Newsweek (October 12)
U.S. baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) account for approximately “52 percent of total U.S. household net worth.” They “own roughly 41 percent of all U.S. real estate assets,” which translates to “nearly $19 trillion worth of property.” As they age, boomers are “poised to reshape large parts of the U.S. economy in the coming years as their enormous wealth and changing needs redirect spending toward health care, housing, financial services and premium experiences.”
Tags: $19 trillion, $52, 1946, 1964, 41%, Assets, Baby boomers, Economy, Financial services, Health care, Household net worth, Housing, Real estate, Reshape, Spending, U.S., Wealth
Fortune (October 11)
“China’s debt interest costs are soaring above U.S. levels and growing faster than any other budget category as Beijing struggles to prop up growth.” Current estimates suggest “debt-servicing payments will account for 19.2% of the central government’s general public budget this year, up from 12% in 2014.”
Tags: Beijing, Budget, China, Costs, Debt interest, Debt-servicing payments, Government, Growing, Soaring, Struggles, U.S.
Reuters (October 7)
“The amount of oil in storage that is accessible to the global market is running low… making the market more fragile and putting upward pressure on prices.” For example, “Stocks of crude oil in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve are at their lowest since October 1982” while “natural gas inventories are also depleted, making prices vulnerable to spikes.”
Tags: 1982, Accessible, Crude oil, Depleted, Fragile, Global market, Inventories, Lowest, Natural gas, Oil, Prices, Storage, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, U.S., Upward pressure
New York Times (October 2)
President Trump is now “threatening to ban or restrict the export of diesel from the United States, which is the top supplier to more than a dozen countries including Mexico, Canada and much of Europe. Oil executives and world leaders are issuing increasingly dire warnings that the result could be global price spikes on everything from groceries to jet fuel.” The only nation with spare capacity to process more diesel is China, but analysts believe “China has started again to restrict some of its sizable exports of refined crude products including diesel.”
Tags: Ban, Canada, China, Diesel, Dire warnings, Europe, Export, Global price spikes, Groceries, Jet fuel, Mexico, Oil, Restrict, Spare capacity, Threatening, Top supplier, Trump, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (October 2)
“The monthslong rout in global government bonds is getting messier and weirder.” For developed nations, sovereign debt had “moved broadly in tandem.” But on Thursday, “a flight to bonds considered safe drove U.S. Treasury yields lower, while those of French, Italian and Greek bonds jumped in a sudden divergence.” While this was a “reprieve of sorts for the U.S…. it was also a reminder of how extended selloffs in bonds can cause unexpected problems.” There is “a faint smell of a crisis in the making.”
Tags: Bonds, Developed nations, Divergence, Flight, France, Global, Greece, Italy, Messier, Reprieve, Rout, Selloffs, Sovereign debt, Treasury yields, U.S., Unexpected problems, Weirder
The Guardian (September 28)
In the U.S., “consumer sentiment has slid sharply in light of today’s stubborn inflation, mixed with slower economic growth, high interest rates and huge economic uncertainty about trade wars and AI.” A University of Michigan poll found that “consumer sentiment fell in September to its second lowest level ever in the poll’s 74-year history. Only this past May was lower.”
Tags: AI, Consumer sentiment, Economic growth, Economic uncertainty, High interest rates, Inflation, Slid, Slower, Stubborn, Trade wars, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 24)
“The AI build-out is becoming the biggest economic bet in U.S. history.” Spending on data centers is already “greater than that for the canals, railroads and grid combined—creating jobs and wealth but also boosting inflation.” Between 2025 and 2032, “total investment in data centers and related artificial-intelligence infrastructure is projected to total $10.3 trillion.” As this investment transforms the economy, “it is also creating significant risk, as much of it is built on debt. An abrupt slowdown could ignite shock waves throughout the U.S. economy.”
Tags: $10.3 trillion, 2032, AI, Build-out, Canals, Data centers, Debt, Economic bet, Grid, Inflation, Infrastructure, Investment, Jobs, Railroads, Risk, Slowdown, Spending, U.S., Wealth
South China Morning Post (September 17)
“What is clear is that while the US is putting pressure on Japanese monetary policy, Japan could end up putting global markets under more strain.” Aside from undermining the Bank of Japan’s credibility, the outside pressure could “cause the yen carry trade… to unwind,” leaving especially exposed “technology-heavy stock markets such as South Korea and Taiwan.” Moreover the “higher Japanese bond yields could draw capital away from the US Treasury market, which is already under pressure because of the Fed’s hawkish pivot.”
Tags: BOJ, Bond yields, Carry trade, Clear, Credibility, Exposed, Fed, Global markets, Japan, Monetary policy, Pressure, South Korea, Strain, Taiwan, U.S., Undermining, Unwind, Yen
Time (September 9)
As the “Buy Canadian” movement gains momentum, “Consumers in Canada are finding different ways to navigate how best to boycott U.S. goods and services, putting extra time in at the grocery store to ensure they are buying Canadian as often as they can.” The movement’s resurgence “comes amid a deepening U.S.-Canada trade dispute that shows no signs of waning.”
Tags: Boycott, Buy Canadian, Canada, Consumers, Deepening, Goods, Grocery store, Momentum, Movement, Navigate, Resurgence, Services, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 9)
“A new superpower is about to enter the fray, one that is unknowable and unending and potentially dwarfs the U.S. and China individually or collectively.” Artificial intelligence already poses significant threats, “yet AI’s most consequential advances—starting with recursive self-improvement—are still ahead.” At their upcoming summit, Trump and Xi “need to make AI safety the top priority for the rest of their tenures.”
Tags: Advances, AI, China, Consequential, Priority, Recursive self-improvement, Safety, Summit, Superpower, Threats, Trump, U.S., Unending, Unknowable, Xi
