New York Times (November 27)
“The inflation risk stalking the markets eased over the summer,” but is now “front and center again as investors contend with a Trumponomics crackdown on immigration, a rising trade-war risk and a potential bonanza of tax cuts.” Trump’s “latest trade threats show how uncertain the outlook could be”. Since he vowed “to impose tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico…analysts have been gaming out the potential impact.” It could be an opening gambit of little consequence, but “economists fear that it could add bottlenecks and costs to supply chains and reignite inflation, and that it could scramble the Fed’s policy on interest rates.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, Canada, China, Costs, Crackdown, Fed, Immigration, Inflation, Interest rates, Investors, Markets, Mexico, Risk, Supply chains, Tariffs, Tax cuts, Trade war, Trumponomics, Uncertain
Market Watch (October 1)
“A tiny mining town in western North Carolina was among those battered by Hurricane Helene — and the damage could have serious implications for the massive tech-industry supply chain that relies on it.” Two mines in Spruce Pine account for about 80–90% of the “high-purity quartz used in semiconductor manufacturing.” Most foundries carry a several month inventory, but if repairs take longer it “could lead to supply-chain bottlenecks and temporary price increases on chips and electronics.”
Tags: Battered, Bottlenecks, Chips, Damage, Electronics, Foundries, Hurricane Helene, Implications, Inventory, Mining, North Carolina, Quartz, Repairs, Semiconductors, Serious, Supply chain, Tech industry
New York Times (January 16)
China’s zero-tolerance COVID policy has been “highly effective, but the extreme transmissibility of the Omicron variant poses the biggest test yet,” and threatens to disrupt supply chains. “The potential for setbacks comes just as many companies had hoped they were about to see some easing of the bottlenecks that have clogged global supply chains since the pandemic began.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, China, Clogged, Covid, Disrupt, Effective, Omicron, Supply chains, Transmissibility, Variant, Zero tolerance
LA Times (October 14)
President Biden is doing what he can to get the supply chain rolling as he pressures ports to open 24/7. “One of the biggest economic threats is that supply chain bottlenecks and various shortages are sparking higher inflation.” The consumer price index showed year-0n-year inflation jumped 5.4%, “the highest rate in more than a decade.”
Tags: 24/7, Biden, Bottlenecks, CPI, Economic threats, Highest, Inflation, Ports, Shortages, Supply chain
Financial Times (October 8)
“High levels of inflation could last longer than expected, senior central bankers in Europe have warned, signalling that persistent supply-chain bottlenecks and soaring energy costs could advance a tightening of monetary policy.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, Central bankers, Energy costs, Europe, Expected, Inflation, Persistent, Supply chain, Tightening, Warned
Financial Times (November 3)
“Some kinds of public investment bring very high returns for the rest of the economy–such as spending on basic scientific research or fixing infrastructure bottlenecks–and they are under grave threat from today’s swingeing spending cuts in the US.” Austerity is reigning in public sector capital investment, which “has dropped to just 3.6 per cent of US output compared with a postwar average of 5 per cent.”
Tags: Austerity, Bottlenecks, Capital investment, Cuts, Economy, Infrastructure, Output, Postwar, Public sector, Returns, Scientific research, Spending, U.S.
