Washington Post (January 25)
“The nation’s economy was supposed to have sunk into recession by now, dragged down by the highest interest rates in two decades and a resulting slump in borrowing and spending. Instead, the U.S. economy has kept chugging along. Even more encouraging, inflation, which touched a four-decade high in 2022, has edged steadily lower without the painful layoffs that most economists had thought would be necessary to slow the acceleration of prices.”
Tags: Acceleration, Borrowing, Economists, Economy, Encouraging, Inflation, Interest rates, Layoffs, Painful, Recession, Slump, Spending, U.S.
Reuters (August 10)
“The United States may be over the hump on inflation, but consumers aren’t acting like it. Spending is growing at the same pace as last year, and most Americans expect their finances to either stay the same or get worse…. Lingering restraint will stretch the power of price elasticity to its limits.”
Tags: Consumers, Finances, Growing, Hump, Inflation, Limits, Lingering, Pace, Price elasticity, Restraint, Spending, Stretch, U.S., Worse
Wall Street Journal (May 27)
“America’s travel resurgence is finally here… Despite worries over persistent inflation, banking-sector woes and the debt-ceiling standoff, people are probably going to be spending a lot of time, and money, on trips. This should provide some support for the economy in the months ahead.”
Tags: Banking sector, Debt-ceiling standoff, Economy, Money, Persistent inflation, Resurgence, Spending, Support, Time, Travel, Trips, U.S., Woes, Worries
Fortune (April 24)
“National governments are spending a record amount of money on defense and arms, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a more complicated geopoltical environment push countries to buy more military equipment.” All told, defense spending grew by 3.7% in 2002. Roughly “half of that increase was due to a 640% surge in military spending by Ukraine, as the country quickly expanded its armed forces to defend against the invasion.”
Tags: Arms, Complicated, Defense, Environment, Geopoltical, Governments, Military equipment, Record, Russia, Spending, Ukraine
Washington Post (March 9)
European leaders may “attest to a continent fully awakened to the reality of the war. But the truth is that Europe has not taken its defense seriously before now, and it cannot be strategically ‘autonomous’ until it does.” Home to 450 million people with a $17 trillion GDP, defense spending in excess of $200 billion annually, the EU needs to get its act together. “A strong, autonomous Europe benefits the United States as much as it does Europe itself: Partners working in tandem present a more formidable front against any military threat.”
Tags: $17 trillion, Autonomous, Awakened, Defense, Europe, GDP, Leaders, Partners, Reality, Spending, Strategic, U.S., War
Wall Street Journal (December 17)
“History is on speed-dial these days, and the latest seismic shift is Japan’s announcement Friday of a new defense strategy and the spending to implement it.” Credit for this historic change goes to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida “for taking the political risk to educate his country about the growing threats from China and North Korea and how to deter them.”
Tags: China, Defense strategy, Educate, Historic change, History, Japan, Kishida, North Korea, Political risk, Seismic shift, Spending, Threats
Institutional Investor (August 4)
“Rampant inflation means the total return that private and community foundations need to break even and pay their beneficiaries is about as high as it’s ever been.” As they face “some of the most challenging mandates they’ve ever encountered,” foundations “will have to make tough decisions about risk and spending to survive.”
Tags: Beneficiaries, Break even, Challenging, Foundations, Inflation, Mandates, Rampant, Risk, Spending, Total return
WARC (August 1)
“Whether it’s $18 for a two-ounce ginseng drink or $75,000 for a luxury mattress, the story is the same: Chinese consumers are becoming more frugal and the days of carefree spending have gone.” For over a decade, upmarket western brands have relied on China’s “expanding middle class” to drive growth, “but now, with a slowing economy, growing unemployment and a disruptive zero-COVID policy, those same middle classes are as likely to be saving as spending.”
Tags: Carefree, China, Consumers, Frugal, Growth, Luxury, Middle class, Saving, Slowing Economy, Spending, Unemployment, Upmarket, Western brands, Zero COVID
Washington Post (July 26)
“The U.S. economy is caught in an awkward, painful place. A confusing one, too. Growth appears to be sputtering, home sales are tumbling and economists warn of a potential recession ahead. But consumers keep spending, businesses keep posting profits and the economy keeps adding hundreds of thousands of jobs a month.”
Tags: Awkward, Businesses, Caught, Confusing, Consumers, Economists, Economy, Growth, Home sales, Painful, Profits, Recession, Spending, Sputtering, U.S.
Bloomberg (November 1)
“China’s economy showed signs of further weakness in October as power shortages and surging commodity prices weighed on manufacturing, while strict Covid controls put a brake on holiday spending.” The purchasing mangers’ index shows “the economy is under pressure from both the supply and demand side.”
Tags: China, Commodity, Covid, Economy, Manufacturing, October, PMI, Power shortages, Prices, Spending, Strict, Supply, Surging, Weakness
