Bloomberg (September 19)
“For the first time since at least the 1990s, China hasn’t bought any US soybeans at the start of the export season, a sign that Beijing is once again using agriculture as leverage in its trade fight with Washington.” In 2024, the US supplied “a fifth of China’s soybean imports, worth more than $12 billion, and accounting for over half of total US soy export value.” This year, “US farmers, flush with bumper harvests, are coping with prices near the lowest levels in years.”
Tags: $12 billion, 1990s, 2024, Agriculture, Bumper harvests, China, Export season, Leverage, Prices, Soybeans, Trade fight, U.S., Washington
Washington Post (March 14)
President Trump may be hoping to copy Argentinian President Javier Milei’s success at beating inflation and rejuvenating an economy. Trump now seems “willing to risk a recession to see his vision come to pass,” but his approach is more likely to “backfire and harm the economy for years to come. Recessions hurt. They have long-lasting effects.” On top of that, the President is focused on restoring yesteryear’s jobs. He “is fixated on returning to the economy of the 1990s — or even the 1890s. The only thing worse than undergoing a forced recession would be a forced recession that leaves America less competitive.”
Tags: 1990s, Argentina, Backfire, Economy, Inflation, Jobs, Less competitive, Milei, Recession, Risk, Trump, Vision
Market Watch (May 25)
“On May 28, a new rule will go into effect that will affect almost every stock, bond, and ETF trade in U.S. markets,” requiring settlement within one day. Reducing failure to deliver (FTD) “risk is one of the reasons that industry players have been pushing to get to a T+1 settlement cycle since the 1990s, when the settlement cycle was still at T+5. Over the years, the U.S. has moved to a T+3 settlement cycle, then T+2 and now finally T+1.”
Tags: 1990s, Bond, Effect, ETF, Failure to deliver, May 28, Risk, Rule, Settlement cycle, Stock, T+1, T+2, T+3, T+5, Trade, U.S. markets
Fortune (March 23)
“Foreign businesses’ direct investment into China last year increased by the lowest amount since the early 1990s, underscoring Beijing’s challenges to spur its economy. It also has to contend with a steadily accelerating outflow of manufacturing as Apple and other American brands begin to position new capacity in countries from India to Southeast Asia to mitigate risks from US-China tensions.”
Tags: 1990s, Accelerating, Apple, Beijing, Brands, Capacity, Challenges, China, Economy, FDI, India, Investment, Manufacturing, Mitigate, Outflow, Risks, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (September 24)
“America’s billionaires love Japanese stocks. Why don’t the Japanese?” Despite enthusiasm from overseas, “there are few signs its estimated 125 million residents share in the excitement. Burned by dismal returns since the bursting of Japan’s asset bubble in the late 1980s and early 1990s, generations of families here have stashed most of their money in low-yielding savings accounts rather than trying to increase their wealth through the stock market.”
Tags: 1980s, 1990s, Asset bubble, Billionaires, Dismal returns, Enthusiasm, Excitement, Japan, Low-yielding, Money, Overseas, Residents, Savings accounts, Stashed, Stock market, Stocks, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 2)
With “the rapidly advancing nuclear capabilities of all four of America’s nuclear-capable rivals—Russia, Iran, North Korea and China,” it is time to reevaluate nuclear strategy. “Instead of pursuing 1990s-era fantasies about reducing the role of nuclear weapons, Washington needs to understand that… it is entering a long-term strategic-arms competition.” The U.S. must “strengthen its strategic forces to provide an adequate deterrent for itself and the more than 30 formal treaty allies that rely on U.S. nuclear weapons for their security.”
Tags: 1990s, Advancing, Allies, Capabilities, China, Competition, Deterrent, Iran, North Korea, Nuclear, Rivals, Russia, Strategic arms, Strategy, U.S., Weapons
Scientific American (January 25)
“In the 1990s, the world was losing around 800 billion metric tons of ice each year. Today, that number has risen to around 1.2 trillion tons. Altogether, the planet lost a whopping 28 trillion tons of ice between 1994 and 2017.”
