Bloomberg (August 13)
“It seems like Japan’s big recovery is always a quarter away.” The economy may just barely manage growth in the second quarter, but the slow vaccination rollout and ongoing surges mean “the bounce in consumer spending that analysts had been forecasting will have to wait even longer.” Japan has earned “the dubious distinction of being the only G-7 economy to have its growth outlook for this year cut by the International Monetary Fund.”
Tags: Analysts, Bounce, Consumer spending, Economy, G-7, Growth, IMF, Japan, Outlook, Q2, Recovery, Surges, Vaccination
Financial Times (July 2)
“The readings on the Tankan, widely regarded as Japan’s most reliable economic data series, suggest Asia’s only G7 economy is well-positioned for growth in the second half of the year.”
Tags: Asia, Economic data, Economy, G7, Growth, Japan, Reliable, Series, Tankan, Well-positioned
Bloomberg (February 26)
“After weeks of grumbling, the world’s biggest bond market spoke loud and clear Thursday — growth and inflation are moving higher. The message wreaked havoc across risk assets…. Speculation is building that a year of emergency stimulus is not only working, but has left some areas of the economy at risk of one day overheating.”
Tags: Bond market, Economy, Emergency stimulus, Growth, Grumbling, Havoc, Higher, Inflation, Overheating, Risk assets, Speculation
Wall Street Journal (January 29)
“You know political spin is at work when the economy grows by 4% in the fourth quarter but the headlines are that growth fell for the entire pandemic year. Everyone already knows the economy fell off the cliff in the first half of 2020. The news is that the economic recovery is continuing despite the winter Covid surge.”
Wall Street Journal (December 2)
“Like much of corporate America today, the Nasdaq is virtue signaling at the expense of someone else. This is far from its reason for being, which is a marketplace to raise money while spreading the benefits of capitalism and corporate ownership. Imposing its own identity politics on some 3,300 listed companies meddles in corporate management and will harm economic growth and job creation.” [Nasdaq is seeking minimum quotas of women and minority/LGBTQ directors on corporate boards.]
Tags: Capitalism, Corporate America, Growth, Identity politics, Job creation, Management, Marketplace, Money, Nasdaq, Ownership, Virtue signaling
Atlanta Journal Constitution (November 17)
“Despite five consecutive months of growth, Georgia has 366,000 fewer people employed than before the pandemic.” Though seasonal work is often “low-paid and short-term,” many people are now desperate for whatever “they can find.” This year, however, “traditional stores are struggling as consumers venture out less ahead of the holiday shopping season. Many businesses have delayed hiring plans, unsure about demand for their goods and services.”
Tags: Consumers, Delayed, Demand, Desperate, Employed, Georgia, Growth, Hiring, Holiday shopping, Low-paid, Pandemic, Seasonal work, Short term
Reuters (October 19)
“China’s economic recovery accelerated in the third quarter as consumers shook off their coronavirus caution, although the weaker-than-expected headline growth suggested persistent risks for one of the few drivers of global demand.”
Tags: Caution, China, Consumers, Coronavirus, Drivers, Expected, Global demand, Growth, Persistent, Recovery, Risks, Weaker
The Economist (September 26)
“The pandemic could lead governments to prolong the life of many undeserving firms. Keeping the growth of the undead in check will be vital to the long-term economic recovery…. Marginally profitable firms were central to Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s…. Zombie-infested industries suffered from inert labour markets and lower productivity growth. Since then, the rich world as a whole has begun to look more zombified.”
Tags: Economic recovery, Governments, Growth, Inert, Japan, Labour markets, Lost decade, Pandemic, Productivity, Profitable, Undeserving, Zombie, Zombified
Institutional Investor (August 6)
“Markets may have bounced back quickly from March’s Covid-19 crash, but the asset management industry will not escape 2020 unscathed.” The pandemic is “expected to shrink” the global asset management industry by almost $2 trillion. “The decline in global assets under management ends more than a decade of growth for money managers.”
Tags: Asset management, AUM, COVID-19, Crash, Decline, Growth, Markets, Money managers, Pandemic, Shrink
Wall Street Journal (July 9)
“Slack Chinese imports are a symptom of the underlying reason China’s trade surpluses, not just with the U.S. but the world, persist: China consumes too little and saves too much.” Though China’s surpluses have shrunk as a share of GDP, due a decade of explosive GDP growth, the surpluses “remain enormous.” Domestic “consumption is still under 40% of Chinese GDP, one of the lowest ratios among major economies. The persistence of those imbalances is why trade conflicts aren’t about to go away even if Mr. Trump isn’t re-elected.”
Tags: China, Conflicts, Consumption, GDP, Growth, Imbalances, Imports, Saves, Slack, Trade surpluses, Trump, U.S.
