Renasas Electronics Corp., STMicroelectronics, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing...