By Michael J Talmo When it comes to resisting any form of tyranny, a common assertion is that if you make any comparisons to Nazi Germany you lose the argument. Really? Consider this: On August 25, 2021 “We For Humanity,” an international association of doctors, scientists, lawyers, journalists, and other professionals, wrote a letter to...
Tag: dec 14 2021
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SPOTLIGHT: CHINA
CHINA SETS EXPORT, IMPORT RECORDS IN NOVEMBER China exported nearly $326 billion worth of goods and services in November, a record, and imported $254 billion to satisfy its roaring demand for fuel and metals, Bloomberg reported. Imports shot up 30 percent compared to a year earlier; exports climbed 22 percent in dollar terms, with both...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION
INFLATION RUNS FASTER AGAIN IN NOVEMBER The U.S. Consumer Price Index grew by 6.8 percent last month, year on year, faster than at any time since June 1982, when prices rose at a 7.2-percent clip, the U.S. Labor Department reported. Inflation’s rate was just 1.1 percent in November 2020 and had shot to 6.2 percent...
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INVESTORS FLEE EMERGING MARKETS
Last month, investors began pulling money out of emerging markets’ equities and bonds, with more money leaving than entering for the first time since March 2020, according to the Institute for International Finance (IIF). MSCI’s index of emerging nations’ stock markets has slipped 3.3 percent this year, compared to an 18-percent gain in markets of...
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TURKEY’S ECONOMY CONTINUES TO IMPLODE
Turkey’s lira has lost almost half its value against the dollar this year and inflation continues its relentless climb, thanks to the economic policies forced on the nation’s central bank by strongman president Recep Erdogan. High interest rates fuel inflation and low rates reduce it, Erdogan believes, contrary to economic theory and decades of experience....
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JAPAN’S ECONOMY SHRINKS
From 1 July through 30 September, Japan’s economy contracted 3.6 percent, the government reported, more than the 3 percent the government had estimated earlier and more sharply than analysts’ 3.2-percent forecast. A rise in COVID cases and subsequent drop in consumer spending caused the pucker, the Financial Times reported. It was during that quarter that...
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ECB OFFICIAL: BANK’S BOND-BUYING HAVING NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS
The European Central Bank’s (ECB) program of buying bonds since 2015 to prop up the Eurozone’s economy is beginning to show more negative effects than positive ones, Isabel Schnabel, in charge of ECB’s market operations, said last week at the European Systemic Risk Board’s annual conference. Buying bonds has been “an important tool” during periods...
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TYSON FOODS TO AUTOMATE MEAT PROCESSING LINES
Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, the second-largest U.S. poultry processor with 122,000 employees, will spend $1.3 billion through 2024 to automate labor-intensive tasks, including deboning, on its processing lines, The Wall Street Journal said. The move ultimately will bring the company $450 million annually in benefits, including reduced labor costs and higher productivity, CEO Donnie King said...
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MEAT PRODUCERS’ PROFITS. THE MONOPOLY
Four of the biggest U.S. meat processing companies have used their market power to underpay farmers, push up meat prices, and triple their net operating margins during the COVID crisis, White House economic advisors allege. They claimed that higher labor and transport costs have driven price increases. However, after analyzing the companies’ financial statements, such...
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ONE IN SIX AMERICANS HAVE BEEN GIGGED
Roughly 16 percent of Americans—about one in six—have given rides, delivered groceries, walked dogs, or done other gig jobs for money, a new survey of 10,348 adults by the Pew Research Center has found. The proportion rises for younger, poorer, and non-white adults, the data shows. Among other findings: 30 percent of people ages 18...