When the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week, it gave a hand up to Circle Internet Financial, a young crypto firm that issues what it calls a USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin the value of which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Circle transforms investors’ dollars into USDCs, which it invests in cash...
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TOP 2022 TREND: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES: CHINA LEADS THE CHARGE
After two years of COVID-related restrictions and lockdowns, China has been unable to persuade its consumers to start buying again. December’s retail sales gained only 1.7 percent, year on year, the slowest monthly gain since August 2020 and a fraction of the 8 percent growth notched in December 2019. Disposable income among Chinese households grew...
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TOP 2022 TREND: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES: BIDEN PUSHING “BUY AMERICAN”
The Biden administration has finalized rules that will require products purchased by the federal government to have 60 percent of their value in components manufactured in the U.S., 65 percent in 2024, and 75 percent in 2029. At a 4 March White House event outlining the rules, Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton announced a $54-million...
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U.S. FADING FAST: SOUTHEAST ASIANS SEE CHINA AS #1
A recent study found that over three-quarters of Southeast Asians believe China is the most important economic power—with the U.S. coming in at a distant second. The ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute survey, released on Wednesday, showed that many of those polled expressed concerns about China’s growing economic influence. The survey found that 64.4 percent feared Beijing’s...
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LUXURY AIRPORT BOUTIQUES GROUNDED
Before 2020, airports boutiques hawking Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and other luxury brands were an integral part of traveling and made up 6 percent of luxury brands’ global sales, according to The Wall Street Journal. Then came COVID. Passenger air travel in 2020 shrank to a quarter of its previous year’s volume and 2021’s volume was...
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YOU ARE WRONG IF YOU BELIEVE ALL VACCINES ARE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE
By Gary Null PhD, Progressive Radio Network During the past two years, a paradox we have heard repeated by the White House, and our health agencies are the warnings and fears about the threats of the SARS-2 contagion. This fear mongering has been framed as consensual scientific fact that is non-negotiable. Topping the list is...
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SUPPLY CHAINS SNARLS WILL LAST LONGER THAN EXPECTED, WTO HEAD SAYS
Kinks in the world’s supply chains may last through this year or even into next year, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said in a 1 February Paris speech. “We thought supply chain disruptions would be temporary,” Okonjo-Iweala said. “We still think that, but they are taking longer to resolve than we...
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U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE: A ROTTING JOKE
President Biden on Friday visited Pittsburgh to tout the “remarkable economic progress” during his first year in office and passage of his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which seemed all the more urgent after a bridge in the city collapsed just hours before his visit. The 450-foot bridge in Frick Park, which was erected in 1974,...
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SPOTLIGHT: CHINA
IMF CUTS OUTLOOK FOR CHINA’S ECONOMY The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts China’s economy will grow by 4.8 percent this year, not the 5.7 percent it had foreseen previously, the agency said in its annual outlook report. China’s 8.1-percent growth last year depended too heavily on exports and government investment while consumer spending sagged, the...
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CHINA’S CENTRAL BANK CUTS KEY INTEREST RATE
In December, China experienced the slowest year-on-year growth in 18 months, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. In response, on 19 January, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut its one-year prime loan rate from 3.8 percent to 3.7 and trimmed its five-year prime rate—which is used to price mortgages—from 4.65 percent to 4.6, the...