Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

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What do Moon rocks reveal about the universe? | The Economist

2019-07-13

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Between 1969 and 1972 six Apollo missions returned to Earth with Moon rocks. It was hoped that they would unlock lunar secrets but they also ended up teaching scientists more about the creation of the Earth and the universe beyond. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy These have been described as …

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Powell’s Congressional testimony sets the scene for rate cut

2019-07-13

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2019-07-13

Median Fed estimate for neutral rate, Fed rate
The Fed will likely cut rates by 25 basis points on 31 July, with a similar cut possible as early as September.During his testimony before the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell repeated the dovish signals he gave at the Fed press conference in June, hinting at a rate cut at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on 31 July.

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“Alexa, How Do We Subvert Big Tech’s Orwellian Internet-of-Things Surveillance?”

2019-07-12

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2019-07-12

Algorithmic Bill of Rights
Convenience is the sales pitch, but the real goal is control in service of maximizing profits and extending state power. When every device in your life is connected to the Internet (the Internet of Things), your refrigerator will schedule an oil change for your car--or something like that--and it will be amazingly wunnerful. 

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Hong Kong unrest

2019-07-11

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2019-07-11

Gini Coefficient of Selected Countries / Regions
The extradition bill is 'dead' but political turmoil is not over yet.Since early June, a series of large-scale demonstrations took place in Hong Kong in protest of proposed legislation that would allow extradition of criminal suspects to certain jurisdictions, including mainland China.

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Predatory “Green Capitalism” Is Monetizing the Air, and It’s Going to Cost You

2019-07-10

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2019-07-10

China Energy Production by Fuel - BP
You want to reduce CO2? Then trigger a global depression that reduces global consumption of everything by 50% and destroys 95% of the phantom wealth owned by the global elites trying to monetize the air. I recently asked What's Left to Monetize?, and longtime correspondent Mark G. provided the answer: the air we breathe, via carbon taxes and markets for trading carbon credits, i.e. financializing / monetizing Nature to benefit the few at the...

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How China is crushing the Uighurs | The Economist

2019-07-09

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China’s Muslim Uighurs face systematic oppression from their own government. Their home province of Xinjiang has been turned into a police state—an estimated one million of them are detained in camps where they are brainwashed. How and why are China’s leaders doing this? Read more from the Economist here: https://econ.st/2JCDIBr Click here to subscribe to …

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World trade and manufacturing hit by tariffs

2019-07-09

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2019-07-09

World PMI Manufacturing, 1999-2019
In June, the world PMI manufacturing index recorded its second consecutive month below 50, suggesting that global manufacturing is contracting.Global manufacturing sentiment deteriorated further in June. Markit Economics’ World purchasing managers’ index for manufacturing fell to 49.4 from 49.8 in May, the second month in a row it was below the 50 threshold, suggesting that global manufacturing activity is contracting.

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When Everything from Bat Guano to Quatloos Is Soaring, Speculative Euphoria Has Reached an Extreme

2019-07-08

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2019-07-08

Workers Share of National Income, 1994-2020
The more extreme the speculative euphoria, the greater the risks of a reversal. One sentence sums up the speculative euphoria gripping markets: January and June of this year are the only months in the last 150 which have seen all assets post a positive total return. (Zero Hedge)

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Vested Interests in Charge = Guaranteed Failure

2019-07-06

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2019-07-06

Student Loans Owned and Securitized, 2008-2018
It boils down to two very simple principles: accredit the student, not the institution and teach every student how to rigorously learn on their own. Vested interests have every incentive to maintain the status quo: specifically, those who currently own the assets, income streams and power will continue to own the assets, income streams and power.

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Who is the real Boris Johnson? | The Economist

2019-07-05

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Boris Johnson is likely to become Britain’s next prime minister. In today’s ugly politics he would be a dangerous leader. Read more here: https://econ.st/2JnZIzI Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy Boris Johnson—you can love him, you can hate him but who is he? In some ways, he’s a very, very familiar …

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What’s Left to Monetize?

2019-07-05

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2019-07-05

Smartphone Addiction Tightens Its Global Grip
What's left to monetize? It appears the answer is "very little." Advertising has always monetized consumers' time and attention, what we call engagement today. Newspapers and periodicals publish advertisements, radio/TV networks and stations air adverts, movie theaters run trailers/ads, billboards occupy our mental space while driving and websites and apps post adverts.

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How To Properly Address The Unusual Window Dressing

2019-07-05

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2019-07-05

Money Markets Equivalents, 2014-2019
Unable to tackle effective monetary requirements, bank regulators around the world turned to “macroprudential” approaches in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. It was mostly public relations, a way to assure the public that 2008 would never be repeated. A whole set of new rules was instituted which everyone was told would reign in the worst abuses.

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Fragile truce in Osaka

2019-07-03

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2019-07-03

The US's Trade Deficit with China Continues to Dwarf Others, Despite Tariffs
The US and China reached a ‘trade truce’ on the margins of the G20 summit this weekend, but existing tariffs remain in place. And we are only a tweet away from more Trumpian upheaval.The US and China leaders agreed on a truce during their much-anticipated meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka this weekend. Bilateral trade talks will restart.

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America’s Concealed Crisis: Fifty Years of Economic Decline, 1969 to 2019

2019-07-02

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2019-07-02

U.S. Average Hourly Wages, SA 1964-2018
If we consider the long term, it's clear America's economy and society have been declining for the average household for 50 years. What if the "prosperity" of the past 50 years is mostly a statistical mirage for the bottom 80% of households? 

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Following in Rome’s Footsteps: Moral Decay, Rising Inequality

2019-07-01

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2019-07-01

U.S. Pre-Tax Income Share, 1913-2012
Here is the moral decay of America's ruling elites boiled down to a single word. There are many reasons why Imperial Rome declined, but two primary causes that get relatively little attention are moral decay and soaring wealth inequality. The two are of course intimately connected: once the morals of the ruling Elites degrade, what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine, too.

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Could a Cryptocurrency Become a Global Reserve Currency?

2019-06-30

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2019-06-30

USD and other Currencies
Could a non-state cryptocurrency like bitcoin become a global reserve currency? I first proposed the idea back in November 2013, long before bitcoin's rise to $19,000, decline to $3,200, recent ascent to $13,000 and current retrace.

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No, Autos Are Not “Cheaper Now”

2019-06-28

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2019-06-28

How much did "cheapest" cars increase in 30 years?
According to the BLS, inflation in the category of "New Vehicles" has been practically non-existent the past 21 years. Longtime readers know I've long turned a skeptical gaze at official calculations of inflation, offering real-world analyses such as The Burrito Index: Consumer Prices Have Soared 160% Since 2001 (August 1, 2016) and Burrito Index Update: Burrito Cost Triples, Official Inflation Up 43% from 2001 (May 31, 2018).

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Local Government Is an Engine of Inflation

2019-06-27

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2019-06-27

The Rising Wedge Model of Breakdown
Insolvency isn't restricted to private enterprise; governments go broke, too. One reason the economy is so much more precarious than advertised is inflation has pushed households and small businesses to the edge--and one engine of that inflation is local government. This is not to dump on local government, which is facing essentially unlimited demands from the public for more services while mandated cost increases in government union employee wages...

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Who will challenge Donald Trump in 2020? | The Economist

2019-06-25

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The 2020 Democratic primary election is already one of the most hotly contested in history, with over 20 candidates vying to lead the party. John Prideaux, our US editor, takes a look at the front-runners. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: https://econ.st/2xvTKdy Read more here: https://econ.st/2X2ZdzG For more from Economist Films visit: …

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Japan’s Bellwether On Nasty #4

2019-06-25

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2019-06-25

Japan Industrial Production, NSA 2009-2019
One reason why Japanese bond yields are approaching records like their German counterparts is the global economy indicated in Japan’s economic accounts. As in Germany, Japan is an outward facing system. It relies on the concept of global growth for marginal changes. Therefore, if the global economy is coming up short, we’d see it in Japan first and maybe best.

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