Economy
Related: About this forumThe Navarro Recession, II - WSJ Editorial
After we warned last week that U.S. trade policy was courting recession, White House aide Peter Navarro took to Fox Business to denounce us for sounding like The Peoples Daily, the Chinese Communist propaganda arm. That was novel as criticisms of these columns go, but perhaps Mr. Navarro would care to comment again after Wednesdays recession warning from the bond and equity markets? Are they Commies too?
Stocks fell about 3% on the day on bad economic news out of Germany, China and the bond markets. Europes largest economy shrank by 0.1% in the second quarter as exports fell amid trade and Brexit uncertainty. Chinese readings on factory production, consumption and employment also revealed an economy that is slowing sharply. Chinas industrial production increase of 4.8% was a 17-year low. Investors saw all that and headed for the tall grass of U.S. Treasurys. The yield on the 10-year note hit 1.58%, dipping for a time below the two-year bond yield. The 30-year Treasury hit a record low of 2.018% and closed at 2.02%. Yields this low show investors are moving out of risk assets and they signal slower growth aheadperhaps even a recession unless events and better policies spur more optimism.
Some Trumpians are cheering the Chinese economys pain, but they should be careful what they wish for. They could drive China, the worlds second largest economy, into its first recession since Deng Xiaoping began the era of pro-market economic reform. A Chinese recession would mean a European recession, which would send U.S. growth down too. The impact would be worse if slower growth triggers capital flight from China and theres a disorderly fall in the yuan.
Mr. Navarro and Mr. Trump spent Wednesday blaming the Federal Reserve for the market meltdown, and we suppose any scapegoat will do in a storm. The Fed isnt blameless, and we argued it shouldnt have raised rates last December. But it has since countered that rate increase with a 25-basis-point cut in July, and even another 50 basis points wont be enough to counter a downward spiral of trade and currency mayhem. Weve been warning for two years that trade wars have economic consequences, but the wizards of protectionism told Mr. Trump not to worry. The economy was fine and the trade worrywarts were wrong.
(snip)
Wednesdays market moves are an omen of the future, not destiny. The key to avoiding the worst is to restore a sense of policy calm and confidence. Stop the trade threats by tweet. Call a tariff truce with China, Europe and the rest of the world while negotiations resume with a goal of reaching a deal by the meeting of Pacific nations in November. Someone should tell Mr. Trump that incumbent Presidents who preside over recessions within two years of an election rarely get a second term.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-navarro-recession-ii-11565825029 (paid subscription)
wellst0nev0ter
(7,509 posts)fuck them.
at140
(6,110 posts)To fix the financial mess caused by Donny
progree
(10,911 posts)Whether the events presage an economic calamity or just an alarming spasm are unclear. But unlike during the Great Recession, global leaders are not working in unison to confront mounting problems and arrest the slowdown. Instead, they are increasingly at each other's throats. And President Trump has responded by both claiming the economy is still thriving while dramatically ramping up his attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, seeking to deflect blame.
sandensea
(21,650 posts)You know what they used to say in the Soviet days:
There's no Pravda in Izvestiya, and no Izvestiya in Pravda.
No truth in news, news in truth.