Using the Ukraine War and rising tensions between China and Taiwan, Japan is taking a fresh look at building its military and its capabilities. The Trends Journal has reported on how the conflict in Ukraine has prompted other countries—from Germany to Taiwan—to reconsider their defenses. (See “WILL CHINA SOON INVADE TAIWAN?” “SPOTLIGHT CHINA: EAST VS. WEST,” and “JAPAN:...
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AUSTRALIAN PM PRAISES NATO-AFFILIATED ‘ASIA-PACIFIC FOUR’
Anthony Albanese, the newly minted Australian prime minister, made it clear last week that Canberra will take a pro-NATO stance and continue to try and isolate Russia and China. Albanese said he was especially pleased with the emergence of the so-called “Asia-Pacific Four,” which includes New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. All four countries...
OECD TRIMS GLOBAL GROWTH OUTLOOK AMID PERSISTENT INFLATION
The 38-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has pared its 2022 global growth forecast from 4.5 percent, which it forecast in December, to 3 percent, a one-third reduction. The prediction aligns with that of the World Bank, which now says worldwide GDP will expand by 2.9 percent this year instead of 4.1 percent,...
DIGITAL DOLLAR COULD PROTECT CONSUMERS, BRAINARD SAYS
A digital dollar issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve eventually could co-exist with and complement privately issued stablecoins and other digital assets, protecting consumers from the market whims that jolt unanchored digital assets and offering consumers a government-backed way to make digital payments, Fed vice-chair Lael Brainard said in 26 May Congressional testimony. “It could...
U.S. TRADE DEFICIT SETS ANOTHER RECORD
The U.S. trade gap grew to $109.8 billion in March, a 22.8-percent jump from February, as Americans grabbed more cars, clothing, and computers and industry bought more supplies, the U.S. commerce department reported. Before the COVID virus arrived, the monthly deficit typically ranged between $40 billion and $50 billion, The Wall Street Journal noted. Imports...
MAERSK: SHIPPING VOLUME DOWN, PROFITS UP
AP Moller-Maersk, the world’s second-largest ocean shipping company, has raised its profit forecast for 2022 by 25 percent—from $24 billion to $30 billion—despite foreseeing stagnating container shipping volume this year, or even a 1-percent decline. Due to an “exceptional market situation,” Maersk saw first-quarter freight rates soar by 71 percent, year over year, while container...
TJ Apr 12 Long Section Test – JD
TRENDS ON THE U.S. ECONOMIC FRONT ECONOMIC OVERVIEW How low can we go? This isn’t ancient history. Go back to Chinese Lunar New Year 2020: The Year of the Rat In January, when the coronavirus was launched in the city of Wuhan, Beijing locked the city down, and others, to beat the virus. In lockstep,...
U.S. LOSES TRADE WAR: FEBRUARY TRADE DEFICIT NEAR RECORD
Just as America has lost every major war it started—from Korean War, to Vietnam War, from Afghan War to Iraq War—so too has the great world power, “We’re #1, “The Exceptionals” lost the Trump Trade war that he loudly launched against China when he won the 2016 Presidential Reality Show® U.S. election. The U.S. trade...
TOP TREND 2022: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES. UKRAINE WAR SET THE PACE
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades,” Lawrence Fink, CEO of private equity firm Blackrock, which has more than $10 trillion in assets under management, wrote last week in his annual letter to investors. Since the 1980s, companies have shopped the world...
LONDON METAL EXCHANGE SUSPENDS TRADING IN NICKEL
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...