Reuters (February 28)
“Factory activity in China contracted to a three-year low in February as export orders fell at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, highlighting deepening cracks in an economy facing weak demand at home and abroad.”
Tags: China, Cracks, Economy, Exports, Factory, Financial Crisis, Orders, Weak demand
South China Morning Post (January 22)
“Trump’s aggressive trade actions have also made investors much more sensitive to China’s domestic economic woes, a development which Trump doubtless views as a sign that his administration is winning the trade war but which has backfired due to the adverse spillover effects on America’s economy and markets…. A trade truce, should one materialise, has come too late.”
Tags: Aggressive, Backfired, China, Economy, Investors, Markets, Sensitive, Trade war, Truce, Trump, U.S.
Bloomberg (December 21)
With China’s economy seemingly destined to become the world’s biggest, government missteps look increasingly likely to derail the benefits that would otherwise accrue. “Chief among these self-inflicted wounds would be closing the country to foreign investment, extending state control of the economy and adopting an adversarial relationship with neighboring nations. Ominously, the country seems to doing all of these now, to one extent on another.”
Tags: Adversarial, China, Derail, Economy, Foreign investment, Government, Missteps, World's biggest
Reuters (December 18)
“British business has issued a stark warning to MPs that they risk plunging an ill-prepared economy into chaos unless they stop playing politics at Westminster…. As ministers agreed to a dramatic escalation of preparations for a no-deal Brexit, including putting 3,500 armed forces personnel on standby, the leaders of the UK’s five leading employers’ groups said the country was nowhere near ready.”
FX Street (December 17)
“USD/JPY, which fell particularly hard today should test 112.40 pre-FOMC but a move below that level may not happen until after the rate decision…. The economy is not doing as poorly as what is reflected by stocks and rate hike expectations…. Barring significant dovishness, any pullback in USD/JPY could be short-lived. Other currency pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD are a different story.”
Tags: Dovishness, Economy, Expectations, FOMC, Pullback, Rate hike, Stocks, USD/JPY
Wall Street Journal (December 4)
“A carbon tax is in theory a more efficient way than regulation to reduce carbon emissions. But after decades of global conferences, forests of reports, dire television documentaries, celebrity appeals, school-curriculum overhauls and media bludgeoning, voters don’t believe that climate change justifies policies that would raise their cost of living and hurt the economy.”
Tags: Carbon tax, Climate change, Conferences, Cost of living, Economy, Efficient, Emissions, Regulation, Reports, Voters
The Economist (November 24)
“American families are increasingly hard to distinguish from European ones.” Though the economy has improved, “births continue to drop. America’s total fertility rate, which can be thought of as the number of children the average woman will bear, has fallen from 2.12 to 1.77. It is now almost exactly the same as England’s rate, and well below that of France.”
New York Times (November 17)
“Everything is up in the air in the Britain’s tumultuous politics right now.” The Brexiteers “savage Mrs. May’s deal and offer no practical suggestions for anything else. This is an utter failure of responsibility. Yes, the prime minister’s deal is pitiful, an awkward compromise that will hobble Britain’s economy and diminish our power. But the truth is—and everyone knows this—there is no better, purer Brexit available without a permanent economic hit.”
Tags: Awkward, Brexiteers, Compromise, Economy, Failure, May, Pitiful, Responsibility, Savage, Tumultuous, UK
Wall Street Journal (October 26)
The European Central Bank is now faced with “a dilemma as it edges toward higher interest rates just as the region’s economy slows and faces escalating risks, from international trade tensions to a European dispute over Italy’s budget.” For now, President Mario Draghi has no plans to change course as the ECB seeks to “phase out easy-money policies.”
Tags: Budget, Dilemma, Draghi, ECB, Economy, Interest rates, Italy, QE, Risks, Trade tensions
Reuters (October 17)
“Financial markets have some things in common with professional sport. Investors and fans are both desperate for winners and despondent about losing. They are passionate about little ups and downs, while outsiders often find the rules arcane and the enthusiasm weird. And for both, all the jumping and screaming has little effect on the rest of the economy.”
