Barron’s (June 27)
“Russia’s first default on its foreign debt in more than 100 years is the latest sign that the sanctions… have consequences,” but it’s a “symbolic win.” Energy prices remain the biggest impact of sanctions. “Oil prices aren’t coming down as long as Western powers are working to wean themselves off Russian supply. Faster inflation and rising interest rates, meanwhile, are bringing the global economy to its knees.”
Tags: 100 years, Consequences, Default, Energy prices, Foreign debt, Impact, Inflation, Interest rates, Oil prices, Russia, Sanctions, Supply, Symbolic win
Reuters (June 6)
“Even though supply disruptions in many parts of the world are severe and policy solutions are challenging, Western governments do have the opportunity to reverse the rising cost of food through the simple scrapping of biofuel mandates. This would remove a very large non-food demand for crops and turn the current grain shortage to a surplus, easing the pressure on inflation.”
Tags: Biofuel mandates, Crops, Demand, Disruptions, Food, Governments, Grain shortage, Inflation, Opportunity, Solutions, Supply, Surplus
Oilprice.com (November 18)
“The real reason that Big Oil won’t raise production is a matter of simple economics. Keeping the supply tight is just too good for the bottom line…. In fact, according to figures from Deloitte LLP, oil explorers in the United States are making more money now than at any other point in the more-than decade-long history of the nation’s shale revolution.”
Tags: Big oil, Bottom line, Decade, Deloitte, Economics, Money, Production, Shale revolution, Supply, Tight, 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
South China Morning Post (October 18)
Coal prices have “more than tripled in a year to near historical highs” and look poised to keep climbing, driven by a coal shortage that could threaten the global economic recovery. “Blackouts could spread from China and India to all the emerging economies still mostly reliant on coal. As supply can’t be ramped up in the near term, the shortages could worsen as energy demand rises with winter’s arrival. That may trigger another emerging-market crisis.”
Tags: Blackouts, China, Coal, Demand, Economic recovery, Emerging-market crisis, Energy, India, Prices, Reliant, Shortage, Supply, Threaten, Tripled, Winter
The Economist (October 9)
“Spending has come roaring back, as governments have stimulated the economy and consumers let rip. The surge in demand is so powerful that supply is struggling to keep up. Lorry drivers are getting signing bonuses, an armada of container ships is anchored off California waiting for ports to clear and energy prices are spiralling upwards. As rising inflation spooks investors, the gluts of the 2010s have given way to a shortage economy.”
Tags: Consumers, Container ships, Demand, Economy, Energy, Gluts, Governments, Inflation, Investors, Ports, Powerful, Roaring, Signing bonuses, Spending, Supply, Surge
Seattle Times (April 25)
“Even as optimism abounds in the United States, where cases are in steep decline and the vaccine supply has begun to exceed the demand,” fueled on by new variants, the pandemic “has reached one of its bleakest points.” Last week brought a record 5.7 million new COVID-19 infections worldwide, “nearly double the seven-day average in late February. The death toll — now approaching 3.1 million — grew by more than 87,000.”
Wall Street Journal (February 5)
“Basing eligibility in stages from oldest to youngest from now on is simple, scientific and fair. As supply increases, this will be the fastest way to inoculate the most people, reduce demands on the health-care system, and allow more businesses to reopen. Interest groups will complain, but the public will understand and politicians won’t take the inevitable grief for favoritism.”
Tags: Businesses, Eligibility, Fair, Fastest, Health-care system, Inoculate, Oldest, Reopen, Scientific, Simple, Supply, Youngest
The Economist (July 18)
“Big change is coming, as countries around the world adopt cleaner sources of energy. Peak demand for oil may still be years away, but covid-19 has given the Middle East and north Africa a taste of the future. Prices of the black stuff plummeted as countries went into lockdown…. Even when the virus recedes, a glut of supply will probably keep prices down. Faced with budgets that no longer add up, Arab states must adapt.”
Tags: Budgets, Change, Cleaner, COVID-19, Energy, Glut, Middle East, North Africa, Peak demand, Plummeted, Prices, Supply
New York Times (June 25)
“On Wednesday it was as if the country had found itself back in March — at the start of the pandemic, in the early days of the lockdown, when masks were in short supply and when the death toll was skyrocketing.” The U.S. “reached another grim milestone on Wednesday as it reported 36,880 new cases,” breaking the previous high set on April 24. Instead of containment, new cases “have roared back in recent weeks.”
Tags: Containment, Death toll, Grim, Lockdown, March, Masks, Milestone, New cases, Pandemic, Skyrocketing, Supply, U.S.
