Reuters (July 3)
“Japanese business sentiment improved in the second quarter as raw material costs peaked and removal of pandemic curbs lifted consumption… a sign the economy was on course for a steady recovery.” The quarterly survey or “tankan” by the central bank offers “policymakers hope that conditions for phasing out their massive monetary stimulus may be gradually falling into place.”
Tags: Business sentiment, Consumption, Costs, Economy, Japan, Monetary stimulus, Pandemic curbs, Peaked, Policymakers, Q2, Raw material, Steady recovery
Bloomberg (March 5)
China’s reopening “means Chinese oil consumption is poised to hit a record this year. Daily demand will reach an all-time high of 16 million barrels a day,” and looks increasingly likely to tip the price back above $100 a barrel amid tight supply.
Tags: 100, 16 mmb/d, China, Consumption, Demand, Oil, Poised, Price, Record, Reopening, Tight supply, Tip
Financial Times (January 21)
“In a country where companies have resisted raising pay and the workforce has refrained from aggressive salary demands for most of the past three decades, Fast Retailing’s move is a watershed for the government and the Bank of Japan’s battle to lift the economy out of deflation.” Should the approach gain momentum, “the ramifications could be far-reaching,” potentially leading to “a virtuous cycle of rising wages, consumption and prices” that “would allow Japan to finally move away from the negative interest rates and ultra-loose monetary policies.”
Tags: BOJ, Consumption, Deflation, Demands, Economy, Fast Retailing, Interest rates, Japan, Prices, Raising pay, Rising wages, Salary, Ultra-loose, Virtuous cycle, Watershed, Workforce
Australian Financial Review (July 17)
“Oil has begun to drop back down this week to pre-invasion levels as traders brace for a sharp drop-off in consumption. But food price inflation remains stubbornly high.” Nevertheless, food prices remain largely off the radar. “The dramatic spikes in oil and mineral prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have distracted investors from the long-lasting and more dangerous impact of food inflation.” This has led BlackRock founder Larry Fink to sound the alarm on food inflation which also has profound geopolitical impacts.
Tags: BlackRock, Consumption, Dangerous, Distracted, Drop-off, Food, Impact, Inflation, Invasion, Investors, Larry Fink, Mineral, Oil, Pre-invasion, Russia, Spikes, Traders, Ukraine
New York Times (July 14)
President Biden is in the Middle East hoping production may be increased, “but the oil crunch may already be easing. A report yesterday from the International Energy Agency suggests that the worst of the supply crisis may be over.” The IEA slashed its demand forecasts “for this year and next, pointing to high prices that would reduce consumption and slow the global economy.”
Tags: Biden, Consumption, Demand, Easing, Forecasts, Global economy, High prices, IEA, Middle East, Oil crunch, Production, Supply crisis
BBC (April 4)
“Even if all the policies to cut carbon that governments had put in place by the end of 2020 were fully implemented, the world will still warm by 3.2C this century…. The good news is that this latest IPCC summary shows that it can be done…. But keeping temperatures down will require massive changes to energy production, industry, transport, our consumption patterns and the way we treat nature.”
Tags: 2020, Carbon, Consumption, Energy production, Governments, Implemented, Industry, IPCC, Nature, Policies, Temperatures, Transport, Warm, World
Wall Street Journal (July 9)
“Slack Chinese imports are a symptom of the underlying reason China’s trade surpluses, not just with the U.S. but the world, persist: China consumes too little and saves too much.” Though China’s surpluses have shrunk as a share of GDP, due a decade of explosive GDP growth, the surpluses “remain enormous.” Domestic “consumption is still under 40% of Chinese GDP, one of the lowest ratios among major economies. The persistence of those imbalances is why trade conflicts aren’t about to go away even if Mr. Trump isn’t re-elected.”
Tags: China, Conflicts, Consumption, GDP, Growth, Imbalances, Imports, Saves, Slack, Trade surpluses, Trump, U.S.
Bloomberg (May 19)
“Australia’s success in curbing Covid-19 infections is allowing it to slowly ease some restrictions even as it remains largely closed off from the rest of the world, taking its economy back to the pre-globalization era.” Stimulating domestic consumption prove essential “to drive any rebound,” but complicated by consumer worries. “Even before Covid-19, Australian households were among the most indebted in the developed world, with debt almost double disposable income.”
Tags: Australia, Closed off, Consumption, COVID-19, Developed world, Economy, Households, Indebted, Pre-globalization, Restrictions, Success
Investment Week (March 3)
“If China fails to get ‘back to work’ and is unable to cushion the impact of the coronavirus by April the ‘global ramifications will be enormous.’” At a recent Investment Week Conference, Karen Ward, chief market strategist for EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, also urged investors to “keep an eye on figures tracking Chinese coal consumption and labour migration as key indicators of the growing impact on the country’s economy.”
Tags: China, Coal, Consumption, Coronavirus, EMEA, Global ramifications, Impact, Indicators, Investors, J.P. Morgan, Labour, Migration
Financial Times (February 26)
“Panic spreads faster than a pandemic. That might not make it irrational.” The novel corona virus (Covid-19) has already “infected 10 times as many people as did Sars and killed more than three times as many people. China is a far bigger part of global production and consumption than was the case in 2003.” And if it is not contained, “the hit to global GDP will be even worse.”
Tags: China, Consumption, COVID-19, Irrational, Pandemic, Panic, Production, SARS
