The world’s economy will grow 5.6 percent this year, the World Bank has forecast, up 1.5 percentage points from the bank’s forecast six months ago. It would be the fastest pace of global growth in 80 years, according to the bank. The world’s economy will be pulled along by strong recoveries in a few major...
Tag: jun 15 2021
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ECB WILL ACCELERATE STIMULUS SPENDING
Although the European Central Bank (ECB) has increased its forecast for both economic growth and inflation in the Eurozone this year, it will continue to buy government and corporate bonds through August at “a significantly higher pace than during the first months of the year,” the bank said last week in a public statement quoted...
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NO QUICK FIX FOR INFLATION
Since 2011, capital investments in energy and mining have fallen by 40 percent, according to Schroders, a British asset manager. As a result, producers lack the ability to quickly boost production of aluminum, cement, and other raw materials the world’s recovering economy is now demanding in near-record amounts. For example, each year from 2011 through...
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INFLATION HOBBLES GLOBAL RECOVERY
Prices around the world are climbing, putting a brake on the global economic recovery and raising fears that everything from savings accounts to the job market will suffer long-term damage. Already this year, copper, houses, iron ore, and lumber have set record prices. Corn, soybeans, and wheat have climbed to eight-year highs and oil has...
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COVID OUTBREAK AT CHINESE PORT THREATENS GLOBAL TRADE
A recent outbreak of COVID-19 cases (100) in southern China threatens global trade because major ports have closed down terminals to keep the outbreak contained. The Financial Times reported that the terminals in question are in Shenzhen, Nansha, and Shekou, and pointed to a steep drop in ships berthing at these facilities. “It’s a question of...
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MALL OWNER GOES BUST
Washington Prime Group, which owns more than 100 retail malls across the U.S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 13 June, a “necessary” move after the economic shutdown “created significant challenges” and left almost $1 billion in debts, the company said, as tenants closed stores and negotiated lower rents. The property owner has secured $100...
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LORDSTOWN MOTORS SAYS IT MAY NOT SURVIVE; CEO, CFO QUIT
Ohio-based Lordstown Motors, founded in 2018 intending to be the maker of America’s first all-electric commercial pickup truck, lacks the necessary cash to begin commercial production and may go out of business within the next 12 months, the company announced on 8 June. “The company believes its current level of cash and cash equivalents are...
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BLACKSTONE BUYS REAL ESTATE DATA FIRM
A division of Blackstone Group, the world’s largest asset manager, is paying $6.7 billion to buy QTS Realty Trust, which operates data centers, and take it private, the Wall Street Journal reported. Blackstone Infrastructure Partners will pay $78 a share for QTS, more than 20 percent above the stock’s recent closing price. When Blackstone assumes...
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REGULATOR CALLS FOR FEW RULES ON CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Burdening cryptocurrency markets with rules will discourage investors, warned Hester Peirce, one of two Republicans among the five commissioners governing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “I am concerned that the initial reaction of a regulator is always to say, ‘I want to grab hold of this and make it like the markets I already...
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STATE STREET LAUNCHES DIGITAL CURRENCY UNIT
Boston-based bank and asset manager State Street, with $40 trillion in assets in custody or under management, is creating a digital currency division to lead the bank into blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, digital currencies issued by central banks, and trading in tokens, the bank announced last week. The new unit will be called State Street Digital...