Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Tuesday, December 13, 2016
WTO Debacle Heralds the End of Postwar Trade Regime / Economics / Global Economy
“China is not a market economy,” President-elect Donald Trump said in Iowa a few days ago. In the past few months, Trump has also pledged to undo the North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), beat back the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), impose huge tariffs on China and Mexico, and rewrite the rules of trade.
Nevertheless, the Obama White House, the EU and Japan beat Trump in the reset of the international trading regime by refusing China its market economy status (MES). The key clause in China’s agreement for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) expired on Sunday.
Monday, December 12, 2016
The Robot Workforce is Coming - Here’s Why It's Best for Everyone / Economics / Employment
BY PATRICK WATSON : Every day brings a new warning: robots are coming to take our jobs. Soon we’ll all be unemployed… and unable to buy what the robots produce.
What good are robots if all they do is make stuff we can’t afford? I don’t know. But there's no doubt automation will replace some human workers—even (gasp!) writers and editors.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 08, 2016
Our Future Economy, Jobs, Banking, And Governance – Part2 / Economics / US Economy
One Possible Outcome - Future demographic impact on the global economy
Developing or emerging nations are still growing in population, are at a much younger average age, and are eager to own more goods. They do not yet have the long life span seen in advanced nations, and hence a larger proportion of their population remains as consuming spenders. Their spending patterns will promote the kind of consumer economic model that had existed in the more developed world of Europe and North America in the last century. Accordingly, consumer spending of emerging nations can be projected to rise for decades.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 08, 2016
Developing Knowledge-Intensive Society and Knowledge Industrial Hub in Kerala: Global Applications and Implications / Economics / India
This is a work on Development Strategy based on Knowledge and Brain Power, rather than Capital and Technology, including Information Technology. It is prepared for the specific context of Kerala, one of the smallest Indian states and also known as ‘God’s Own Country’. Kerala has the highest digital connectivity. The proposed Kerala Model may have wider applications to various small and big countries, including India as a whole, in pursuing a Knowledge-Intensive Development Strategy (KIDS).
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
More Talk About More Economic Growth and More Globalization / Economics / Global Economy
The world is facing the “first lost decade since the 1860s”, said Bank of England governor Mark Carney this week. Arguably good for soundbite of the day, but the buck stops there. The only way that buck could have kept rolling would have been for Carney to take a critical look at himself and his employer(s), but there was none of that.
The Canadian import governor has no doubts about anything he’s done, or if he does he shows none. Instead he puts the blame for all that’s gone awry, on some -minor- elements of what he think globalization means, not with the phenomenon itself, or his enduring support for, and belief in, it. The problem with that is it’s indeed belief only; he can’t prove an inch of what he says.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
The Imminent Multi-Trillion Dollar Surge In Social Security & Medicare Costs / Economics / Government Spending
For decades we have known that the time would come when Social Security & Medicare costs would begin a rapid and explosive growth upwards. That time is no longer the distant future - but something that will take place next year, and the year after, and the year after. The long expected storm is now upon us, and as can be seen below, the amounts involved are staggering and they will arrive much faster than most people realize.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 05, 2016
If Trump Doesn’t Do This, We Will Have the Great Depression 2.0 / Economics / Great Depression II
No matter who won the presidency, the economic way forward was not going to be easy. The Republican team understands they must “stand and deliver.” But as we will see, that is not going to be easy.
I’m going to depart from the normal format, where I talk about the economic realities we face and how we should invest, and instead offer my view of what I think the Trump administration and the GOP-led Congress should do.
But first, let’s look briefly at where we are now—at the constraining facts that any economic proposal must take into consideration.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 05, 2016
Here’s How We Can Avoid a Horrific Economic Future / Economics / US Economy
We have to face up to our economic reality.
If we don’t bring the budget deficit beneath the nominal growth rate of GDP (which is unlikely to go above 4% in the near future), our debt will explode during recessions; and we will ultimately face a debt crisis.
Those never end well. The choices we will have at that point will be far fewer and even more stark.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 05, 2016
Our Future Economy, Jobs, Banking, And Governance / Economics / US Economy
Part 1. Our Past and Present Experience
World leaders, central bankers, leading politicians, and economists are all clamoring for increased economic growth. If growth falls below a perceived minimum rate, financial or fiscal stimulus programs are initiated and maintained in order to accelerate it. The concept for necessity of continued growth is so engrained in our society, that few question under what kind of conditions, when, why, and for whom it is necessary or beneficial. The populace has been brainwashed for decades to believe if economic growth slows that it will have meaningful negative consequences for our quality of life. Contrariwise, we have been falsely led to believe that if the economy grows rapidly, everyone benefits.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, December 02, 2016
We Are Putting Off the Inevitable / Economics / Recession 2017
Only two presidents in history did not see a recession, and they were inaugurated after single-term presidents. In every single instance at the end of a two-term presidency, there’s been a recession. This means there is a 100% chance of recession for the new president.
My friend Raoul Pal, in his latest Global Macro Investor, talks about the potential for a recession in 2017:
The following chart shows every recession since 1910 (in yellow) with the new president after a two-term election marked in white and the new presidents after a single-term presidency in red. Wilson and Eisenhower appear as both. Only Coolidge saw more than a year (sixteen months) from his second-term election and the onset of the subsequent recession at the end of WWI…
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, December 02, 2016
Macroeconomic Cycles & Demographics - A Fuse, An Explosive and The Igniting Catalyst / Economics / Demographics
Investors need to focus on the two key long term structural changes now underway which are going to ignite destructive global dislocations through early 2020. To better understand why this is going to occur we need to place them in context by first examining the major economic cycles currently underway.
Harry Dent's Macroeconomic Cycles & Demographics
This initial cycle chart is from an in-depth discussion I had with Harry Dent earlier this year. Since leaving Harvard, Harry has spent most of his adult working life studying demographics and cycles.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 01, 2016
Burn the Flags, Can Trump Salvage The Sinking US Economic Ship? / Economics / US Economy
When Nobel Peace Prize winner, Barack O’Bomber, was sworn into office on January 20, 2009, the national debt was $10.62 trillion.
The United States currently has a national debt total of over $19.9 Trillion according to the US national debt clock as of the writing of this blog. That’s an astonishing 87% increase in less than an 8 year period.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, December 01, 2016
US Economic Data - These Were Supposed To Be Hillary’s Numbers! / Economics / US Economy
Good headlines just keep coming. The Chicago PMI index of Midwest economic activity jumps to its highest level in two years. The ADP employment report shows 216,000 new jobs added in November. US Q2 GDP growth is upgraded to a completely acceptable rate of 3.2%.
Very nice numbers all. And – had the election gone a different way – a big help in easing the transition from one Democrat administration to another. Success breeding success.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Economic Imperialism Could Lead to China’s Demise / Economics / China Economy
In 2007, a Chinese company bought Mount Toromocho in Peru. That’s right. A mountain, in another country.It’s more than half the height of Mount Everest, but aesthetic beauty wasn’t a factor. Beneath the mountain’s surface sits two billion tons of copper, one of the largest reserves in the world. Through a state-owned company, the Chinese government secured access to yet another natural resource overseas.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 28, 2016
If Trump Does This, We Will Win / Economics / US Economy
No matter who won the presidency, the economic way forward was not going to be easy. The national debt and deficit must be brought under control, or we will face a crisis.
Avoiding that crisis—even if it is 10 years out—is important. The solution doesn’t have to be implemented all at once. But there has to be a clear trajectory along the lines of the Clinton/Gingrich budget compromises. Those gave us balanced budgets and deficit reduction.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 28, 2016
Public Infrastructure – Welcome to the World of Waste, Fraud, and Abuse / Economics / Infrastructure
Economic policy is subject to fads and fashions. The most recent economic-policy fad is public infrastructure. Its advocates include progressives on the “left” – like President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders – and populists on the “right” – like President-elect Trump. They tell us to take the chains off fiscal austerity and spend – spend a lot – on public works. They allege that this elixir will cure many, if not all, of our economic ills. Let’s take a look at their arguments and evidence.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Another US Election Year, Another Bunch Of Fake Economic Growth Numbers / Economics / Economic Statistics
Some pretty good economic reports have energized various parts of the financial markets lately. Consumer spending is up, GDP is exceeding expectations and even factory orders, that perennial downer, popped this morning.
In response the dollar is soaring and interest rates are at breaking out of their multi-decade down-channel. The economy is clearly recovering, implying a return to normality. Right?
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
The Winners and Losers of a Global Trade War / Economics / Global Economy
My research in recent months has focused increasingly on how the surprise Brexit vote and Trump’s victory are actually not that surprising after all. They’re a clear sign of a growing number of everyday people rejecting the massive globalization trend that has surged since World War II.The world “shrinking” seemed to be a win-win at first. Countries could focus on what they do best and export to others while importing what they need. And, yes, longer-term that does work, as Adam Smith first espoused in 1776.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
The Trump Administration Winter is Coming / Economics / Recession 2017
How on God’s green earth are we supposed to make sense, from an economic and investment portfolio view, of what is happening?
A recession could change everything
It has been quite a while since we have had a recession. When we do have one, it’s going to further limit our choices.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
How China And Trump Era Will Define Free Trade In Asia Pacific / Economics / Global Economy
After the Trump triumph, US-led free trade plans are shelved, which leaves China an opportunity to redefine trade in Asia Pacific.
During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump embraced a protectionist stance on trade issues and called the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) a “disaster.” More recently, he has pledged that the US will quit the TPP on his first day in the White House.