Reuters (December 11)
“India’s blistering growth has a quality problem. GDP is speeding ahead at 8% in the world’s fifth-largest economy but the government is doing the heavy lifting on investment. Policymakers have spent years trying to coax companies into spending more, with limited success. The result: growth that looks fast but feels flimsy.”
Tags: 8%, Coax, Economy, FAST, GDP, Government, Growth, India, Investment, Policymakers, Quality, Spending, Success
Washington Post (December 2)
Results have been “predictable” in Iran where “markets were subordinated to ideology, which meant the farming had to occur no matter what.” Now, “reservoirs around Tehran are at dangerously low levels. Water rationing is in effect. Iran’s president has even said the country’s capital city will need to move. And the government still cannot abide a market price for water.”
Tags: Capital, Farming, Government, Ideology, Iran, Market price, Markets, Predictable, Reservoirs, Results, Subordinated, Tehran, Water rationing
The Economist (November 19)
“In America’s foundation myths, the humble mortgage rarely features.” Though uncelebrated, housing loans have driven “the American dream, which centres on home ownership, ever since the federal government began subsidising property loans a century ago,” but their power is waning. “America’s huge mortgage market is slowly dying” and “Donald Trump’s remedies threaten to inflame a housing crisis.”
Tags: American dream, Dying, Foundation myths, Government, Home ownership, Housing crisis, Humble, Loans, Market, Mortgage, Property, Remedies, Trump, U.S., Uncelebrated
Financial Times (November 15)
“The longest ever US government shutdown has created an unprecedented blind spot over the health of the world’s biggest economy as critical data reports are set to be delayed or ditched.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis and other agencies “were largely unable to collect and publish data during the 43-day shutdown, creating a gap in statistical series that will obscure the economic picture for investors and policymakers.”
Tags: Agencies, Blind spot, BLS, Collect, Data, Delayed, Economy, Gap, Government, Investors, Longest, Obscure, Publish, Reports, Shutdown, Statistical series, U.S.
Market Watch (November 13)
“Artificial intelligence has snowballed from a technological innovation to the growth driver of the entire economy and a national-security interest. Could it be on track to become too big to fail, leaving the U.S. government to hold the bag?” At the moment, there is no doubt that “Big Tech is betting everything on AI,” but there is less recognition that this gamble “could leave the U.S. government on the hook.”
Tags: AI, Big tech, Economy, Government, Growth driver, National security, Snowballed, Technological innovation, Too big to fail, U.S.
Barron’s (November 10)
“The longest government shutdown on record may be nearing its conclusion, and U.S. stocks are likely to claw back a big chunk of last week’s decline.” But end of the shutdown is “a band-aid, not a cure” for markets. “The long, and likely volatile path to reopening the federal government…will only mask the major issues investors are grappling with heading into the final weeks of the trading year, and the stock market could break in either direction once some of those questions are addressed.”
Tags: Band-aid, Cure, Decline, Government, Investors, Longest, Record, Shutdown, Stock market, Stocks, Trading, U.S., Volatile
Investment Week (October 28)
“Both the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have recommended regulators pay more attention to ESG ratings and data.” This is happening in the UK where the “government has passed legislation requiring providers of ESG ratings to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.” The authorization will apply to firms “whose ratings are likely to influence a decision to make a specified investment.” ESG rating firms “that both ‘produce’ and ‘make available’ their ratings will be under scope of the legislation.”
Tags: Authorization, Data, ESG ratings, Financial Conduct Authority, Government, Influence, Investment decision, IOSCO, Legislation, OECD, Recommended, Regulators, UK
Bloomberg (October 10)
“Betting against the dollar has been the dominant trade this year in the $9.6 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market, but the wager is starting to stumble. The world’s primary reserve currency is around a two-month high even as the US government shutdown drags on, and traders in Asia and Europe say hedge funds are adding options bets that the rebound versus most major peers will extend into year-end.”
Tags: $9.6 trillion, Asia, Dollar, Dominant, Forex, Government, Hedge funds, Market, Options bets, Rebound, Reserve currency, Shutdown, Stumble, Trade, Traders, Two-month high, U.S.
Reuters (September 4)
“China’s automotive industry must seem like an unstoppable force to outsiders.” Nevertheless, “scores of their carmakers are heading for a crash.” They remain challenged by “a vicious price war that has lasted more than two years,” with Chinese policymakers expect an “involution” or “frantic, self-destructive struggle.” Government officials are struggling to bring the price war to an end, but their measures have not addressed overcapacity. Sales of passenger vehicles stood at 27.6 million in 2024, while “production capacity hit 55.6 million units, more than 50% higher than a decade ago.”
Tags: Automotive industry, Carmakers, China, Frantic, Government, Involution, Officials, Overcapacity, Passenger vehicles, Policymakers, Price war, Production, Self-destructive, Struggle
Washington Post (August 2)
“For months, the U.S. economy appeared to be weathering the disruptive effects of President Donald Trump’s trade and immigration policies. But over the course of 72 hours, that sunny outlook darkened, as the latest government data this week showed the president’s revolutionary remaking of the world’s largest economy had hit a snag.”
Tags: Darkened, Data, Disruptive effects, Economy, Government, Immigration, Outlook, Remaking, Revolutionary, Snag, Trade, Trump
