Tag Archives: US/Global Economics

Latest mixed bag of articles for the week touching on many topics. The very first article implies there was a grant to the Wuhan, China facility. Not sure why that would occur considering all the ruckus which occurred in the past. There is also an article on the Jacksom Mississippi water issues. Jackson is a fair size town. Kind of wonder why that is even occurring. There is also an article about the Boy Scouts selling off their land to pay for...

Nobel Peace Prizes were awarded most recently. “The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 103 times to 140 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2022, 110 individuals and 30 organizations. Since the International Committee of the Red Cross has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize three times (in 1917, 1944 and 1963), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize two times (in 1954 and 1981),...

Weekly Indicators for October 3 – 7 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. This week’s headline was easy, because OPEC’s (and in particular Russia and Saudi Arabia’s) geopolitical decision – aimed directly at the November elections in the US as well as Western support for Ukraine –  to cut back production has already caused gas and oil prices to increase sharply. As usual, clicking over...

An Improvement In China’s Human Rights Record In XinJiang?, Econospeak by Barkley Rosser  On October 5, 2022, the Washington Post published a front section story, “Uyghyr crackdown eases, but Xinjiang;s scars endure,” by Eva Dou and Kate Cadell. The article documents the ongoing human rights problems and a lack of transparency in Xinjiang province in China, including ongoing use of forced labor in prisons in industrial parks, in the wake of...

The US military has ideas about how Taiwan can protect itself from a possible Chinese invasion (and therefore deter that invasion) I think they are very good ideas. I think that the proposed program would markedly reduce the threat of a PRC invasion of Taiwan, which is the most alarming threat currently faced by the US and its allies (including the allied country Taiwan, which the US does not recognize). I ask why is this program which is well...

This “Letter from an American” author Prof. Heather has a different spin to it. Prof. Heather is discussing OPEC and the impact it is going to have on the US as well as other counties not having the wealth we have. One thing I did not know is, Russia is the Vice-Chair of OPEC. Or Putin has his input to OPEC. Leading up to the MBS ‘s decision to cut oil production, the market was stabilizing and prices were dropping. “October 5, 2022,” Letters...

Six billion. I have written and rewritten the first line of this over and over and over again. Six billion. That is the amount of current US dollars American farmers have to come up with this year as fertilizer prices hit highs not seen since 2008, on top of higher prices last year. The difference is that in 2008 we had a financial meltdown, a run on energy markets, and global calamity. This year, we have supply crunches due to war, restrictions,...

Once again, automotive is building inventory dues to parts shortages. Semiconductors appear to be an issue again or the issue never went away. Much of this is due to automotive OEMs trying to drive parts cost down to the tiers. Many of them are running tight budgets due to the OEMs. They will not hold inventory unless the OEMs commit to it. The other side of this being Ford splitting it business into two parts, traditional fuel vehicles and Electric...

One Handed Economist David Zetland reviews a review by The Economist of the book Superabundance. I admit I did not read the book or even scan it. I will do so later when I have some time to do so. The subtitle kind of gives it away as it promotes (“The Story of) Population Growth, Innovation and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet.” In the US there is a lot of noise about legal immigrants coming to the US. Our replacement rate has...

Report From Moscow by Barkley Rosser  My wife, Marina, has returned from a two and a half week to Moscow to visit her 93 year old mother.  She almost got bumped from her Turkish Airlines flight out of Moscow through Istanbul, but her travel agent managed to get her back on.  Very glad she is back. Anyway, a few first hand current reports. Yes, in terms of living standards, in Moscow most things are operating and there are plenty of goods in...