By Richard Gale & Gary Null, Progressive Radio Network We delude ourselves at our own peril by wrongly believing that government policy makers and the captains of private finance and industry are older and wiser. Because these people have managed to reach the top of their game, we assume they possess the intellectual acumen to...
Tag: July 12 2022
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EL SALVADOR’S BITCOIN BET GOES BUST
As we reported in “El Salvador Becomes World ‘s First National Bitcoin Experiment” (22 Feb 2022), the tiny Central American nation became the world’s first country to honor Bitcoin as legal tender as part of president Nayib Bukele’s plan to leverage the digital coin to enable his country’s economy to flourish. In 2021, Bukele’s administration...
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BRAINARD URGES TIGHTER RULES FOR CRYPTO
Tighter regulation of digital currencies is needed to protect small investors and to help tame the industry’s volatility as it continues to grow, Lael Brainard, vice-chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said in a London speech last week at a conference hosted by the Bank of England. Cryptocurrencies dangle “the false allure of seemingly easy...
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SPOTLIGHT: INFLATION
TOP TREND, NEW WORLD DISORDER: INFLATION IN RICH NATIONS IS HARDEST ON THE POOR A food bank in Norway has seen demand rise 30 percent this year compared to the first half of 2021, itself a year that saw more people in the oil-rich nation needing help to have enough food. U.S. food banks also...
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SPOTLIGHT: CHINA
WESTERN INVESTORS FLOCK BACK TO CHINA After China ended its widespread anti-COVID lockdown in early June, foreign investors poured money back into the country’s equity markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in the U.S. that concentrate on Chinese stocks netted $4 billion of new capital last month, according to Blackrock; Chinese ETFs...
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LUXURY STOCKS GO OUT OF STYLE
Purveyors of luxury goods such as LVMH, Prada, and Richemont, recovered early from the COVID crisis, with many of the firms boosting prices by as much as 20 percent on some items since the beginning of 2021, The Wall Street Journal noted. Now investors think the high life might not be so rich. Share prices...
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WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS JOBS GO WITH IT
Inflation and interest rate hikes are causing companies in many sectors to lay off employees. To illustrate the employment trends and the socioeconomic implications, each week we will list new job losses: CAA acquired ICM and will be releasing 105 ICM employees. Novartis cuts 8,000 jobs or 7.4 percent of its 108,000 strong workforce. Substack...
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BRITISH, EUROPEAN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY SECTORS FACE “NEW PARADIGM”
Fewer commercial properties will change hands and property values will plunge in Europe and the U.K. as investors enter a “new paradigm” of rising interest rates and a global economy in turmoil, Brad Hyler, who manages $52 billion in property in Britain and Europe for private equity firm Brookfield Asset Management, said in a Financial...
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PRICES FALL AS CHIP CRUNCH EASES
Prices for computer memory chips, which skyrocketed during the COVID crisis and its aftermath, fell 11 percent during this year’s second quarter compared to a year earlier, the first such drop in two years, market research firm TrendForce reported. Memory chips are used in virtually every electronic device and make up about 28 percent of...
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LONG-STANDING EU DEBT RULES ARE “OBSOLETE,” MINISTER SAYS
European Union (EU) rules limiting the amount of debt member nations can carry and capping the size of their national debts are now “obsolete” in the face of rampant inflation, COVID-related borrowing, and the impact of the Ukraine war and Western sanctions, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said last week in a Financial Times...