Financial Times (December 10)
“Global public debt is set to exceed $100tn by the end of this year” according to IMF estimates, “with total government borrowing set to approach 100 per cent of global GDP by the end of the decade.” This development led the outgoing chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements to warn that “rising government debt levels will cause turbulence in the global economy and financial markets unless political leaders start tackling them soon.”
Tags: $100tn, BIS, Borrowing, Chief economist, Debt levels, Economy, Financial markets, GDP, Global, Government, IMF, Political leaders, Public debt, Turbulence
Barron’s (December 9)
“Buckle up. The tit-for-tat between the U.S. and China is gearing up quickly, most recently with China’s State Administration for Market Regulation on Monday opening an antitrust probe into chip giant Nvidia.” The probe serves as “an example of what could be ahead in the fraught U.S.-China relationship—and the array of companies that could get caught in the middle.” On top of that, China also banned “exports of critical minerals including germanium and gallium used in military applications to the U.S.“ while the Ministry of Finance “unveiled policies to prefer procurement from Chinese-made products—another example of non-tariff pushback from Beijing.”
The Drum (December 8)
“The biggest shake-up in the advertising agency landscape in decades is on the cards as Omnicom closes in on a deal to acquire IPG.” The merger would create “the biggest advertising holding company in the world in revenue terms, shifting the balance of power to the US from Europe, where London-based WPP and Paris-based Publicis Groupe have been battling for supremacy.”
Washington Post (December 6)
“Global temperatures remain at near-record levels. After 2023 ended up the warmest year in human history by far, 2024 is almost certain to be even warmer. Now, some scientists say this could indicate fundamental changes are happening to the global climate that are raising temperatures faster than anticipated.”
Tags: 2023, 2024, Faster, Fundamental changes, Global, Global climate, Human history, Record levels, Temperatures, Warmest
Wall Street Journal (December 6)
“Better productivity growth has helped the U.S. power past similar economies such as the European Union’s and Canada’s…. Over the past five years, quarterly year-over-year productivity growth has averaged 2.1%, a sharp improvement from growth over the 10 years prior.” This “critical development… has allowed for strong economic output and declining inflation, even as the labor market cools.”
Tags: 2.1%, Canada, declining inflation, Economic output, Economies, EU, Improvement, Labor market, Power, Productivity growth, Strong, U.S.
New York Times (December 4)
“On Wednesday, the price of a single Bitcoin rose to more than $100,000, a remarkable milestone for an experimental financial asset that had once been mocked as a sideshow…. Bitcoin now stands as arguably the most successful investment product of the last 20 years. The value of all the coins in circulation is $2 trillion, more than the combined worth of Mastercard, Walmart and JPMorgan Chase.”
Tags: $100K, $2 trillion, Asset, Bitcoin, Circulation, Experimental, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Milestone, Mocked, Remarkable, Sideshow, Value, Walmart
Bloomberg (December 4)
President Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law “sparked chaos… sending the won and South Korea-related exchange-traded funds sharply lower overnight. While extreme jitters dissipated as financial authorities swiftly vowed to provide ‘unlimited liquidity,’ damage has been done to investor perception of South Korea’s financial markets.” The episode is “a setback to the nation’s ongoing push for upgrades to developed market status in global indexes.”
Tags: Chaos, Damage, ETFs, Financial authorities, Financial markets, Global indexes, Investor perception, Jitters, Martial law, South Korea, Status, Unlimited liquidity, Won, Yoon
Financial Times (December 3)
“America’s economy is soaring ahead of its rivals,” and its “outperformance is rooted in long-term productivity growth that is the envy of the developed world.” Many of these productivity gains are coming from tech investments. “China is the only other large economy making significant strides in tech R&D spending…. the amount of venture capital invested in AI in China is now the second highest globally after the US.”
Tags: AI, China, Developed world, Economy, Envy, Investments, Outperformance, Productivity growth, R&D spending, Rivals, Soaring, Tech, U.S., VC
Barron’s (December 2)
“Japan was conspicuously not mentioned” in tariffs Trump has specified for countries including China. This leaves some “wondering if China has become the new Japan and Japan is the new China.” Will China’s “economy stagnate over a sustained period, like Japan’s did for decades, and become a market to avoid?” In contrast, “Japan has shown signs of life lately. It’s viewed favorably by the new administration…. Does that mean the land of the rising sun is once again on the rise?”
Tags: Avoid, China, Conspicuously, Economy, Favorably, Japan, Market, New administration, Rising sun, Stagnate, Tariffs, Trump
Washington Post (November 30)
“After years of tumult in the housing market, builders across the country are betting that looser regulations and what they hope will be an economic boom will make it easier to build and sell. They’re also hoping those tailwinds more than offset possible hazards of Trump’s agenda, including ramped-up tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China that could push up costs for materials, and aggressive immigration policies that could mean the deportations of construction workers.”
Tags: Build and sell, Builders, Canada, China, Construction, Deportations, Economic boom, Hazards, Housing market, Immigration, Materials, Mexico, Regulations, Tailwinds, Tariffs, Trump, Tumult, Workers
