The U.S. government’s budget deficit ballooned to nearly $1 trillion in 2019, the Treasury Department announced Friday, as the United States’ fiscal imbalance widened for a fourth consecutive year despite Continue Reading
At this week’s biennial Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota Motor Corp.’s booth didn’t feature any cars its customers can buy. Instead, the company showcased a mobile service that gives you a Continue Reading
(Reuters) – U.S. electronics factories are investing less and slowing hiring or laying off workers in some cases due to the rising costs of trade tariffs, according to an industry Continue Reading
The collateral damage of the United States’ trade wars is being felt from the fjords of Iceland to the auto factories of Japan. Central bank governors and finance ministers traded Continue Reading
Overall industrial production, which includes output at factories, mines and utilities, dropped 0.4% in September and declined 0.1% from a year earlier, the first year-over-year decrease since 2016. Mining production Continue Reading
President Trump’s top economic adviser last week arranged an Oval Office briefing with outside experts who warned the president that continued escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions could imperil the economy and hurt Continue Reading
U.S. companies might be feeling a lot more pinched than they appear. That could have serious repercussions for both the stock market and the economy. Earnings season is about to Continue Reading
The prolonged strike at General Motors Co ( GM.N ) is estimated to have hit as many as 150,000 workers in the auto industry, a report from research and consulting Continue Reading
As President Trump intensifies his trade war with China, and as factories slow in major industrial nations, world commerce is deteriorating rapidly, a perilous development that threatens the global economy Continue Reading
Tuesday figures showing the Institute for Supply Management’s U.S. manufacturing index fell to its lowest level in more than a decade in September were the latest downbeat gauge of factory Continue Reading
“Thank the trade war, which means no improvement is likely anytime soon,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a note to clients, referring to the ISM reading, Continue Reading
Europe’s manufacturing slump deepened in September, as a key gauge of factory activity fell to a near-seven year low and industry executives remained downbeat about the year ahead. The purchasing managers’ Continue Reading
If the pace of global economy deteriorates further, the International Energy Agency (IEA) could revise down again its oil demand growth expectations for this year and next, the IEA’s executive Continue Reading
President Trump has touted the economy during his administration. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) The U.S. economy slowed in the spring, falling to a level that most economists consider healthy but Continue Reading
Economists tell us that within the economy there is a lot of substitutability, and they are correct. However, there are a couple of not-so-minor details that they overlook: There is Continue Reading
Spending by big US companies on plants and equipment is waning as the sug; rush from last year’s tax cut wears off and the trade stand-off with China damps confidence Continue Reading
U.S. job growth rebounded strongly in June as government hiring surged, but persistent moderate wage gains and mounting evidence that the economy was losing momentum could still encourage the Federal Continue Reading
Major auto makers saw U.S. new-vehicle sales slip in the first half of 2019, which is expected to continue for the remainder of the year as the U.S. auto industry’s Continue Reading
The global manufacturing slump deepened in June, with data from round the world illustrating the extent to which the US-China trade conflict is weighing on growth. A global manufacturing index produced Continue Reading
The U.S. factory sector lost momentum again last month, the latest sign that anemic global growth and trade tensions are contributing to a domestic slowdown. The Institute for Supply Management Continue Reading
For the European Central Bank, a softening job market might also kill off its already distant hopes of lifting inflation to its target of just below 2%. And for the Continue Reading
Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in Europe contracted in June, wrapping up the weakest quarter for the goods-producing sector in six years, IHS data showed Friday. A similar survey of Japanese manufacturers Continue Reading
Europe has suffered the sharpest turnaround, and there is little relief in sight, according to a June survey of purchasing managers conducted by data firm IHS Markit that was released Continue Reading
In the last 100 years, multiple factors were in play to ensure economic growth. Those factors are disappearing quickly. Returns will be much smaller going forward. The world economy has grown tremendously Continue Reading
After almost three years of successfully predicting a global economic revival, world bond markets are furiously flagging the risk of yet another recession, as well as low inflation for a Continue Reading
President Trump decided to open up yet another front in his trade war, this time turning his sights on Mexico. Trump took to twitter on Thursday to announce a 5 Continue Reading
If you want to identify tomorrow’s superpowers, overlay maps of fresh water, energy, grain/cereal surpluses and arable land. The status quo measures wealth with “money,” but “money” is not what’s Continue Reading
Declining output of cars and machinery led U.S. factory production to fall unexpectedly in April, a sign the economy is losing a step as a trade war with China intensifies. Continue Reading
More than a year ago, U.S. shale producers started to realize that investors were getting impatient about meager returns from the industry that was pumping record volumes of oil without Continue Reading
Less than a month ago in the imposing setting of the IMF’s HQ2 building in Washington DC, Gita Gopinath, its new chief economist, had a bleak message for the world. Disappointing Continue Reading
Capitalism as we know it is over. So suggests a new report commissioned by a group of scientists appointed by the UN Secretary-General. The main reason? We’re transitioning rapidly to Continue Reading
At a truck stop in Ridgefield, New Jersey, driver Paul Richards reviews a notebook where he tracks miles driven and what he is hauling. His paycheck is down about 25 Continue Reading
The U.S. and Chinese manufacturing sectors showed signs of stabilizing in March from earlier slowdowns, while Europe stumbled last month, evidence of an uneven and uncertain global economic outlook. The Continue Reading
Global stocks and bond yields slumped Friday as weak manufacturing data deepened investors’ anxiety about the health of the world economy. Major stock indexes have rallied this year despite a Continue Reading
U.S. manufacturing output declined for the second consecutive month in February, a fresh sign that a long-predicted slowdown is hitting the U.S. economy. Output at U.S. factories decreased 0.4% in Continue Reading
Can technological progress save us from ecological destruction? If some new clean form of energy was discovered tomorrow, could it be deployed quickly enough to decarbonize the world by 2050? Continue Reading
U.S. retail sales recorded their biggest drop in more than nine years in December as receipts fell across the board, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end Continue Reading
Phosphorus is essential for all living organisms. So, it’s not surprising that humans get their phosphorus from other living organisms, mostly plants, that have absorbed phosphorus from the soil. The Continue Reading
The U.S. and China are moving closer to settling their fight over tariffs, but data on the state of global trade is worsening, which is a bad sign for markets. Continue Reading
Collapse is a process, not an event. Many people are expecting some degree of approaching collapse — be it economic, environmental and/or societal — thinking that they’ll recognize the danger Continue Reading
In 1988, Joseph Tainter published a fundamental study on the collapse of societies, proposing the existence of a common cause, diminishing returns, for the fact that all past empires and Continue Reading
2019 has started more calmly after a very volatile year-end in the markets. Focus has been on the trade deal between China and the US and the words of the Continue Reading
Financial markets have been behaving in a very turbulent manner in the last couple of months. The issue, as I see it, is that the world economy is gradually changing Continue Reading
“The outlook for the global economy in 2019 has darkened.” That conclusion came from a new report from the World Bank, citing a variety of data, including softening international trade Continue Reading
German industrial production was much worse than expected in November, underscoring the headwinds the euro zone’s powerhouse economy faced at the end of 2018. The wide-ranging economic measure was down Continue Reading
Stock markets across the world started 2019 under heavy pressure as deepening concern about a global economic slowdown spooked investors, still shaken by the worst December for equities in a Continue Reading
A global economy that until recently was humming has broken down, a sharp contrast to the picture just a year ago when the world was experiencing its best growth since Continue Reading
The world economy has never faced a more perilous situation. While many have just started to debate whether a recession will start in 2019 or 2020, very few perceive the Continue Reading
Relatively steady U.S. economic numbers—including a robust report on consumer spending from the Commerce Department—haven’t calmed the markets. Maurice Obstfeld, the retiring chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, said Continue Reading
Now that the world’s central banking cartel is taking a long-overdue pause from printing money and handing it to the wealthy elite, the collection of asset price bubbles nested within Continue Reading
