Financial Times (January 19)
“Trump’s bizarre designs on Greenland and his willingness to inflict financial pain on allies” mean that “the U.S. has squandered its most valuable financial asset: trust. It risks paying a heavy price for this for decades to come.” The U.S. remains the only market “big enough to absorb” giant capital flows so this “is not about ‘sell America.’” Europe is not going to sell its $8 trillion worth of Treasuries overnight. Rather, Trump’s latest move provides “a big incentive for investors to buy more bonds and stocks from elsewhere over time…. to spread things a little more globally.”
Tags: $8 trillion, Allies, Asset, Bizarre, Bonds, Capital flows, Europe, Financial pain, Greenland, Heavy price, Incentive, Investors, Risks, Sell America, Squandered, Stocks, Treasuries, Trump, Trust, U.S., Valuable
New York Times (January 17)
“President Trump is celebrating the anniversary of his return to power by accelerating his attack on the rule of law.” Just a “year into his second term, America risks losing a central feature of our democracy: that we are a country ruled by laws, not by one man…. On behalf of Americans who are now living without a functioning system of federal law and order, Congress should step up and end this self-interested destruction.”
Tags: Accelerating, Anniversary, Attack, Congress, Democracy, Federal law, Functioning, Laws, Order, Risks, Rule of law, Trump
Wall Street Journal (January 14)
“Trump wants to run the economy hot. There’s a good chance he’ll succeed,” but most presidents and Congresses avoid “juicing the economy” for good reason. The short-term results might be appealing, but “the long-term consequences” are real. “Ever-rising debt leaves future generations poorer and risks a debt crisis. Loosening credit and dialing back regulations, when valuations are already stretched, could end in market bust.”
Tags: Congresses, Consequences, Credit, Debt, Debt crisis, Economy, Future generations, Juicing, Presidents, Regulations, Risks, Trump, Valuations
Fortune (January 11)
“2026 begins with sharper risks for China: Geopolitical uncertainty, a struggling real estate sector, strained public finances, and elevated youth unemployment. Yet what draws companies to China—scale, innovation, and global influence— remain as compelling as ever.” The economics have changed and competition has increased. Success now requires greater discipline, but “for global businesses prepared to operate with this level of discipline, China can still be a lucrative market in the Year of the Horse.”
Tags: 2026, China, Competition, Discipline, Geopolitical uncertainty, Global influence, Innovation, Lucrative, Public finances, Real estate, Risks, Scale, Struggling, Year of the Horse, Youth unemployment
Reuters (July 22)
“China’s hardened rhetoric against price wars among producers is raising expectations Beijing may be about to kick off industrial capacity cuts in a long-awaited, but challenging, campaign against deflation that carries risks to economic growth.” Such a campaign would “echo” similar successful “reforms a decade ago to reduce the production of steel, cement, glass and coal, which were crucial to ending a period of 54 consecutive months of falling factory gate prices.” Success may prove elusive this round. “The fight against deflation will be much more complicated and poses risks to employment and growth” while U.S. trade war ”is intensifying price wars, squeezing factory profits.”
Tags: Beijing, Cement, China, Coal, Complicated, Deflation, Economic growth, Employment, Expectations, Glass, Growth, Industrial capacity, Price wars, Producers, Rhetoric, Risks, Steel, Trade war, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (May 23)
“Treasury auctions are like the plumbing of a toilet: You only pay attention when something goes wrong. A weak auction drove a market selloff on Wednesday for the first time since late 2023. There are good reasons to be concerned about overspill.” Investors are “demanding a higher yield for the risks—and it is a bad sign.”
Tags: 2023, Bad sign, Concerned, Demanding, Higher yield, Market selloff, Overspill, Plumbing, Risks, Treasury auctions, Weak
Time (February 10)
Losses, estimated at $52 to $57 billion, from the LA fires are accelerating “an uninsurable future.” Many affected homeowners had already been dropped by private insurers because distorted risks from climate change made the policies unviable. Many were essentially “forced to obtain coverage from the state’s insurer of last resort, the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (CA FAIR) Plan,” but that plan’s exposure far outstrips its assets, placing all of the state’s insurance policyholders on the hook for additional levies. This situation is not unique to California and action is required. “What won’t work, experts say, is continuing with the same system and hoping that climate risk just goes away.”
Tags: $57 billion, CA FAIR, California, Climate, Climate change, Coverage, Homeowners, LA fires, Last resort, Levies, Losses, Private insurers, Risks, Uninsurable future
Bloomberg (January 26)
“Oil fell as President Donald Trump imposed his first set of sanctions and tariffs in a move that highlighted risks to the global economy and to trade.” U.S. tariffs and other sanctions have now been imposed on Columbia, and the Trump “administration has also threatened actions on flows of goods from a host of other nations, including Canada and China.” On top of that economic uncertainty, Trump is advocating for “OPEC to bring down prices, potentially raising the pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.”
Tags: Canada, China, Columbia, Global economy, Oil, OPEC, Prices, Risks, Russia, Sanctions, Tariffs, Threat, Trade, Trump, U.S., Uncertainty, War
New York Times (August 25)
“Given the war in Ukraine, the risks of a larger war in the Middle East and China’s accelerating challenge to American primacy, Europe needs the United States more than it has since the end of the Cold War. And America still has a unique and valuable asset that its growing list of rivals and adversaries don’t: reliable allies and partners in Europe.” No two ways about it: “America and Europe need each other.”
Tags: Adversaries, Allies, Asset, China, Cold war, Europe, Middle East, Primacy, Reliable, Risks, Rivals, U.S., Ukraine, Unique, Valuable, War
Bloomberg (May 18)
“From New York to London to Tokyo, if there’s one similarity among the world’s equity markets it’s this: record highs. Of the world’s 20 largest stock markets, 14 have hit all-time highs recently…. Looming interest rate cuts, healthy economies and corporate earnings are driving the activity. And what’s more, there are plenty of potential drivers to keep the rally rolling, such as the $6 trillion sitting in money market funds, while risks remain scarce.”
Tags: $6 trillion, Corporate earnings, Equity markets, Healthy economies, Interest rate cuts, London, MMF, New York, Rally, Record highs, Risks, Stock markets, Tokyo
