Houston Chronicle (March 2)
“Houston is the nation’s first city to record every major variant of the novel coronavirus—many of which are more contagious than the original strain.” This unwelcome milestone “comes barely a week after the ever-evolving virus’ death toll in the United States passed the half-million mark, a grim figure that…experts believe will continue to increase unless Americans double-down on social distancing, masks and vaccination efforts.”
Tags: Contagious, Coronavirus, Death toll, Distancing, Double-down, Experts, Houston, Masks, Milestone, Original, Strain, U.S., Variant
Bloomberg (August 22)
The European Central Bank’s quantitative easing program “has driven down European credit spreads.” In September, as the ECB scales down this operation, it’s “going to be a tough wrench seeing the biggest buyer in the room step away. Average spreads over benchmark government bonds may already be showing the strain.”
Tags: Benchmark, Biggest buyer, Credit spreads, ECB, Government bonds, QE, Strain
The Economist (September 23)
“Tensions over China’s industrial might now threaten the architecture of the global economy. America’s trade representative this week called China an ‘unprecedented’ threat that cannot be tamed by existing trade rules. The European Union, worried by a spate of Chinese acquisitions, is drafting stricter rules on foreign investment. And, all the while, China’s strategy for modernising its economy is adding further strain.”
Tags: Acquisitions, China, EU, Foreign investment, Global economy, Strain, Tension, Threat, Trade rules, U.S.