CNN (January 15)
“Germany’s economy shrank last year for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic… increasing the risk of an economic contraction in the wider euro area.” GDP dropped 0.3%, both during 2023 overall and during Q4. “The data bodes ill for the entire area that uses the euro because Germany is the largest of its 20 economies.”
Barron’s (November 12)
“Germany’s economy, historically the powerhouse of Europe, is going through a rough patch. Its reliance on Russian energy and trade with China will have to be scaled back and new sources of growth found.” The nation’s GDP “declined in the third quarter, bringing down the rest of the euro zone with it,” and the OECD now “expects Germany to be the second worst performer in its group of 30 advanced economies this year, ahead only of Argentina.”
Tags: Argentina, China, Economy, Europe, GDP, Germany, Growth, OECD, Powerhouse, Reliance, Russian energy, Trade, Worst performer
Wall Street Journal (September 20)
“China’s economic and technological strength dwarfs that of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Since 1885 the U.S. has never faced a competitor or group of competitors with a gross domestic product greater than 40% of our own. China’s economy is likely at least 75% of ours. It also has a larger navy (even more so in its home waters) and a shipbuilding capability that far exceeds ours.”
Tags: 1885, China, Cold war, Competitor, Economic, GDP, Navy, Soviet Union, Strength, Technological, U.S.
Washington Post (March 9)
European leaders may “attest to a continent fully awakened to the reality of the war. But the truth is that Europe has not taken its defense seriously before now, and it cannot be strategically ‘autonomous’ until it does.” Home to 450 million people with a $17 trillion GDP, defense spending in excess of $200 billion annually, the EU needs to get its act together. “A strong, autonomous Europe benefits the United States as much as it does Europe itself: Partners working in tandem present a more formidable front against any military threat.”
Tags: $17 trillion, Autonomous, Awakened, Defense, Europe, GDP, Leaders, Partners, Reality, Spending, Strategic, U.S., War
Wall Street Journal (November 25)
“China’s zero-Covid reckoning” is approaching as “record infections and new lockdowns lead to rising public frustration and slower economic growth.” China’s economy is expected to slow further, “with growth estimates falling for the fourth quarter and the year below 3%. That’s assuming Chinese officials aren’t gilding the books. China’s official GDP target for this year had been 5.5%.”
Tags: China, Economy, GDP, Infections, Lockdowns, Public frustration, Q4, Reckoning, Record, Slower economic growth, Zero COVID
Investment Week (October 12)
Aside from shipping difficulties and “maritime headwinds” hitting China, “the property crisis, fuelled by debt defaults from property developers, has dented the likelihood of Chinese GDP hitting growth targets as local authority revenue takes a hit from land sale income decline. Sentiment has followed suit and many wonder when and where respite will arise.”
Tags: China, Debt defaults, Decline, GDP, Growth targets, Headwinds, Income, Land sale, Maritime, Property crisis, Property developers, Revenue, Sentiment, Shipping
The Economist (May 28)
Signs suggest “America’s markets are entering a new, more worrying phase.” Falling share prices could initially be attributed to the Federal Reserve’s policy moves, but “in recent weeks share prices have kept falling, even as bond yields have dropped back,” a combination suggesting recession. “Indeed, the mix of Fed tightening, slowing gdp and rising production costs has the ominous feel of the later stages of a business cycle. The expansion is barely two years old. Yet investors are already worried that corporate profits are under threat.”
Tags: Bond yields, Business cycle, Expansion, Falling, Fed, GDP, Investors, Markets, Ominous, Production costs, Profits, Recession, Share prices, Signs, Tightening, U.S., Worried, Worrying
Wall Street Journal (May 5)
“With China now an economic and military powerhouse, Taiwan’s lack of preparedness is increasingly dangerous. Taiwan’s economy is two-thirds larger than Israel’s, but Taiwan spends almost two-thirds less as a percentage of gross domestic product on defense.” Especially in light of Ukraine’s invasion, this has to change and just an extra percent of military spending could prove decisive. “Through the force-multiplying miracle of modern weapons, we can help make Taiwan a porcupine and deter aggression that could have profoundly negative consequences for Taiwan, China and the world.”
Tags: Aggression, China, Dangerous, Economic, GDP, Invasion, Israel, Military spending, Porcupine, Powerhouse, Preparedness, Taiwan, Ukraine, Weapons
Reuters (April 28)
“An annualized 1.4% fall in U.S. GDP in the first quarter sounds pretty grim. But the U.S. economy may be taking one step backwards to take two forward.”
CNN Business (April 17)
“Nearly 400 million people across 45 cities in China are under full or partial lockdown as part of China’s strict zero-Covid policy.” Collectively, they contribute $7.2 trillion, nearly 40%, of China’s GDP. “Analysts are ringing warning bells, but say investors aren’t properly assessing how serious the global economic fallout might be from these prolonged isolation orders.”
Tags: $7.2 trillion, 400 million, 45 cities, Analysts, China, Economic fallout, GDP, Global, Investors, Isolation, Lockdown, Strict, Warning bells, Zero-Covid policy
