Central bank independence is dead, according to Foreign Policy, though the publication notes that the U.S. Congress has yet to get the message. 

A recent survey demonstrates how 61 percent of former central bankers surveyed around the world believe central banks will become less independent in the future.

Businessman Gary Vaynerchuk thinks we should worry about our own [expletive] before economic collapse wipes us out. He’s known for dominating new media and, before that, for making his father’s New Jersey wine business, Wine Library, a leading purveyor of wine’s on the country by hosting a YouTube show where he tasted wines alongside odd meal choices like a bowl of Fruit Loops.

Francois Trahan, a strategist at UBS, has seen U.S. corporate debt increasing by more than 50% this past decade, standing now at nearly $10 trillion. 

Such concerns could steal the show in 2020, he says. The slowing economic activity and a potential decline in corporate earnings could lead to debt downgrades for brands such as Amazon, 3M, and Walmart.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan issued his latest warning Tuesday about the fiscal situation in the U.S. He says the larger budget deficits ultimately will cause inflation.

The spending shortfall rose to just shy of $1 trillion in fiscal 2019. Greenspan told CNBC that “inflation is inevitably going to rise,” posing larger threats to the economy.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker died at 92. He was suffering from prostate cancer, according to reports.

“The economic hero of post-World War II America I would have to say was Paul Volcker,” Robert Kavesh, a professor at New York University. “And that’s saying something.”

President Carter appointed Volcker as chairman of the Fed in 1979 amid a stagflation crisis, in which both high inflation an rising unemployment led to gas rationing, etc.Volcker constricted the nation’s money supply and allowed interest rates to rise to more than 18 percent on mortgages. Read More

A recent election victory by Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp led to hundreds of thousands of protestors to take to the city’s streets on Sunday. The largest march in weeks signaled to China’s leader, Xi Jinping, that the protests against his authoritarian policies enjoyed broad support in Hong Kong as the economy weakened and violent clashes between protesters and police made headlines. Read More

Goldman Sachs’ private equity clients are bracing for a recession. “Every one of our clients is focused on being prepared for a recession,” said Alison Mass, the bank’s chairman of investment banking.

While interviewed on Bloomberg TV, Mass said the bank’s clients are creating checklists of ways in which to navigate a recession. Read More

There are several reasons experts presently warn of potential economic downturn. China’s growth has been slowing, despite recent positive reports, as the trade war wages on and geopolitical tensions increase. Among others, countries like Singapore and South Korea, who export manufactured goods to China, are slowing.

Positive economic signs do persist, with consumption remaining steady at 2%, and private residential investment increasing in the third quarter of 2019. (though this has steadily declined since the end of 2017). Despite this, business investment has begun to fall. Read More

Global debt will reach more than $255 trillion, according to the Institute of International Finance. Nearly $32,500 for each for the 7.7 billion people on the planet.

At the end of their report, economists warned that “high debt burdens could curb efforts to tackle climate risk.”

The IIF reported: “Global climate finance flows remain far short of what’s needed for an effective transition to a low-carbon economy.” Read More

Beijing and Washington won’t be reducing some punitive tariffs on each other’s goods – at least according to the Trump White House. Talks on the trade war, it would seem, are not progressing as promisingly as reports indicated.

Reports surfaced that a new agreement originated during discussions to iron out a “Phase 1” deal between the two countries. A “phased cancellation” of tariff hikes were agreed to in the event of progressing trade talks, according to the Commerce Ministry spokesman, Gao Feng. Read More

The poor health of millennials could put a damper on the U.S. economy, according to Moody’s. It is more common for millennials, who are born between 1981 and 1996, to suffer from hypertension, high cholesterol, depression, and hyperactivity than their Generation X counterparts at the same point in their lives.

Moody’s Analytics found the data in a report by Blue Cross Blue Shield, concluding that by the year 2027 health costs for young adults could be 33% higher than they were for Generation X at the same page. This could lead to lower wages, Moody’s argues. Read More

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said on Wednesday it is “inevitable” that central banks will issue digital currency. He also said the United States should not be the nation to lead such a move. He had been asked about the Fed’s creation of “FedNow,” its own real-time payments system. The comments were first reported by Reuters.

“Frankly I don’t think we should be the first mover as a nation to do this,” Harker said at a St. Louis community banking conference. He noted the dollar’s status as world reserve currency and underscored the need for experimentation and tests when it comes to such technology. Read More

Human civilization will collapse by 2050, according to an Australian climate change analysis endorsed by a former Australian defense chief and senior royal navy commander.

According to the analysis, which was published by the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, a think-tank based in Melbourne, Australia, climate change is “a current and existential national security risk” that “threatens the premature extinction of Earth-originating intelligent life or the permanent and drastic destruction of its potential for desirable future development.” Read More

The National Regeneration Movement, known as MORENA and led by Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), won two governorships and many local elections in yesterday’s vote, which took place in six Mexican states.

The elections underscore AMLO’s popularity nearly one year after he easily won the Presidency, and his party won majorities in both houses of Congress. No Mexican President since 1997 has won such a broad mandate.

The vote marks the first since AMLO’s inauguration in December. MORENA won governorships in Baja California and Puebla. It also won mayoral offices and seats in statehouses. Read More

A cold war in the 21st-century seemed unlikely… until now.

Tariffs by the United States on $200 billion worth of Chinese products and retaliatory tariffs by China on $60 billion worth of American goods went into effect on Monday.

While the United States and China are competing for global supremacy, they maintain mutual agreements to handle their complicated relationship. But, the tide might be turning…
Read More

A bull market is when stock prices continue increasing by 20 percent from a previous drop of 20 percent, or when the securities market keeps rising. Bull markets can also refer to other markets like housing, investment, or commodities. Read More