Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

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Economic Dissonance, Too

2017-03-04

Germany Industrial Production, SA 1997-2016

Germany is notoriously fickle when it comes to money, speaking as much of discipline in economy or industry as central banking. If ever there is disagreement about monetary arrangements, surely the Germans are behind it. Since ECB policy only ever attains the one direction, so-called accommodation, there never seems to be harmony.

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Emerging Markets: What has Changed?

2017-03-04

by Win Thin

2017-03-04

A Korean special prosecutor indicted Samsung chief Jay Y. Lee on bribery charges. Korean press is reporting that China has told its travel agents to halt sales of holiday packages to South Korea. Bulgaria’s interim government said it may apply to join the eurozone within a month. South Africa’s main labor union Cosatu accepted a government-proposed minimum wage.

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True Cognitive Dissonance

2017-03-04

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-03-04

There is gold in Asia, at least gold of the intellectual variety for anyone who wishes to see it. The Chinese offer us perhaps the purest view of monetary conditions globally, where RMB money markets are by design tied directly to “dollar” behavior. It is, in my view, enormously helpful to obsess over China’s monetary system so as to be able to infer a great deal about the global monetary system deep down beyond the “event horizon.”

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Real Disposable Income: Headwinds of the Negative

2017-03-03

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-03-03

The PCE Deflator for January 2017 rose just 1.89% year-over-year. It was the 57th consecutive month less than the 2% mandate (given by the Fed itself when in early 2012 it made the 2% target for this metric its official definition of price stability).

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Why Is the Cost of Living so Unaffordable?

2017-03-03

by Charles Hugh Smith

2017-03-03

Strip away the centralized power that protects and funds cartels, and prices would plummet. The mainstream narrative is "the problem is low wages." Actually, the problem is the soaring cost of living. If essentials such as healthcare, housing, higher education and government services were as cheap as they once were, a wage of $10 or $12 an hour would be more than enough to maintain a decent everyday life.

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How do animals change their colour? | The Economist

2017-03-03

by The Economist

Take a look at the science behind the kaleidoscopic animals that can adopt new colours at will. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 Chameleons aren’t the only animals that can change colour. Some primates can blush. How do animals change colour? 1. Brain signals: The colours of the environment, a rival, …

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Some Notes On GDP Past And Present

2017-03-01

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-03-01

GDP PCE Deflator QQ YY, January 2009 - April 2016

The second estimate for GDP was so similar to the first as to be in all likelihood statistically insignificant. The preliminary estimate for real GDP was given as $16,804.8 billion. The updated figure is now $16,804.1 billion. In nominal terms there was more variation, where the preliminary estimate of $18,860.8 billion is now replaced by one for $18,855.5 billion.

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What to expect from Donald Trump’s address to Congress

2017-02-28

by The Economist

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, says the theme of Donald Trump’s address to Congress will be “the renewal of the American spirit”. What are the chances the president will turn the rhetoric into reality? Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 Daily Watch: mind-stretching short films every day of the …

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Durable Goods Groundhog

2017-02-28

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-02-28

If the economy is repeating the after-effects of the latest “dollar” events, and it does seem more and more to be that case, then analysis starts with identifying a range for where it might be in the repetition. New orders for durable goods (ex transportation) rose 4.3% year-over-year in January 2017 (NSA, only 2.4% SA), the highest growth rate since September 2014 (though not meaningfully faster than the 3.9% rate in November 2016).

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Virtue-Signaling the Decline of the Empire

2017-02-28

by Charles Hugh Smith

2017-02-28

Top 1% US Pre-Tax Income Share, 1913-2012

Virtue-signaling doesn't signal virtue--it signals decline and collapse. 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, the status quo seeks to mask its self-serving rot behind high-minded "virtue-signaling" appeals to past glories and cost-free...

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It Was ‘Dollars’ All Along

2017-02-28

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-02-28

Ross Perot famously declared the “giant sucking sound” in the 1992 Presidential campaign. The debate over NAFTA did not end with George H. W. Bush’s defeat, as it simmered in one form or another for much of the 1990’s. Curiously, however, it seemed almost perfectly absent during the 2000’s, the very decade in which Perot’s prophecy came true. Americans didn’t notice because there was a bubble afoot.

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The coral Noah’s Ark

2017-02-27

by The Economist

In Hawaii, a group of scientists is creating the world’s only bank of coral sperm. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 The world’s OCEANS cover 70% of our planet, are the frontline in the battle against climate change, and yet are relatively unknown. Dive down to their deepest depths to discover …

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Corals are fighting back

2017-02-27

by The Economist

In Palau, corals are thriving despite climate change. What’s their secret? Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 The world’s OCEANS cover 70% of our planet, are the frontline in the battle against climate change, and yet are relatively unknown. Dive down to their deepest depths to discover how scientists are using …

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Emerging Markets: Preview of the Week Ahead

2017-02-27

by Win Thin

2017-02-27

EM FX ended last week on a soft note despite lower US rates. The dollar regained some traction that it lost over the course of the week, when markets pushed out Fed tightening beyond March. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin also seemed to push out fiscal stimulus. There is a full slate of Fed speakers this week, and Wednesday sees the release of the Fed’s Beige book that was prepared for the March 15 FOMC meeting.

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Emerging Markets: What has Changed

2017-02-25

by Win Thin

2017-02-25

PBOC tweaked its process for determining the yuan reference rate. Singapore is reportedly studying measures to boost revenue, including higher taxes. Moody’s upgraded the outlook on Russia’s Ba1 rating from negative to stable. Nigerian President Buhari extended his stay abroad. Nigerian central bank tweaked its FX restrictions, but was aimed at retail demand. Brazil political risk is back on the table. Brazil’s central bank hinted at a faster pace...

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There’s a Difference: Fake News and Junk News

2017-02-25

by Charles Hugh Smith

2017-02-25

The mainstream media continues peddling its "fake news" narrative like a desperate pusher whose junkies are dying from his toxic dope. It's slowly dawning on the media-consuming public that the MSM is the primary purveyor of "fake news"-- self-referential narratives that support a blatantly slanted agenda with unsupported accusations and suitably anonymous sources.

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Not Recession, Systemic Rupture – Again

2017-02-25

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-02-25

Pyramid - Total US Gold Stock, January 2017

For the very few in the mainstream of economics who venture further back in history than October 1929, they typically still don’t go much last April 1925. And when they do, it is only to further bash the gold standard for its presumed role in creating the conditions for 1929. The Brits under guidance of Winston Churchill made a grave mistake, one from which gold advocates could never recover given what followed.

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Where have all the fish gone?

2017-02-24

by The Economist

The death of corals is already affecting the human communities that depend on the ocean for survival. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 The world’s OCEANS cover 70% of our planet, are the frontline in the battle against climate change, and yet are relatively unknown. Dive down to their deepest depths …

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The dirty secret of clean energy | The Economist

2017-02-24

by The Economist

The road to a future with an unlimited supply of clean energy is a rocky one. Ed Carr, our deputy editor, explains why energy features on the cover of this week’s The Economist. Click here to subscribe to The Economist on YouTube: http://econ.trib.al/rWl91R7 Daily Watch: mind-stretching short films every day of the working week. For …

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The Market Is Not The Economy, But Earnings Are (Closer)

2017-02-23

by Jeffrey P. Snider

2017-02-23

My colleague Joe Calhoun likes to remind me that markets and fundamentals only sound like they should be related, an observation that is a correct one on so many different levels. Stock prices, in general, and GDP growth may seem to warrant some kind of expected correlation, but it has proven quite tenuous at times especially in a 21st century sense.

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