N O SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS is needed to show that China is in better economic shape than most other countries these days. Just look at its bustling shopping malls, its jammed roads in rush hour and its mobbed tourist sites during holidays. But if the crowd scenes suffice to affirm that China is doing well, a little more work is needed to address the question: exactly how well? As is often the case with Chinese data, the answer is controversial.
The national statistics bureau will report third-quarter GDP on October 19th. Analysts expect growth of about 5% compared with a year earlier, a strong recovery from the depths of the coronavirus slowdown, and all the more stunning when much of the world is mired in recession. Yet some believe the official growth data have been too rosy this year, not least because China's pandemic lockdown in the first quarter was among the world's most restrictive.
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Grading Trumponomics - How to judge President Trump's economic record | Leaders | The Economist
Yet his administration's economic record from before the pandemic is mixed. It got one thing right: when Mr Trump took office the economy was still in need of stimulus, which tax cuts and more spending helped provide. But that success has also helped conceal the damage done by his protectionism.
Trumponomics has not achieved what its proponents forecast. While campaigning in 2016 Mr Trump predicted economic growth of 4% or more; in office the target was cut to 3%. Between the start of 2017 and the end of 2019 America grew by an annual average of 2.5%, barely faster than the 2.4% growth of the three preceding years. The Trump administration argued that tax cuts would pay for themselves and that cutting red tape for business would spur investment.
Unemployment Claims Rise Anew in Latest Sign of Economic Distress - The New York Times
The American economy is showing fresh signs of deceleration, hammered by layoffs, a surge in coronavirus cases and the lack of fresh aid from Washington.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that 886,000 people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, an increase of nearly 77,000 from the previous week. Adjusted for seasonal variations, the total was 898,000.
"It's discouraging," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "The labor market appears to be stalled, which underscores the need for new stimulus as quickly as possible."
Watered with liberal tears - How the American economy did under Donald Trump | United States |
I N HIS NEW book Casey Mulligan offers an intriguing explanation for why President Donald Trump makes outlandish economic claims. Mr Trump knows he is hyperbolising when he says that America has enjoyed "the greatest economy in the history of the world" on his watch, suggests Mr Mulligan, who was until recently the chief economist on the president's Council of Economic Advisers.
Assessing leaders' economic records is fraught with difficulty. Presidents typically get credit when the economy is doing well and blame when it does badly—but short-term economic outcomes are usually more influenced by central banks, demography and what is happening in the rest of the world, among other factors. Even today, political scientists continue to argue over whether the economy in the 20th century did better under Democratic or Republican administrations.
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Heads of biggest banks stress need for more stimulus to power economic recovery and avoid deeper
This week's bank earnings say more than just how the giants of the financial services industry are faring seven months into the coronavirus pandemic. The presentations and comments made in response to investor questions provide a glimpse into what banking executives expect a "new normal" to look like and how the American economy will reshape itself around Covid-19 in the future.
In an investor conference call Wednesday, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and CFO Paul Donofrio noted that while credit card spending improved in the last quarter, it was still below pre-pandemic levels as a result of people not spending on travel and other services.
Schumpeter - Should big tech save newspapers? | Business | The Economist
No longer. Since the internet took off, the print media's advertising-supported business model has floundered. In the past 20 years newspapers' ad revenues in America have fallen by about 80% (to Depression-era levels), while circulation has roughly fallen by half. Though online traffic has surged, revenue from digital advertising has failed to offset the profit draining out of print. Platforms such as Google and Facebook have become the new moguls of the media landscape.
This power shift has led newspapers in many countries to plead with politicians that they need help in the face of big tech. Partly because they have, by their very nature, a loud voice, they have generated sympathy. How much they deserve it is another matter.
Coronavirus: ECB's Lagarde says further economic stimulus on standby
LONDON — European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday said her organization would be prepared to impose further emergency measures to tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis, with the region confronting a rapid upsurge of Covid-19 infections.
"We are still in the long grass for the moment and there is still a lot of work to be done, especially as from this corner of the world in Europe, we are seeing recurrences of contagion," Lagarde told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore during an IMF World Bank panel on Thursday.
Stocks Edge Lower on Rising Covid-19, Economic Risks - WSJ
U.S. stocks dropped Thursday as tightening coronavirus lockdowns in Europe and a weakening jobs picture in the U.S. cast a shadow on markets.
Major indexes recorded a third consecutive day of declines as investors pulled back from the big technology stocks that have helped propel the market this year.
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