Earlier this month, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop visited Tokyo, where she outlined an increasing emphasis on security cooperation between Japan and Australia. The next day she was in Beijing, where she reportedly received a frosty reception. The two are not unrelated — Beijing is not thrilled about Australia’s growing security ties with Japan.
The optics of the US jobs report was better than the details, which is the exact opposite of the January employment report. The US dollar strengthened on the news.
The President of the World Bank made headlines this week with comments about the institution’s position on the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals. Specifically, he noted that the bank would no longer provide funding to developing nations with laws that endanger the rights and lives of their LGBT communities.
The US dollar is mixed ahead of the US employment data. The Antipodeans and Scandis are doing best while sterling and the Canadian dollar are under-performing.
Since its inception in 1990, the H-1B guestworker program that allows employers to bring in high-skilled foreign workers on six-year visas has been steeped in controversy.
The global capital markets are quiet today, as investors await fresh impetus, which could come in the form of tomorrow’s US national employment figures. There is also next week’s ECB meeting that looms large for investors.
In October last year, trade ministers from 12 countries reached an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). On 4 February, the agreement was signed. These developments have intensified debates within India about whether the country could fit into the TPP’s structure, either now or in the future.
About 30 years ago, I was able to predict the U.S. would see a major generational spending peak in 2007, all from my demographic indicator, the Generational Spending Wave. On a 46-year lag from the time they were born, that’s when the peak number of baby boomers would peak in spending for the average household.
After that, they would slow in spending, ultimately sending the economy over a “demographic cliff.” Remember, 70% of the economy relies on consumer spending! When it slows, everything falls with it.
Deflation is portrayed as the great economic scourge. It exacerbates debt-servicing costs and encourages consumers to defer purchases. Central banks in Japan and Europe have responded with aggressive, unorthodox measures, often combining asset purchase programs with negative interest rates.
On Tuesday, March 1, 2016, the World Bank held a forum called the 2016 Forum on Fragility, Conflict and Violence. The forum aimed to end extreme poverty around the world by 2030. The vision of the forum is mutual and sustainable prosperity through international cooperation. This was a perfect platform for United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, to speak regarding his own vision of a peaceful future achieved through shared international interests coupled with universal economic development.
