The Guardian (July 7)
“Fears of a recession have fallen away, with economists saying Australia is set to safely navigate the biggest global oil supply shock in history even as they warn of substandard growth in the year ahead. The de-escalation of the Middle East conflict has been accompanied by a major retreat in global oil prices back to prewar levels, essentially removing the worst-case scenarios.” But pessimism still runs deep amongst households, with consumer confidence at roughly “a 50-year low as many Australians struggle to cope with substantially higher prices after years of above-average inflation.”
Tags: Australia, Consumer confidence, Cope, De-escalation, Economists, Fears, Global oil prices, Households, Inflation, Middle East conflict, Pessimism, Recession, Retreat, Struggle, Supply shock
Wall Street Journal (March 4)
“The Federal Reserve has become the default doctor for whatever ails the U.S. economy, and on Tuesday the financial physician applied what it hopes will be monetary balm for the economic damage from the coronavirus.” Alas “financial markets were underwhelmed.” This “may speak to the limited effect that lower interest rates can have on the supply shock of a pandemic.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Damage, Economy, Fed, Interest rates, Markets, Monetary balm, Supply shock, U.S., Underwhelmed
