Queen Elizabeth’s death marks the end of an era for the UK
Truss will be the first UK premier since Churchill to operate without the Queen in support. And as Robert Shrimsley had already noted in the Financial Times: “Few would envy Truss…
Food costs and interest rates rise as energy and fertilizer supplies are hit by the invasion
It’s going to be a very difficult winter. Most of the world will be impacted as Europe bids up energy/food prices to keep its people warm and fed. And it would never…
Jackson Hole is a chance to prepare for a financial shock
The problems began with the supply chain crisis caused by the pandemic. Russia’s war in Ukraine then created a further challenge. And now we face the risk of famine as fertiliser costs…
The New Normal blog returns on 28 August
Prepare for the coming crisis
As the head of Germany’s Employers’ Associations warned last month: “We are facing the biggest crisis the post-war Federal Republic has ever had. We have to be honest and say: First of all, we…
IMF warns the risks “for the economy are overwhelmingly tilted to the downside”
Millions of people around the world are already having to cutback on buying food for their families due to today’s high prices. By wintertime, the risk is that they will have to…
The blog’s 15th birthday – and the chemical industry remains the best leading indicator for the global economy
The US is moving into recession as the Atlanta Fed chart confirms. Chemicals have been warning of this for some time. But policymakers and commentators remain in Denial about the economy. They…
China’s housing bubble starts to deflate
But now, the bubble is starting to deflate, as the zero-Covid policy cripples the economy. GDP grew just 0.4% in Q2. Beijing is issuing record amount of debt, but confidence has gone….
“Things get to a point where you have to do the right thing”, Lord McDonald, former head of the UK Foreign Office
The election’s timing could hardly be worse, with Johnson a caretaker premier. The UK should be working closely with the EU to combat the Russian threat to food and energy supplies. But…