BBC (June 28)
“Europe’s unprecedented early summer heatwave may be responsible for hundreds of excess deaths.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 1,300 deaths recorded since June 21 were likely linked to the unrelenting heat. Though the majority of the excess deaths were in France, the heat has been widespread. “Temperature records were broken across the continent again on Sunday – including in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic – as the extreme heat continued to move east.”
Tags: Czech Republic, Europe, Excess deaths, France, Germany, Heatwave, Poland, Records, Summer, Temperature, Unprecedented, Unrelenting heat, WHO
Seeking Alpha (May 8)
“Sweden is following Switzerland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in easing monetary policy for the first time since hiking cycles began in 2022, when inflation surfaced in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.” The quarter point cut of the overnight rate by the Riksbank makes “it more likely that the ECB will also jump on the bandwagon. The shift is noteworthy to global investors as it highlights the current central bank divergence taking place across the world.”
Tags: Aftermath, Central bank, Covid, Czech Republic, Easing, ECB, Global investors, Hungary, Inflation, Monetary policy, Pandemic, Riksbank, Sweden, Switzerland
The Economist (February 2)
The decisive election of Petr Pavel as the new president of the Czech Republic shows that “all is not lost for the centrist liberal consensus” and also indicates that populism in Europe is, at last, “losing its mojo.” Pavel’s win “marks another blow for the narrative of European politics shifting inexorably to extremes.”
Tags: Centrist, Consensus, Czech Republic, Decisive, Election, Europe, Extremes, Liberal, Mojo, Pavel, Politics, Populism, President
Reuters (July 5)
“Investors watching the trade tit-for-tat between the United States and China may well have reason to fear the havoc a full blown conflict between the world’s two biggest economies could wreak on the global economy.” Furthermore, the collateral damage could be worse than that done to the principals. Due to global supply chains, countries like Taiwan, Hungary, the Czech Republic, South Korea, and Singapore could be equally if not more vulnerable” to fall out from the spat between the U.S. and China.
Tags: China, Collateral damage, Conflict, Czech Republic, Global economy, Hungary, Investors, Singapore, South Korea, Supply chains, Taiwan, Tit-for-tat, Trade, U.S., Vulnerable
Institutional Investor (August Issue)
Several years ago Switzerland adopted a currency floor to stem the Swiss franc’s appreciation against the euro. “Last November, the Czech Republic followed suit, threatening to intervene in the currency market if the ikoruna strengthened.” Now, with the euro poised to continue depreciating, some are wondering whether Sweden will be the next to “follow Switzerland’s lead by adopting a currency floor?”
Tags: Appreciation, Currency floor, Currency market, Czech Republic, Depreciating, euro, Franc, Ikoruna, Sweden, Switzerland
