WAR SCRAMBLES EUROPE’S HOPES FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY As Europe’s economy struggles to right itself after the Omicron surge and a storm of inflation, Russia’s attack on Ukraine has dashed hopes for a smooth return to any kind of pre-COVID “normal.” Europe’s energy prices had spiked as much as fivefold last fall; the war has now...
Tag: march 15 2022
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SPOTLIGHT ON INFLATION
RISING ENERGY, METALS PRICES FUEL INFLATION IN CHINA The annual inflation rate for Chinese factories’ raw materials dipped to 8.8 percent in February from 9.1 percent the month before, The Wall Street Journal reported. Also in February, factories raised the prices for their products for the first time since October. The increases were driven by...
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FORD MOTOR SPLITS IN TWO TO BETTER EMPHASIZE EVs
Ford Motor Co. has split itself into two divisions. “Ford Blue” will make petroleum-powered cars and trucks and try to grow its share of that market, while “Ford Model-e” will make electric vehicles (EVs). Ford made the split because public acceptance of its EVs “has been so far beyond our expectations,” James Farley, the company’s...
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THE METAVERSE IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The metaverse—the virtual world where your avatar shops, dines, and hangs out with digital buddies—is a place where the digital streets are paved with real gold. JPMorgan Chase sees this new digital universe as a trillion-dollar market, where $54 billion in goods are selling at an annual rate, more than is spent to buy and...
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LONDON METAL EXCHANGE SUSPENDS TRADING IN NICKEL
The London Metal Exchange (LME) suspended trading in nickel after freak trading activity on 7 March by a major nickel processor set off a round of panic buying that sent prices up 250 percent. Tsingshan Holding Group, the world’s largest nickel producer, began a frenzied buying spree on 7 March to cover $8 billion worth...
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BRAZILIANS SPENDING HALF THEIR INCOMES ON DEBT PAYMENTS
Citizens of Brazil are paying 52 percent of their incomes to make payments on mortgages, auto loans, credit card balances, and similar debts, according to Bloomberg. The figure is nine percentage points higher than in 2020 and the highest since the country’s central bank began monitoring consumer debt in 2005. During the COVID War, Brazilians...
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ECB TO STOP BOND-BUYING STIMULUS PROGRAM THIS YEAR
In an unexpected decision, the European Central Bank (ECB) will begin trimming its monthly bond purchases in March and end them as soon as this year’s third quarter, the bank announced after its policy committee met last week, closing out a stimulus support that has been in place for almost seven years. The decision reverses...
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OIL MARKET TURMOIL SIGNALS EUROPEAN RECESSION
Soaring fuel prices triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine and western embargoes on trade with Russia pose what could be the greatest economic threat to Europe in almost 50 years, the Financial Times reported. While having fallen back from their 20 percent since Russia’s invasion, European officials are rushing a new plan to slash Russian...
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EU TUNES INTO OUR TOP 2022 TREND: SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMIES
Leaders of the European Union’s (EU’s) member nations met on 10 and 11 March to formulate a coordinated response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. In a draft declaration, the leaders pledged to “take more responsibility for our security and take further decisive steps toward building our European sovereignty, reducing our dependencies, and designing a new...
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REMOTE WORK: THE NEW BOTTOM LINE
Thirty-five percent of white-collar workers would refuse to even consider a job that forbids them to work at home at least some of the time, a recent poll by Rippling, a human resources software firm, found. Only one worker in 15 expects to return to the office full-time, the poll discovered. However, a plurality prefer...