Bloomberg (November 27)
“As China’s assault on the world’s automotive industry gathers speed, Japan’s national champions are emerging as some of the biggest victims. In China itself, the world’s largest car market, Japanese automakers are fighting for survival as local competitors flood showrooms” with EVs. Chinese carmakers are also “pushing into Southeast Asia, rapidly gaining ground in what has long been a stronghold for legacy brands like Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi.” We’ve transitioned from “Made in Japan to Made in China,” with Japan’s share of global passenger car production essentially halved (from 21.6% to 11.4%) over the past 25 years while China’s share has rocketed from 1.4% to 38.4% in 2023.
Tags: Automakers, Automotive industry, Car market, Carmakers, China, Competitors, EVs, Honda, Japan, Legacy brands, Mitsubishi, Southeast Asia, Stronghold, Survival, Toyota, Victims
New York Times (November 27)
“The inflation risk stalking the markets eased over the summer,” but is now “front and center again as investors contend with a Trumponomics crackdown on immigration, a rising trade-war risk and a potential bonanza of tax cuts.” Trump’s “latest trade threats show how uncertain the outlook could be”. Since he vowed “to impose tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico…analysts have been gaming out the potential impact.” It could be an opening gambit of little consequence, but “economists fear that it could add bottlenecks and costs to supply chains and reignite inflation, and that it could scramble the Fed’s policy on interest rates.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, Canada, China, Costs, Crackdown, Fed, Immigration, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Markets, Mexico, Risk, Supply chains, Tariffs, Tax cuts, Trade war, Trumponomics, Uncertain
American Banker (November 26)
“President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-lined immigration policies are likely to have implications for housing markets throughout the country, but not necessarily the ones he had in mind.” Though he “billed his hardline stance on the border and promised deportations as a solution to tight housing markets,” experts now expect such policies, “at least in terms of housing, could do more harm than good.”
Tags: Border, Deportations, Experts, Hard-lined, Harm, Housing markets, Immigration policies, Implications, President-elect, Trump
Wall Street Journal (November 26)
“Trump’s promise to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% on Chinese imports on the first day of his presidency could lead to higher prices, just as the country appears to be turning a corner on inflation.” Economists at Yale’s Budget Lab calculated that these tariffs, combined with the three countries’ expected retaliatory measures, “would raise U.S. consumer prices by 0.75% next year,” which would “amount to more than $1000 in lost purchasing power per household.”
Tags: $1000, Canada, China, Consumer prices, Economists, Imports, Inflation, Mexico, Purchasing power, Retaliatory measures, Tariffs, Trump, U.S., Yale
WARC (November 26)
Global advertising spend looks set to exceed “$1 trillion for the first time this year.” It is on course to grow 10.7% this year to a total of $1.08trn, with online media leading the charge – the strongest growth rate in six years and the largest absolute rise on record if the post-Covid recovery of 2021 (+27.9% year-on-year) is disregarded.”
Tags: $1 trillion, 10.7%, 2021, Advertising spend, First time, Global, Growth rate, Largest, Online media, Post-Covid, Record, Rise
LA Times (November 24)
“California is making so much solar energy that large commercial operators are increasingly forced to stop production, raising questions about the state’s costly plan to shift entirely to carbon-free sources of electricity.” Over the past year, “solar farms have curtailed production of more than 3 million megawatt hours of solar energy, either on the orders of the state’s grid operator or because prices had plummeted because of the glut.”
Tags: 3 million MWh, California, Carbon-free, Commercial operators, Electricity, Energy, Forced, Glut, Grid operator, Plummeted, Prices, Production, Solar farms
The Atlantic (November 24)
“To have any hope of meeting their commitments to holding global warming at bay, developing countries need at least $1 trillion a year in outside funding…. Failure to meet those commitments will result in more chaotic climate outcomes globally. Everyone agrees on this.” COP29 arrived at a “$300 billion failure” following “two weeks of grueling, demoralizing negotiations.” The deal spotlights just “how far the world is from facing climate change’s real dangers.”
Tags: $1 trillion, Chaotic, Commitments, COP29, Dangers, Demoralizing, Developing countries, Failure, Global warming, Outcomes, Outside funding
The Economist (November 23)
Across Asia a surprising and unwelcome phenomenon is arising: middle-class stagnation. Over the past three years, for example, 6 million Indonesians fell “into the ‘aspiring middle class,’” and are now “a stone’s throw away from poverty.” The nation’s middle-class population share dropped “to 17% from 22% before the pandemic.” This “middle-class malaise” is not restricted to Indonesia and may “shake up everything from profits to politics” throughout Asia.
Tags: 17%, 6 million, Asia, Aspiring, Indonesians, Malaise, Middle class, Pandemic, Politics, Population, Poverty, Profits, Stagnation, Surprising, Unwelcome
The Independent (November 21)
“The latest public sector borrowing figures are enough to have anyone inside 11 Downing Street heading for the drinks cabinet. The total came to £17.4bn in October; that’s £1.6bn more than this time last year, £5bn higher than City forecasts, and…. worryingly close to the £18.2bn recorded in October 2020, during the height of the pandemic.” All of this suggests “more tax rises could be on the way.”
Tags: £17.4bn, 2020, Borrowing, Downing Street, October, Pandemic, Public sector, Tax rises
CNN (November 20)
Major retailer Target is noticing customer behavior that “is causing it to cast doubt on its future sales.” Store traffic “grew by about 2% year-over-year,” but customer “spending per purchase shrunk by 2%.” According to CEO Brian Cornell, customers are “’becoming increasingly resourceful in their shopping behaviors, waiting to buy until (the) last moment of need, focusing on deals and then stocking up when they find them.’”
Tags: CEO, Cornell, Customer behavior, Deals, Resourceful, Retailer, Sales, Shopping, Spending, Stocking up, Store traffic, Target, Waiting
