The Economist (August 1)
“The downfall of America’s industrial giant is a cautionary tale for all big firms.” GE’s “near-collapse in 2018 beggared belief. It still limps on, but the suspects behind a destruction of $500bn in value over little more than 20 years are so many that the mystery feels like a whodunnit.”
Tags: Cautionary tale, Collapse, Destruction, Downfall, GE, Giant, Industrial, U.S.
Financial Times (April 22)
“The collapse of the eurozone would be a catastrophe. The ECB is the one institution able and willing to act. Governments should back it.”
Tags: Act, Catastrophe, Collapse, ECB, eurozone, Governments
Bloomberg (April 13)
“OPEC+ group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, finally agreed to a record cut in their oil production in response to the coronavirus-triggered collapse in demand. But the deal will come under pressure when the world becomes a more normal place again.” When demand returns, “the great battle for market share between the Americans, the Saudis and the Russians will probably restart.”
Tags: Battle, Collapse, Coronavirus, Demand, Market share, Oil production, OPEC, Pressure, Record, Russia, Saudi Arabia
Reuters (March 9)
Two black swans have collided. “Financial markets have been thrown into turmoil following Saudi Arabia’s response to the collapse of OPEC+ talks and concerns about the global spread of the coronavirus.”
Tags: Black swans, Collapse, Collided, Financial markets, OPEC, Saudi Arabia, Turmoil
The Economist (February 1)
“Two things explain why a new infectious disease is so alarming. One is that, at first, it spreads exponentially…. conjuring speculation about a health-care collapse, social and economic upheaval and a deadly pandemic. The other is profound uncertainty. Sparse data and conflicting reports mean that scientists cannot rule out the worst case—and that lets bad information thrive.”
Tags: Alarming, Collapse, Deadly, Disease, Economic, Exponentially, Health care, Infectious, Pandemic, Social, Speculation, Uncertainty, Upheaval
The Hill (November 18)
“Next year, the number of Venezuelans fleeing their country will overtake the Syrian exodus. To date, more than 4 million have left. One-third of these refugees and migrants are sheltering in Colombia, which has maintained a very generous open-door policy,” but is showing signs of being overwhelmed. Colombia “indeed appears headed towards a tipping point. Such an outcome would exacerbate the regional humanitarian crisis triggered by Venezuela’s collapse.”
Tags: Collapse, Colombia, Exodus, Fleeing, Generous, Humanitarian crisis, Migrants, Overwhelmed, Refugees, Sheltering, Syria, Tipping point, Venezuela
South China Morning Post (August 14)
“The crisis in Hong Kong appears to be careening towards a devastating climax.” But China “must pick the least bad option to resolve Hong Kong crisis” and that’s not a PLA crackdown. The PLA would be treated “as invaders, and resistance would be fierce and casualties unavoidable.” Furthermore, “an exodus of expats and elites would follow, and the Hong Kong economy – still a bridge between China the rest of the world – would almost immediately collapse.”
Tags: Careening, Casualties, China, Collapse, Crackdown, Crisis, Devastating climax, Elites, Exodus, Expats, Hong Kong, Invaders, PLA, Resistance
The Times (December 9)
“This week, parliament’s Brexit drama reaches its climax, resulting perhaps in a nation set on a course that no one seems to think is in the national interest, or the collapse of a government, or the fall of a prime minister. Barring a last-minute miracle, Theresa May has lost her final battle. Her big push has failed.”
Tags: Brexit, Climax, Collapse, Failed, Government, May, National interest, Parliament, Prime minister
Newsweek (September 4)
“September 15 will mark the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and near meltdown of Wall Street, followed by the Great Recession.” With household debt at “an all-time high of $13.2 trillion,” we’re now close to a repeat. The direct cause will be income imbalance, not a banking crisis. “The U.S. economy crashes when it becomes too top heavy because the economy depends on consumer spending to keep it going…. For a time, the middle class and poor can keep the economy going nonetheless by borrowing. But, as in 1929 and 2008, debt bubbles eventually burst. We’re getting dangerously close.”
Tags: Anniversary, Banking, Collapse, Consumer spending, Crisis, Great Recession, Household debt, Income imbalance, Lehman Brothers, Meltdown, Top heavy, U.S., Wall Street
Time (June 18)
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a political crisis that could reshape Europe’s migration crisis and potentially end her ten years in power” as a standoff “over Germany’s liberal migration policies threatens to collapse the fragile coalition that Merkel presides over.”
Tags: Coalition, Collapse, Europe, Germany Merkel, Migration, Political crisis, Standoff
