EFSTATHIOS KASSIOS

Dear friends, find below some of the articles I have been reading in May/June 2023 along with my brief personal commentary, by yours truly for your global business intelligence perspective.

You can’t stop the #blockchain revolution. After #Nigeria another #African country will introduce and circulate a new #digital #currency backed by #gold – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-23/zimbabwe-to-introduce-gold-backed-digital-currency-sunday-mail#xj4y7vzkg

In a higher interest rates world #banks are more vulnerable as they risk massive withdrawals from panicked depositors. The recent bank run aside from the #FED rates monetary policy, was backstopped by governments to stop rapid liquidation of banks long term assets. – https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/four-interesting-econ-stories?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Η #Ελλάδα κατέχει αυτή τη στιγμή τη πρώτη θέση παγκοσμίως σε δημόσιο χρέος επί του ΑΕΠ (έχουμε ξεπεράσει και το Μπουρούντι της Αφρικής). – https://twitter.com/stats_feed/status/1652536726290591744?t=zYq2fkKD4_6e2x4jHlS4kQ&s=19

Another medium size #bank collapses in #usa. #firstrepublicbank had the same number of assets (around $100 billion) like #siliconvalleybank which collapsed first. – https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/first-republic-shares-gain-hopes-rescue-deal-2023-04-28/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Excerpt from the book “Crashed – How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World” by Adam Tooze – https://stathiskassios.blogspot.com/2023/05/excerpt-from-book-crashed-how-decade-of.html

Through personal published articles and commentary I have been warning for a coming global #recession for over a year now. Nominal wage increases will bring jobless rate spikes soon. Expect more bank failures after SVB, SB, First Republic and others. “A sharp contraction in the availability of credit would drive up the cost of funding for businesses and households, potentially resulting in a slowdown in economic activity” – https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/08/recession-risks-biden-democrats-00095814

As expected, Bank of England raises interest rates again, current rate of 4.5% (highest since 2008, hike by 25% basis points) amidst #stagflation in the #UK economy (especially in the labour market). If #inflation persists in 2023, there will be further tightening of its monetary policy. Monitoring aggregate demand and GDP growth will drive the next decisions.

The coming age of automation through Generative #AI will augment current income inequalities in the developed world thus governments should step up designing new compensation policies. – https://fortune.com/2023/05/10/artificial-intelligence-deepmind-co-founder-mustafa-suleyman-ubi-governments-seriously-need-to-find-solution-for-people-that-lose-their-jobs/

#China fact of the day: “The folks at #Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimate that China owns 90% of the solar supply chain: everything from polysilicon production to the tools needed to make photovoltaics to the panels themselves. It’s also doing very well in batteries and has a shot at dominating the hydrogen supply chain as well”

Let’s not forget that #Georgia and #Ukraine applied for the Membership Action Plan (MAP) to join #NATO in February 2008, on a fast-track basis. During the NATO summit after that, Putin -as a sign of protest- walked away displeased and angered. The rest is history. #UkraineWar

#China’s exports currently account for 20% of it’s #GDP as the country has shifted from an export driven to a domestic investment economy in the last years.

Yellen Warns Again That the U.S. Could Default as Soon as June 1 – https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/us/politics/yellen-debt-limit-default.html

Η πτώση της τουρκικής λίρας ήρθε νωρίτερα από τις οικονομικές προβλέψεις – https://www.naftemporiki.gr/finance/markets/1481277/toyrkiki-lira-proevlepan-katarreysi-se-3-mines-irthe-se-3-meres/

2 σύντομες τοποθετήσεις: 1) Το πένθος για τα θύματα του ναυαγίου δεν θα έπρεπε να είναι μόνο εθνικό/ευρωπαϊκό, αλλά παγκόσμιο 2) Η Διακομματική επιτροπή θα έπρεπε ειλικρινώς να ονομάσει το debate των πολιτικών αρχηγών ως Q&A (ερωτήσεις/απαντήσεις). Για original debate βλέπε ΗΠΑ

Ο απόλυτος συντηρητισμός της νέας Αμερικανικής δεξιάς για το μέλλον των ΗΠΑ θυμίζει την Αριστερά της δεκαετίας του ’60

For the bitter (?) end, I could not skip adding the cover of my new novel – book ( a cinematic philosophical thriller inspired by an old Scandinavian Medieval myth, currently written in Greek – published by Diania Publications) – order here: https://dianiapublications.com/product/%ce%bf-%ce%bc%ce%bf%ce%bd%ce%b1%cf%87%cf%8c%cf%82-%cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%ce%b8%ce%ac%ce%bb%ce%b1%cf%83%cf%83%ce%b1%cf%82/