Foreign Policy (March 11)
Some question China’s 5.2% GDP growth figure for the final quarter of 2023, but even assuming “the figures are accurate, the wider trends of the Chinese economy suggest a worrying state of affairs.” China’s real GDP figure exceeded its nominal figure. This “indicates that Beijing’s gross value of output in real terms was amplified thanks to negative inflation…. If not for deflation, China’s real GDP growth in 2023 would have been even lower and would have certainly missed the national target of 5 percent.”
Tags: 2023, Accurate, China, Deflation, Economy, GDP, Gross value, Growth, Negative inflation, Nominal, Output, Real GDP, Trends, Worrying
New York Times (July 4)
3-D printing (or additive manufacturing) began in the 1980s. “The technology, economic and investment trends may finally be falling into place for the industry’s commercial breakout.” 3-D printing “is no longer a novelty technology for a few consumer and industrial products, or for making prototype design concepts.” By 2026, “the 3-D printing market is expected to triple to nearly $45 billion worldwide.”
Tags: $45 billion, 1980s, 3-D printing, Additive manufacturing, Commercial breakout, Consumer, Economic, Industrial, Investment, Prototype, Technology, Trends
Bloomberg (January 2)
“Geopolitics presents a mixed picture heading into any new decade. But given all the transnational trends I’ve listed, along with the wildcard of the Trump administration — in an election year and facing an impeachment trial, no less — the first year of the 2020s will likely have oversized impact on the nine that follow it.”
Tags: 2020s, Election, Geopolitics, Impeachment, Transnational, Trends, Trump, Wildcard
Wall Street Journal (November 25)
In the U.S., “the pressure on corporate profits may last longer than expected.” Many have attributed the contraction in corporate profits to temporary trends, namely “the weakness in the commodities sector, which is ravaging profits at energy companies, and the strong dollar, which is putting pressure on multinationals.” Though reassuring, “the problem with those dismissals is that oil may not be done going down, and the dollar may not be done going up.”
Tags: Commodities, Contraction, Corporate profits, Dollar, Energy, Multinationals, Oil, Pressure, Trends, U.S.
