Time (June 23)
“Life expectancy across the country plummeted by nearly two years from 2018 to 2020, the largest decline since 1943, when American troops were dying in World War II.” While life expectancy also dropped in many countries during the same period, “the average loss of life expectancy in the U.S. was nearly nine times greater than the average in 16 other developed nations, whose residents can now expect to live 4.7 years longer than Americans.”
Tags: Decline, Developed nations, Dying, Life expectancy, Plummeted, U.S., WWII
Investment Week (August 24)
“Global dividends plummeted by $108.1bn to $382bn in Q2 this year… marking an underlying decline of 19.3% – the biggest fall seen…. All regions except the US suffered a drop in pay-outs, with the UK and Europe seeing the biggest falls at 54% and 45% respectively on an underlying basis.” By comparison, Japan fared well with payouts falling just 3.1% and “four-fifths of companies actually increasing or maintaining their dividends.”
The Economist (July 18)
“Big change is coming, as countries around the world adopt cleaner sources of energy. Peak demand for oil may still be years away, but covid-19 has given the Middle East and north Africa a taste of the future. Prices of the black stuff plummeted as countries went into lockdown…. Even when the virus recedes, a glut of supply will probably keep prices down. Faced with budgets that no longer add up, Arab states must adapt.”
Tags: Budgets, Change, Cleaner, COVID-19, Energy, Glut, Middle East, North Africa, Peak demand, Plummeted, Prices, Supply
South China Morning Post (June 20)
The trade war between the U.S. and China “is pushing the world economy closer to the edge. The longer it goes on, the harder it will be to undo the damage,” which clearly already is being inflicted. “Compared to pre-2008 crisis levels, world economic growth has plummeted by half and is at risk of a long-term, hard-to-reverse stagnation. Returning to global integration and multilateral reconciliation could dramatically change the scenario.”
Tags: China, Crisis, Damage, Economic growth, Integration, Plummeted, Stagnation, Trade war, U.S., World economy
