Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, March 05, 2019
China - A Critical Global Growth Engine, Despite Deceleration / Economics / China Economy
By: Dan_Steinbock
Despite U.S. trade wars, China will stick to its growth target and fiscal easing in the short-term, deleveraging in the medium-term and rebalancing in the long-term. That’s the message of Premier Li’s report.Released on Monday at the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), Premier Li Keqian’s annual work report sets the general tone for the 2019 economic policies.
In 2019, China has set a lower, flexible economic growth target at the range of 6.0% to 6.5%, while raising its tolerance of fiscal deficit at 2.8% of GDP.
The point about the GDP growth target is not how much it will exceed 6%, but that it should not fall below that level. That’s vital to sustain the quest to double living standard by 2020.
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Monday, February 25, 2019
An Economic Postcard from Malaysia / Economics / Malaysia
By: Dan_Steinbock
Not so long ago, Malaysia was set to lose years of economic progress. Today, following the re-imposition of economic discipline, the country is almost back on track. A new era dawned in Malaysia in May 2018, when the opposition coalition led by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim secured a simple majority in a historical election. When Mahathir will return to retirement, opposition leader Anwar is expected to replace him in about two years.
In the 2018 election, their coalition - Pakatan Harapan (PH) - won 113 seats against the ruling coalition (United Malays National Organization, UMNO and its allies) that had not lost an election since 1957.
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Friday, February 15, 2019
Chinese Lunar New Year Sales in line with Expectations / Economics / Retail Sector
By: Dan_Steinbock
According to some international observers, the Lunar New Year sales indicate a plunge in Chinese consumption. Economic realities tell a different story.Chinese Lunar New Year can be seen as a barometer for Chinese private consumption, due to gift-giving and family reunions. Consequently, both holiday data and its international coverage are of great interest.
Here’s the bottom line: During the Lunar New Year holiday in early February, Chinese retail and catering businesses generated a record over 1 trillion yuan ($148 billion). Sales by retail businesses rose 8.5% from a year earlier.
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Thursday, February 14, 2019
Capitalism Isn’t Bad, It’s Just Broken / Economics / Economic Theory
By: John_Mauldin
The Soviet Union’s collapse ended the socialism vs. capitalism argument.
Semi-free markets spread through Eastern Europe. Collectivist economies everywhere began turning free. Capitalism seemingly won.
Even communist China adopted a form of free market capitalism. Although, as they say, it has “Chinese characteristics.”
With all its faults and problems, capitalism generated the greatest accumulation of wealth in human history. It has freed millions of people from abject poverty.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Trump’s Quest to Undermine Multilateral Development Banks / Economics / Global Financial System
By: Dan_Steinbock
In the postwar era, the multilateral development banks were created to facilitate global trade. Today, they are ‘America First’ targets.Recently, the White House has been pushing its America First stance in the World Trade Organization (WTO) by controversial appeals to a “national security exception.” In response to the Trump tariffs, several WTO members have brought dispute settlement cases against the U.S.
World Bank is next in the firing line. Reportedly, the White House will announce David Malpass as the nominee for President of the World Bank, after Jim Yong Kim's resignation well before the end of his five-year term in 2022.
In the 2016 election, Malpass served as Trump’s economic advisor. A year later he was appointed Undersecretary for International Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Treasury. But he is an odd choice to head the World Bank - a bit like selecting a coal CEO to head the struggle against climate change.
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Friday, February 08, 2019
US Business Confidence Is Starting to Crack / Economics / Recession 2019
By: Patrick_Watson
Actions speak louder than words.
That’s why surveys asking people what they think about the economy aren’t always useful. Their actions might not match their words.
Of course, attitudes are important because they guide our decisions, even though we don’t act on them consistently.
Not everyone’s decisions have equal impact, though. Business owners and CEOs have more influence because they make bigger decisions: whether to create new jobs, raise wages, buy new equipment, and so on.
Tuesday, February 05, 2019
Debt Can’t Save China Anymore / Economics / China Debt Crisis
By: John_Mauldin
The 2008 financial crisis hit China hard, as it did everyone else.
Not every country responded like China did, though. Most couldn’t do what China did because they lacked either financial resources or political ability.
China had both. And so it launched a stimulus program of mind-boggling proportions.
Monday, February 04, 2019
Darker Clouds over Europe / Economics / Euro-Zone
By: Dan_Steinbock
Not only is Europe’s expansionary cycle fading, but the region is about to face challenges that it has to tackle amid growing political fragmentation.Italy slipped into recession in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to new data. France continues to be haunted by Yellow vests protests. Germany has entered an era of uncertainty. And Brexit overshadows the UK future.
In the absence of Trump’s tariffs, Europe could have benefited from a nascent recovery of world trade, investment and finance. But now even these hopes are diminishing.
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Saturday, February 02, 2019
Hyperinflation -- A Kaleidoscope Of Uses And Abuses / Economics / HyperInflation
By: Steve_H_Hanke
The word “hyperinflation” is sprinkled throughout the press each day. We read that Iran is hyperinflating. The same is written about Zimbabwe and Venezuela, as well as a potpourri of other countries that are experiencing inflation flare ups. While Iran came close to a hyperinflation in the fall of 2012, it has never experienced an episode of hyperinflation. And, while Zimbabwe experienced hyperinflation episodes in 2007-2008 and 2017, it is not hyperinflating now. At present, Venezuela is the only country experiencing a hyperinflation. It’s clear that journalists and those they interview tend to play fast and loose with the word “hyperinflation.”
To clean up the hyperinflation landscape, we must heed the words of the great Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, one of the founders of the Austrian School of Economics, who, in 1891, wrote “…We too must bring into our science a strict order and discipline, which we are still far from having…by a disorderly and ambiguous terminology we are led into the most palpable mistakes and misunderstandings – all these failings are of so frequent occurrence in our science that they almost seem to be characteristic of its style.”
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Saturday, February 02, 2019
The U.S. Declares Economic War Against Venezuela / Economics / Venezuela
By: Steve_H_Hanke
Since the election of Hugo Chavez in December of 1998, Venezuelans have embraced Chavismo. This peculiar form of socialism has allowed Venezuela to morph into what is in essence an organized crime syndicate and has pushed the country in an economic death spiral. For the stunning evidence of this death spiral, we need look no further than Venezuela’s inflation rate.
Today, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate is 112,189%/yr. The chart below tracks the daily measurements of this annual rate. Unlike the fantastic inflation forecasts thrown around by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the data in the chart are real measurements—accurate measurements.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2019
This Is the Key to Understanding China’s Economy / Economics / China Economy
By: John_Mauldin
China is facing many challenges. That’s probably not news to you.
But what we often fail to understand is this: China will deal with those challenges in a much different way than what we are used to in the West.
To solve Europe’s financial woes in 2012, ECB President Mario Draghi promised to do “whatever it takes.” Yet central bank policy was his only tool.
Xi Jinping has a vastly larger toolbox. It is hard for us in the Western world to understand that.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Europe Has No Control Over Its Future. Period. / Economics / European Union
By: John_Mauldin
Whenever we talk about the European economy, Germany drives the discussion.
Yes, the UK and France are big, but Germany is the giant. If Germany sneezes, the rest of the continent catches cold.
And it is sneezing hard right now.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Will We See a Recession and a Rally in Gold in 2019 or 2020? / Economics / Recession 2019
By: Arkadiusz_Sieron
We will see a recession and a rally in gold in 2019 or 2020. True or false? We invite you to read our today’s article about ‘recession in 2020’ narrative and find out what it all means for the gold market.
114 months. So long is the current US economic expansion. It officially started in June 2009, and if the country avoids recession until July 2019, the uptrend in the business cycle will exceed 120 months, becoming the longest expansion since at least 1857, when the NBER began recording economy.
Last year, we analyzed the popular claim that “the current expansion is so long, that it must end soon”. Surprisingly for us, we reached similar conclusions to Janet Yellen, who said once that expansions do not die of old age.
However, many analysts present more sophisticated arguments for the upcoming crisis. For example, Morgan Stanley has recently estimated the odds of recession in the US at 15 percent in 2019 and 30 percent in 2020. Larry Summers, the former Treasury Secretary, has gone even further, putting the chances of a recession in the US within the next two years at about 50 percent.
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Thursday, January 24, 2019
If China Falls, so Will America / Economics / China US Conflict
By: John_Mauldin
The US and China are the world’s largest and second-largest economies.
They are also entwined in so many ways that it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Some call it “Chimerica.” which is an apt description.
But that’s not bad.
International trade promotes peace and prosperity for all. It’s not always smooth, evenly distributed, or free of issues. But such is the nature of great affairs.
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
Recession Signals - Daylight, Nighttime, And Cycles Of Risks And Opportunities / Economics / Recession 2019
By: Dan_Amerman
Numerous warning signals of a coming recession have appeared recently, and there have been rapid changes in bond prices, stock prices and Federal Reserve policies.
Yet, the stock market indexes are rising again, and the economic and financial fundamentals remain strong in many ways. Are the widespread fears of recession overblown?
In the search for answers, this analysis explores 164 years of economic history, and the 34 previous "night and day" iterations of recession and expansion. By studying the average expansion and recession, many insights can be gained in terms of what economies look like shortly before recession, and whether history shows that the current robust economic statistics are in fact a reliable argument against another recession starting within the next 1-2 years.
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Monday, January 21, 2019
From ASEAN Economic Development to Militarization / Economics / Asian Economies
By: Dan_Steinbock
In Africa, the Trump administration is setting a precedent by replacing economic development with militarization. In Asia, it seeks to couple “rebalancing” in trade with a rearmament drive.In a recent editorial, The Manila Times expressed concern that relatively benign economic conditions may lead to a false sense of security as “the United States-China trade war may be starting to inflict collateral damage on the economy.”
In the short-term, it is a valid concern for the Philippines and other ASEAN economies that currently benefit relatively benign economic conditions.
But even if the worst excesses of the trade war could be deterred, there are darker clouds in the longer-term horizon. The Trump administration’s new trade protectionism is accompanied by increasingly military stance. The new US Africa strategy heralds changes in other regions as well, particularly Asia.
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Monday, January 21, 2019
Tips for Writing Assignment in Hurry / Economics / Education
By: Umer_Mahmood
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Sunday, January 20, 2019
Venezuela's Hyperinflation Hits 80,000% Per Year in 2018 / Economics / HyperInflation
By: Steve_H_Hanke
Venezuela's economy has collapsed. This is the result of years of socialism, incompetence, and corruption, among other things. An important element that mirrors the economy's collapse is Venezuela's currency, the bolivar. It is not trustworthy. Venezuela's exchange rate regime provides no discipline. It only produces instability, poverty, and the world’s highest inflation rate for 2018. Indeed, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate at the end of 2018 was 80,000%.
I observed much of Venezuela’s economic dysfunction first-hand during the 1995-96 period, when I acted as President Rafael Caldera’s adviser. But it wasn’t until 1999, when Hugo Chavez was installed as president, that the socialist seeds of Venezuela’s current meltdown started to be planted. This is not to say that Venezuela had not suffered from an unstable currency and elevated inflation rates before the arrival of President Chavez, but with his ascendancy, fiscal and monetary discipline further deteriorated and inflation ratcheted up. By the time President Nicolas Maduro arrived in early 2013, annual inflation was in triple digits and rising. Venezuela entered what has become a death spiral.
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Sunday, January 20, 2019
Hyperinflation - Zimbabwe's Monetary Death Spiral / Economics / HyperInflation
By: Steve_H_Hanke
President Mnangagwa’s pledge that Zimbabwe is “open for business” rings hollow. Indeed, many businesses in Zimbabwe are shuttered. An increase in government controlled fuel prices over the weekend has ignited simmering fury over what is in fact a currency crisis. In response, Zimbabwe’s security forces have launched a violent crackdown on protestors and opposition politicians. The crackdown has been done under the cover of a social media blackout. Yes, the internet is shuttered, too.
In a sense, the only thing new in this uprising is President Mnangagwa himself. Recall that it was he who organized a coup that removed the long-serving, strongman Robert Mugabe from power in 2017. This was followed by what many claim was a rigged election by the Mugabe-Mnangagwa ruling ZANU-PF party. Rigged or not, the election gave Mnangagwa’s Presidency the patina of legitimacy.
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Thursday, January 17, 2019
Mauldin: My 2019 Economic Outlook / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
I recently did a “2019 Investment Outlook” webinar with my business partner Steve Blumenthal.
We looked at three topics: recession probability, credit conditions, and stock valuations. I can tell, we went deep on the webinar. You can read a transcript or view a recording here.
Here I’ll give you an abbreviated version of that webinar.
Economists Can’t Recognize Recessions in Real Time
Steve started the webinar by noting we are late in an economic cycle. He showed the chart below to illustrate how all cycles have expansion periods that end with recession.
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