Taylor Swift’s concerts are creating massive short-term demand as people reconnect after lockdowns. But the chemical industry is warning that deflation could be round the corner, due to the over-capacity created by 20 years of stimulus
Chemicals and the Economy
Chemicals, financial markets reach a fork in the road
A whole generation has grown up with the idea that rates are always close to zero. And they also “know” that central banks will always print more money if needed.
It’s our 16th birthday – and the chemical industry remains the best leading indicator for the global economy
The Ukraine war highlights how the real world can often be a very messy place. Issues such as geopolitics and demographics aren’t easy to understand. It can be hard to understand the detail of how key industries and markets are operating.
So it’s no surprise that most policymakers have preferred to stay in the world of theory.
Chemical industry results confirm major recession is underway
Chemicals are telling us that all the world’s major economies are in a major downturn. And the downturn is starting to accelerate as companies cut back spending and fire people. Real estate, autos and other key areas are already suffering along with the banking system.
Stimulus programmes have created a major debt crisis, as the money cannot be repaid
The problem is that most economic models were originally built in the 1960s/70s, when people still died around pension age, and are out-of-date
Japan’s premier warns of “social dysfunction” as ageing populations challenge Western and Chinese economies
Japan has wasted trillions of yen with its failed stimulus programmes. Had it devoted even a tenth of this money to developing a proper Retraining programme for people in their 50s/60s, it wouldn’t now be facing a major debt and currency crisis. The rest of the Western world needs to rapidly learn from its mistake.
The end of stimulus, and the growing importance of demographics, means the economy could face a major downturn
‘Business as usual’ has been a great strategy for the past 40 years. But nothing lasts forever. It has now – like the central banks’ stimulus policies – hit the inevitable brick wall.
Break glass in case of emergency – the 2023 outlook for the economy
Please join me for my free ACS webinar on Thursday, December 15, 2022 @ 2-3pm ET.
China has locked down again. Yet World Cup TV shows people that the rest of the world is back to normal. And the real estate bubble (29% of GDP) continues to burst
The World Cup runs till December 18. That’s a long time for Chinese viewers to ask themselves “Why am I still locked down, when the rest of the world is living a normal life again”? And in the background, the real estate bubble continues to burst.
Global economy set to go ex-growth as world population hits 8bn
Underlying growth has been slowing since 2000 as more people joined the Perennials generation. Now, the bursting of the central bank stimulus bubbles – combined with the impact of Russia’s invasion – will likely cause the global economy to go ex-growth.
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