FED’S FAVORITE INFLATION GAUGE REACHES 30-YEAR HIGH The Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (PCE), the U.S. Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, stayed at 3.6 percent in September from August, maintaining its fastest pace since May 1991, CNBC reported. The PCE excludes food and energy prices, which tend to be more volatile than other costs....
Category: TRENDS ON THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC FRONT
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SPOTLIGHT: BIGS KEEP GROWING BIGGER
FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES RAKED IN RECORD SUBSIDIES IN 2020 In 2020, companies that produce oil, natural gas, and coal collected a record $5.9 trillion in direct and indirect subsidies from the world’s taxpayers, a record amount, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported. The figure includes not only direct tax breaks and allowances, but also the...
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NATURAL GAS PRICES FALL IN EUROPE
Natural gas prices for November and December delivery in the U.K. and across Europe fell by about 10 percent after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered state-owned gas company Gazprom to refill the region’s storage tanks beginning this month as the continent enters its winter season. Germany’s largest gas reservoir had fallen below 10 percent of...
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CHINA’S FACTORY PRODUCTION SLOWS, SERVICES CONTINUE STRONG
Shortages of power and high prices for raw materials shrank China’s factory output in October, while the services economy continued to expand, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported. Factories’ productivity and demand for their products both declined last month, the bureau said. The manufacturing sector’s purchasing managers index slipped from 49.6 in September to...
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PRIVATE LENDING MARKET FACES “SYSTEMIC RISKS”
The $1-trillion industry that makes loans to companies shut out of the corporate bond market faces “systemic risks” due to illiquidity, lax standards, and a lack of transparency, according to a report by Moody’s Analytics. Investors have channeled a flood of cash into the so-called private lending market during the COVID area, seeking higher returns...
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GLOBAL CHIP SHORTAGE SLASHES ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Samsung Electronics warned it is unable to predict its’ 2022 financial performance because of the continuing shortage of computer chips. Maruti Suzuki India, that nation’s largest car maker, predicted fewer sales next year. Fanuc, a major Japanese robotics company, also lowered its financial forecast. “We are receiving a lot of orders but can’t increase production...
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WILL ECB HOLD TO NEGATIVE INTEREST RATE?
The European Central Bank (ECB) will not raise interest rates from their current -0.50 percent next year, bank president Christine Lagarde said in 27 October comments quoted by The Wall Street Journal. She acknowledged that Eurozone inflation’s pace had sped to an overall 3.4 percent in September and that higher prices would last longer than...
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EUROZONE ECONOMY OUTPACES U.S., CHINA
The European Union’s economy grew 9.1 percent in the third quarter as restrictions on movement, gathering, and business eased and vaccination rates accelerated, according to The Wall Street Journal. In contrast, the U.S. economy expanded only 2 percent for the quarter and China eked out only 1 percent more activity. However, unlike China and the...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION SPREADING
INFLATION WALLOPS EUROZONE Costs for Europe’s manufacturers and service companies rose at their fastest pace on record, according to IHS Markit’s October purchasing managers index. The index fell from 56.2 in September to 54.3 in October, a sharper drop than analysts had foreseen and taking the measure to a six-month low. Numbers above 50 indicate...
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SPOTLIGHT: BIGS KEEP GROWING BIGGER
RICHEST 10 PERCENT OF U.S. HOUSEHOLDS OWN 89 PERCENT OF STOCKS The wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households now own 89 percent of all stocks, according to U.S. Federal Reserve data, up from 87 percent in the Fed’s study a year ago (“The FU, K-Shaped Recovery Worsens Wealth Inequality,” 9 Sep 2020). The richest 1...