The Democratic Party has announced the re-scheduling of its presidential convention in Milwaukee. Originally planned for July, it will now take place in August due to concerns about the coronavirus. While Senator Bernie Sanders is still in the race, former Vice President Joe Biden has a virtually insurmountable lead based on the current delegate count...
Tag: apr 07 2020
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EMERGING MARKETS
Credit Crisis Looms The economic damage wrought by politicians’ responses to the virus pandemic is feeding a debt crisis in emerging nations. Ecuador, dependent on oil exports, has asked creditors to restructure its debts. Zambia, among Africa’s biggest copper producers, has delayed payments on its eurobonds and Chinese loans, sinking bond values. Argentina has postponed...
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EUROPEAN ECONOMIES: DOUBLE DIGITS DOWN
The economies of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK will contract by more than 10 percent if Europe’s economic shutdown lasts two months or longer, according to a new study by the ifo Institute. Austria’s losses over two months of the shutdown are figured at €34 to €57 billion and a loss...
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AUTOMOBILE BLUES
AUTOMOBILE BLUES At least one million of Europe’s auto industry workers have been laid off or are working reduced hours, and the industry has lost production of about 1.2 million vehicles since the economic crisis began, according to ACEA, a European auto industry trade group. More than half of affected workers are in Germany, where...
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FED OPENS DOORS TO FOREIGN BANKS
The U.S. Federal Reserve is opening a “temporary lending facility” that will allow foreign banks to convert their U.S. treasury securities into dollars. The new service complements other Fed programs that lend dollars to 14 other central banks to ensure that other economies don’t run out of greenbacks. The strong dollar has been a sanctuary...
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U.S. MARKET
Stock markets ended their worst quarter since the 2008 onset of the Great Recession, with sell-offs so massive that “circuit breakers” were tripped several times to prevent automated selling that could have set off a market crash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 23 percent during 2020’s first three months, its worst quarter since the...
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MORE HARD FACTS
As COVID-19 “Breaking News” continues to dominate the attention of the world, leading to the virtual shut down of the entire global economy, it is becoming more and more apparent that the lockdown cures initiated will cause far more pain and suffering than the actual disease. Chief Economist of the World Food Program, Arif Husain,...
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A “SNITCH IN TIME”
Around the world, people filled with fear and anxiety from the barrage of doom and gloom media coverage and worst-case scenarios pumped out by the media, politicians, and their appointed medical spokespersons… are turning on their neighbors. In Germany, people are ratting out fellow citizens whom they see breaking social distance rules. One police official...
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MASKS OR NO MASKS? THAT IS THE QUESTION.
In addition to wildly differing estimates of deaths from coronavirus and inconsistent orders, bans, and restrictions from political leaders, the issue of whether or not wearing masks in public is effective for preventing the spread remains totally confused. The two most quoted health organizations, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization...