The Economist (February 10)
“This year investors in Chinese stocks have been on a hair-raising ride. Even as America’s S&P 500 index reached record highs, markets in China and Hong Kong shed $1.5trn in January alone…. The decline signals a fundamental problem. Investors abroad and at home once saw China’s government as a dependable steward of the economy. Now this trust has seeped away, with severe consequences for China’s growth.”
Tags: $1.5trn, China, Consequences, Decline, Dependable, Economy, Government, Growth, Hair raising, Hong Kong, Investors, Markets, S&P 500, Steward, Stocks, Trust
Financial Times (January 25)
The German economy is “faltering.” Despite promises of reform and rebound, “Europe’s largest economy is starting to look more like a slow-moving car crash…. In 2023 it contracted by 0.3 per cent, making it the world’s worst-performing major economy. This has been accompanied by policy setbacks, nationwide strikes, and a steep decline in the ruling coalition’s popularity.”
Tags: 2023, Car crash, Contracted, Decline, Economy, Europe, Faltering, German, Major economy, Promises, Reform, Setbacks, Strikes, Worst-performing
Wall Street Journal (January 17)
“China last year ceded its centuries-old position as the world’s most populous country to India.” Births in 2023 fell by over half a million, “to just over 9 million in total, accelerating the decline in the country’s population as women shrugged off the government’s exhortations to reproduce.”
Tags: 2023, Accelerating, Births, Ceded, China, Decline, Exhortations, Government, India, Population, Populous, Shrugged, Women
Wall Street Journal (December 22)
“The Federal Reserve is winning its fight over inflation, boosting Americans’ spirits and offering greater reassurance that the U.S. economy can avoid a recession while bringing prices under control.” The PCE index favored by the Fed, “fell 0.1% in November from the previous month, the first decline since April 2020…. Prices were up 2.6% on the year, not far from the Fed’s 2% target.”
Tags: Boosting, Decline, Economy, Fed, Inflation, November, PCE index, Prices, Reassurance, Recession, Target, U.S.
Washington Post (September 21)
“The number of previously occupied homes sold in the United States dropped by 21 percent over the past year…. That’s on top of an 18 percent annual decline the year before, indicating the housing market has continued to slow down amid rising interest rates. Meanwhile, prices continued to rise, with the median sales price climbing 3.9 percent from a year ago to reach $407,100.”
Tags: $407, 100, Decline, Homes, Housing market, Rising interest rates, Sales price, Slow, Sold, U.S.
The Guardian (September 4)
“With the population expected to decline dramatically in the coming decades–leaving a gaping hole in the workforce–Japan is quietly easing restrictions and accepting record numbers of migrants, mostly from Asian countries such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia and the Philippines.” Recent data shows “a jump in overseas-born residents, to an all-time high of around 3 million, almost 50% up on a decade ago.”
Tags: China, Decline, Dramatically, Easing, Indonesia, Japan, Migrants, Philippines, Population, Record numbers, Restrictions, Vietnam, Workforce
Washington Post (July 1)
July 1 “used to be a day of celebration in the city. Now, it has morphed into a morbid reminder of Hong Kong’s tragic decline under the ever-worsening repression brought on by Beijing.” Hong Kong’s tragedy has great bearing for Taiwan. It “proves that Beijing’s proposal of ‘one country, two systems’ is a delusion — and that any promises Xi makes regarding Taiwan’s continued autonomy under reunification are worthless.”
Tags: Autonomy, Beijing, Celebration, Decline, Delusion, Hong Kong, July 1, Morbid reminder, Promises, Repression, Reunification, Taiwan, Tragedy, Worsening, Xi
Newsweek (April 30)
“Familiar alarm bells sounded in Japan this month as year-end population figures and new projections combined to paint an uncertain future for Asia’s No. 2 economy.” The latest figures show a “12th consecutive annual decline” with the nation’s population standing “at 124.94 million for the year to October, a decrease of over half a million people from 2021.” Moreover, “the working population, aged 15 to 64, fell to 74.2 million, and those above 65 reached 36.23 million—both respective records.” Japan is approaching the “point of no return.”
Tags: 124.94 million, Alarm bells, Asia, Decline, Decrease, Japan, No. 2 economy, Point of no return, Population, Projections, Records, Uncertain future
Bloomberg (April 19)
“Sales of previously owned US homes fell in March by more than forecast, underscoring a housing market that’s still on shaky footing despite some signs of stabilizing.” Though inventory remains tight, “the median selling price of a previously owned home fell 0.9% from a year earlier to $375,700 in March — the largest decline since January 2012.”
Tags: Decline, Forecast, Homes, Inventory, March, Sales, Selling price, Shaky, Stabilizing, U.S., Underscoring. Housing market
Washington Post (April 14)
“Businesses and consumers have found it more challenging to obtain financing.” Federal Reserve data shows “commercial bank lending fell by over $100 billion in the two weeks ending March 29,” which was “the largest two-week cutback in overall bank lending… in records going back half a century.” The same period also brought “the largest decline in commercial and industrial loans on record. And the largest decline on record in lending to real estate, and the largest decline on record in bank holdings of mortgages.”
Tags: Businesses, Challenging, Commercial bank, Consumers, Cutback, Decline, Fed, Financing, Industrial, Lending, Real estate
