Fortune (March 23)
“The great toilet paper panic is back as Japan starts stockpiling. As the U.S.-Israeli-Iran conflict rattles oil markets, Japanese consumers are stockpiling toilet paper—a product with no connection to the disruptions whatsoever, but that has caused enough problems for the country that the Japanese government has urged citizens to stop buying ahead of time.”
Tags: Citizens, Conflict, Consumers, Disruptions, Government, Iran, Israeli, Japan, Oil markets, Panic, Problems, Rattles, Stockpiling, Toilet paper, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 12)
“Escalating Iranian attacks and the U.S. government’s decision to hold off on military escorts for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz are raising the prospect of a prolonged closure that would choke off exports through the world’s most important energy-transport route.”
Tags: Attacks, Choke, Decision, Energy, Escalating, Exports, Government, Iranian, Military escorts, Oil tankers, Prolonged closure, Route, Strait of Hormuz, Transport, U.S.
Fortune (March 5)
“A landmark Supreme Court ruling against President Trump’s tariffs has cost the federal government an estimated $1.7 trillion in projected revenue through 2036.” At its current spending rate, this sets “the United States on a course toward a national debt of $58 trillion within the next decade.”
Tags: $1.7 trillion, $58 trillion, 2036, Cost, Government, Landmark, National debt, Projected revenue, Ruling, Spending rate, Supreme Court, Tariffs, Trump, U.S.
Fortune (February 22)
“Four years after Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s economy has entered a ‘death zone.’” Former Russian central bank advisor Alexandra Prokopenko, currently a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, believes “the Russian economy is eating its own muscle to survive as Putin’s war on Ukraine destroys future capacity.” The economy might not be ”headed for an imminent crash, but GDP has stagnated, oil revenue has been halved amid Western sanctions, and the government’s budget deficit is rapidly draining reserves.”
Tags: Budget deficit, Central bank, Crash, Death zone, Economy, Future capacity, GDP, Government, Invasion, Oil revenue, Prokopenko, Putin, Reserves, Russia, Stagnated, Ukraine, Western sanctions
Barron’s (February 11)
“The U.S. Treasury market has been awfully steady lately. It’s a blessing for the economy and stocks. The 10-year Treasury note —a key debt issued by the U.S. government—has traded in a 0.39 percentage point range over the past six months, its narrowest since October 2018, according to Dow Jones Market data team.”
Tags: 0.39, 2018, Blessing, Debt, Economy, Government, Market, Narrowest, Range, Steady, Stocks, Treasury, U.S.
Reuters (December 11)
“India’s blistering growth has a quality problem. GDP is speeding ahead at 8% in the world’s fifth-largest economy but the government is doing the heavy lifting on investment. Policymakers have spent years trying to coax companies into spending more, with limited success. The result: growth that looks fast but feels flimsy.”
Tags: 8%, Coax, Economy, FAST, GDP, Government, Growth, India, Investment, Policymakers, Quality, Spending, Success
Washington Post (December 2)
Results have been “predictable” in Iran where “markets were subordinated to ideology, which meant the farming had to occur no matter what.” Now, “reservoirs around Tehran are at dangerously low levels. Water rationing is in effect. Iran’s president has even said the country’s capital city will need to move. And the government still cannot abide a market price for water.”
Tags: Capital, Farming, Government, Ideology, Iran, Market price, Markets, Predictable, Reservoirs, Results, Subordinated, Tehran, Water rationing
The Economist (November 19)
“In America’s foundation myths, the humble mortgage rarely features.” Though uncelebrated, housing loans have driven “the American dream, which centres on home ownership, ever since the federal government began subsidising property loans a century ago,” but their power is waning. “America’s huge mortgage market is slowly dying” and “Donald Trump’s remedies threaten to inflame a housing crisis.”
Tags: American dream, Dying, Foundation myths, Government, Home ownership, Housing crisis, Humble, Loans, Market, Mortgage, Property, Remedies, Trump, U.S., Uncelebrated
Financial Times (November 15)
“The longest ever US government shutdown has created an unprecedented blind spot over the health of the world’s biggest economy as critical data reports are set to be delayed or ditched.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis and other agencies “were largely unable to collect and publish data during the 43-day shutdown, creating a gap in statistical series that will obscure the economic picture for investors and policymakers.”
Tags: Agencies, Blind spot, BLS, Collect, Data, Delayed, Economy, Gap, Government, Investors, Longest, Obscure, Publish, Reports, Shutdown, Statistical series, U.S.
Market Watch (November 13)
“Artificial intelligence has snowballed from a technological innovation to the growth driver of the entire economy and a national-security interest. Could it be on track to become too big to fail, leaving the U.S. government to hold the bag?” At the moment, there is no doubt that “Big Tech is betting everything on AI,” but there is less recognition that this gamble “could leave the U.S. government on the hook.”
Tags: AI, Big tech, Economy, Government, Growth driver, National security, Snowballed, Technological innovation, Too big to fail, U.S.
