The Economist (September 20th to 26th)
China’s workforce “has undergone an extraordinary transformation,” diversifying from its base in farming and factories. The world’s largest workforce now includes some 200 million “precarious” gig workers, who provide “a warning for the world.” With technology remaking labor markets, 40% of the labor force in urban areas is now dependent “on some kind of flexible work,” yet many of these gig workers “struggle to buy property and gain access to public services and benefits.” This transformation “will shape China’s economy and society for years to come.”
Tags: 200 million, Benefits, China, Economy, Factories, Farming, Flexible work, Gig workers, Labor markets, Precarious, Property, Public services, Technology, Transformation, Urban, Warning, Workforce
Reuters (June 19)
“Central banks are grappling with elevated uncertainty about economic growth and inflation, complicating decision-making, especially for those trying to calibrate policy as they near the end of their rate-cutting cycles.” The rate uncertainty is in turn “making life hard for investors.” For example, “Norway’s central bank on Thursday gave markets a shock by cutting interest rates, and even the U.S. Federal Reserve is warning not to put much weight on its policy projections.”
Tags: Calibrate, Central banks, Decision-making, Economic growth, Fed, Grappling, Inflation, Investors, Norway, Policy projections, Rate-cutting cycles, U.S., Uncertainty, Warning
Fortune (March 22)
“Investor Danny Moses, best known for his oracular bet against mortgage-backed debt before the 2008 stock market crash, is warning of another economic red flag.” Moses believes “the market has not yet accounted for the negative economic impact of the mass cuts to government jobs carried out by the Elon Musk-championed Department of Government Efficiency.” While “disruptions in consumer confidence” are already apparent, they “have yet to be priced into the market.” He expects an “unvirtuous cycle” to result “as more fired federal workers look for private sector jobs” and “find fewer opportunities because of shrinking revenue streams in government contracts.”
Tags: 2008, Debt, Disruptions, DOGE, Economic, Government jobs, Impact, Investor, Mass cuts, Mortgage-backed, Moses, Musk, Negative, Private-sector, Red flag, Stock market crash, Unvirtuous cycle, Warning
Reuters (September 8)
“Britain’s shaky ambitions to be the ‘Saudi Arabia of wind’ now stand at a blustery crossroads. Developers had been warning for months that the UK’s latest offshore wind auction, divulged on Friday, would receive no takers. Now that it’s happened, it may spur much-need action…. The very real prospect of zero wind schemes ought to be the kick up the backside UK politicians need to make the terms more appealing.”
Tags: Ambitions, Auction, Blustery, Crossroads, Developers, Offshore, Saudi Arabia, Shaky, UK, Warning, Wind, Zero wind schemes
Wall Street Journal (July 7)
“China’s decision this week to restrict the export of two minerals used in semiconductors, solar panels and missile systems was more than a trade salvo. It was a reminder of its dominant hold over the world’s mineral resources—and a warning of its willingness to use them in its escalating rivalry with the U.S.”
Tags: China, Decision, Dominant, Escalating, Export, Mineral resources, Missile systems, Restrict, Rivalry, Semiconductors, Solar panels, Trade salvo, Warning
Reuters (May 27)
Covid-related restrictions “have battered the world’s second-biggest economy even as most countries have been seeking to return to something like normal.” Although “China’s economy is now staggering back to its feet,” the recovery remains “grinding and partial… with businesses from retailers to chipmakers warning of slow sales as consumers in the country slam the brakes on spending.”
Tags: Battered, Businesses, China, Chipmakers, Consumers, Covid, Economy, Grinding, Normal, Partial, Recovery, Restrictions, Retailers, Sales, Staggering, Warning
The Guardian (June 30)
“Canada is a warning: more and more of the world will soon be too hot for humans…. Without an immediate global effort to combat the climate emergency, the Earth’s uninhabitable areas will keep growing.”
Tags: Canada, Climate emergency, Combat, Earth, Global effort, Humans, Immediate, Too hot, Uninhabitable, Warning, World
New York Times (May 25)
The U.S. State Department’s warning for Americans to avoid travelling to Japan due to the rising incidence of Covid-19 “has little practical effect, as Japan’s borders have been closed to most nonresident foreigners since the early months of the pandemic. But the warning is another blow for the Olympics, which are facing stiff opposition among the Japanese public over concerns that they could become a superspreader event as athletes and their entourages pour in from around the world.”
Tags: Athletes, Blow, Borders, Closed, COVID-19, Foreigners, Japan, Olympics, Opposition, Pandemic, State Department, Superspreader, U.S., Warning
Seattle Times (February 9)
“The prospect of a fourth wave propelled by new variants is something many scientists and modeling groups are warning about.” For example, the University of Washington now forecasts “an additional 200,000 deaths nationwide through June 1.” There is “one bright spot… hospitalizations and death rates are likely to be lower during any fourth wave than in previous surges because many older people are getting vaccinated.”
Tags: Death rates, Deaths, Fourth wave, Hospitalizations, Modeling, New variants, Older, Scientists, Surges, Warning
Washington Post (February 2)
The emerging new strains of the novel coronavirus “are a powerful reminder that we must remain vigilant in fighting the virus, even as vaccines promise an end to the pandemic. And they are a warning that if the world doesn’t bring the virus under control everywhere, this nightmarish pandemic could continue for years longer than it needs to.”
Tags: Control, Emerging, Fighting, Nightmarish, Novel coronavirus, Pandemic, Strains, Vaccines, Vigilant, Warning
