Financial Times (March 14)
“It now appears that neither a slowing economy nor plunging stock prices are enough to deter US President Donald Trump from his radical economic agenda.” His “hotchpotch of economic measures” have already “raised the spectre of stagflation, wiped $5tn off the S&P 500, and undermined the nation’s standing with global investors.” If there was an “intelligible” strategy, “the short-term pain might be easier to digest,” but so far his actions lack “any coherent theory of change.”
Tags: $5tn, Deter, Global investors, Hotchpotch, Intelligible, Plunging stock prices, Radical economic agenda, S&P 500, Slowing Economy, Stagflation, Trump, Undermined, US
U.S. News and World Report (December 30)
“The past two years have defied economists’ predictions for a slowing economy, or even a recession.” Despite increased risk and uncertainty arising from the “wild card of Trump,” the U.S. economy “should remain strong” as it is buoyed by “a moderating labor market, lower interest rates and strong household income.” Household wealth has surged 40% to $150 trillion since 2020, “while debt service payments measured as a percentage of income have largely remained static.”
Tags: Defied, Economy, Household income, Interest rates, Labor market, Predictions, Recession, Risk, Slowing Economy, Trump, U.S., Uncertainty, Wealth Debt service, Wild card
Financial Times (December 16)
“European bonds rallied on Friday, pushing yields to nine-month lows as investors focused on the latest signs of a slowing economy and shrugged off the European Central Bank’s insistence that it was not considering interest rate cuts.” Given the Fed’s pivot, markets appear skeptical of “ECB president Christine Lagarde’s insistence on Thursday that it was too soon to talk about the timing of rate cuts and that the bank had ‘more work to be done’ in its battle to tame inflation.”
Tags: Bonds, ECB, European, Inflation, Insistence, Interest, Investors, Lagarde, Lows, Rallied, Rate cuts, Slowing Economy, Timing, Yields
WARC (August 1)
“Whether it’s $18 for a two-ounce ginseng drink or $75,000 for a luxury mattress, the story is the same: Chinese consumers are becoming more frugal and the days of carefree spending have gone.” For over a decade, upmarket western brands have relied on China’s “expanding middle class” to drive growth, “but now, with a slowing economy, growing unemployment and a disruptive zero-COVID policy, those same middle classes are as likely to be saving as spending.”
Tags: Carefree, China, Consumers, Frugal, Growth, Luxury, Middle class, Saving, Slowing Economy, Spending, Unemployment, Upmarket, Western brands, Zero COVID
