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
The Economist (May 18)
“Since Donald Trump took office in January last year, America’s economy has continued to be the envy of the rich world. In 2025, while Britain, France and Japan eked out annual GDP growth of 1%, give or take, and Germany all but stood still, American output grew by 2.1%.” That growth could have been far more impressive. The Economist calculates that without the drag created by “fitful presidential policymaking,” the U.S. “might be rocketing ahead at nearly 5% annualised growth.”
Tags: 2025, 5%, Drag, Economy, Envy, Fitful, France, GDP growth, Germany, Japan, Policymaking, Rich world, Trump, U.S., UK
Barron’s (April 5)
The global economy is in for a “crude awakening.” Even under the best (or least worst) scenario, the Iran “war will shave about a percentage point off global economic growth, taking it down to 2% this year. Growth forecasts for large, developed economies—Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom—were modest before the war at around 1%. If the conflict extends past June, GDP growth for these countries could evaporate, while inflation keeps rising.”
Tags: 2%, Conflict, Crude awakening, Developed economies, Economic growth, Forecasts, France, GDP, Germany, Global economy, Inflation, Iran war, Italy, Japan, Scenario, UK
New York Times (December 13)
“By itself the United States cannot keep up with China’s soaring industrial capacity, which translates directly into military might. China has close to a 28 percent share of global manufacturing, while the United States has around 17 percent.” China “is acquiring advanced weapons systems and equipment five to six times faster than America…. The United States now risks finding itself in the position of Britain in the late 19th century and Germany and Japan in the 20th: overtaken militarily by a rising industrial powerhouse.”
Tags: Advanced weapons systems, Britain, China, Germany, Global manufacturing, Industrial capacity, Industrial powerhouse, Japan, Military might, Overtaken, U.S.
New York Times (September 24)
Germany is attempting to woo “Indian workers spooked by U.S. visa changes,” as the European nation confronts a growing labor shortage. “Every fifth citizen…is now older than 67, and the country’s baby boomers…are beginning to retire.” Currently, there are an estimated 387,000 unfilled jobs, mainly in technology, and “that number is expected to more than double in the next two years.” The unfilled jobs also mean “there are not enough young workers making payments into the social system to support it.”
Tags: Baby boomers, Confronts, Germany, Indian, Labor shortage, Payments, Retire, Social system, Spooked, Technology, U.S., Unfilled jobs, Visa changes, Woo, Workers
Wall Street Journal (September 17)
“Industrial production in the eurozone returned to growth in July, a reflection of resilience as U.S. tariffs threaten to crimp demand.” Monthly “output edged up 0.3%… after a 0.6% slump in June.” The July “increase was driven by a strong 1.5% upswing in production in Germany.” While the tariff threat remains, “the eurozone’s industry has so far proved relatively resilient, having grown in two of the four months since President Trump’s announcement of levies on global trading partners in early April.”
Tags: 0.3%, Demand, eurozone, Germany, Growth, Industrial production, July, Levies, Resilience, Threat, Trading partners, Trump, U.S. tariffs, Upswing
The Economist (September 6)
“Insurgents who want to smash the system often end up running it.” Europe’s hard right is a threat to the economy and leading or polling strong in Britain, France and Germany. “In Italy they are in power; in the Netherlands they briefly led a coalition; and in Poland in June their presidential candidate saw off the nominee from the centre. By 2027 the hard right could be in office in economies worth getting on for half of European GDP.” The best case scenario is ” stagnation, at worst a bond-market rout.”
Tags: Bond-market rout, Britain, Economy, Europe, European GDP, France, Germany, Hard right, Insurgents, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Polling, Power, Smash, Stagnation, Threat
Men’s Journal (July 1)
“For years, the U.S. has issued cautionary travel advisories to citizens heading overseas. But in a surprising twist, the roles have flipped. Several countries, including longtime allies like Australia, Canada, and the U.K., are now warning their citizens about traveling to the United States.” The warnings cite violence, mass shootings, detention, and other items. “Germany, France, Denmark, and Finland all issued warnings about new U.S. gender marker policies that may affect travelers who use ‘X’ or nonbinary identifiers.” Due in part to these warnings, the World Travel & Tourism Council is projecting a “$12.5 billion decline in international tourism revenue to the U.S. in 2025.”
Tags: $12.5 billion, Allies, Australia, Canada, Citizens, Denmark, Detention, Finland, France, Gender, Germany, Mass shootings, Nonbinary, Overseas, Travel advisories, U.K., U.S., Violence, Warnings
New York Times (June 30)
China now dominates “even clean energy industries the United States had once led. In 2008 the United States produced nearly half of the world’s polysilicon, a crucial material for solar panels. Today, China produces more than 90 percent. China’s auto industry is now widely seen as the most innovative in the world, besting the Japanese, the Germans and the Americans.”
Tags: Auto industry, China, Clean energy, Dominates, Germany, Innovative, Japan, Polysilicon, Solar panels, U.S.
Seeking Alpha (May 27)
“Japan has lost its status as the world’s top creditor nation for the first time in 34 years, even as the country has maintained a strong investment appetite abroad. While its overseas assets topped JPY 500T ($3.47T) for the first time ever in 2024, it still trailed Germany’s international investments,” which rose to JPY 569.65T ($3.96T).
Tags: 2024, 34 years, Germany, Investment appetite, Japan, JPY500T, JPY569.65T, Nation, Overseas assets, Status, Strong, Top creditor
