Global ETF News Older than One Year
COVID's Long Shadow: Social Repercussions of Pandemics
February 3, 2021--In 1832, the great cholera pandemic hit Paris. In just a few months, the disease killed 20,000 of the city''s 650,000 population. Most fatalities occurred in the heart of the city, where many poor workers lived in squalid conditions, drawn to Paris by the Industrial Revolution. The spread of the disease heightened class tensions, as the rich blamed the poor for spreading the disease and the poor thought they were being poisoned.
Animosity and anger were soon directed at the unpopular King. The funeral of General Lamarque-pandemic victim and defender of popular causes-spurred large anti-government demonstration on the barricaded streets: scenes immortalized in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables. Historians have argued that the epidemic’s interaction with pre-existing tensions was a principal cause of what came to be known as the Paris Uprising of 1832, which may in turn explain subsequent government repression and public revolt in the French capital in the 19th century.
Source: IMF
IMF-Measuring the Informal Economy
February 2, 2021--Summary:
This paper proposes a framework for measuring the informal economy that is consistent with internationally agreed concepts and methodology for measuring GDP.
Based on the proposed framework, the informal economy "comprises production of informal sector units, production of goods for own final use, production of domestic workers, and production generated by informal employment in formal enterprises." This proposed framework will facilitate preparation of estimates of the informal economy as a component of GDP.
Source: IMF
4 predictions for blockchain in 2021-from cryptocurrencies to art
February 1, 2021--As the total cryptocurrency market hits an all-time high, there is renewed interest in blockchain from 'immunity passports' to high-value assets.
Expect to see more use of blockchain technology in supply chains and sustainable sourcing, particularly in the mining and metals sector.
Demand may rise for greater decentralized infrastructure provision, from finance to cloud storage.
This year has been off to a notable start for crypto and blockchain. On Jan. 7 the total cryptocurrency market hit an all-time high exceeding $1 trillion for the first time. Renewed interest in, and conversations around, blockchain technology and digital currencies from industry and government leaders have accompanied the rise.
At the same time, the challenges of 2020 continue, including the global pandemic. COVID-19 dominated the recent Davos agenda, with the need for digital solutions and real-time multi-party access to consistent information highlighted across multiple sectors.
Source: World Economic Forum
Bassanese Bites: The big squeeze
February 1, 2021--Global markets
It's great to be back for another years of Bites! Since I last wrote on December 21, global equities have essentially moved sideways (consolidating after the big push higher in November), while bond yields have pushed modestly higher. The $US is trying to bottom out, while gold remains in retreat and oil prices are trying to push higher.
In terms of fundamentals, the global economy continues to recover despite COVID still raging in Europe and the United States. Indeed, the Q4 U.S. earnings reporting season is surprising to the upside and last week we learnt that the U.S. Markit service and manufacturing PMI indicators for January remained at levels indicating solid ongoing improvement. U.S. Q4 GDP rose by a solid 4% annualised, following a 33% post-lockdown surge in Q3. Inflation remains benign. The message from central banks is that policy will remain firmly accommodative.
Source: betashares.com.au
The Pre-Pandemic Debt Landscape-and Why It Matters
February 1, 2021--Many countries entered the pandemic with elevated debt levels. Our new update of the IMF's Global Debt Database shows that global debt-public plus private-reached $197 trillion in 2019, up by $9 trillion from the previous year.
This substantial debt created challenges for countries that faced a debt surge in 2020, as economic activity collapsed and governments acted swiftly to provide support during the pandemic.
As shown in our chart of the week, a dive into the numbers reveals that the 2019 global public debt surpassed its 2007 level by 23 percentage points of GDP
Source: IMF
New Nature Economy Report II: The Future of Nature and Business
January 27, 2021-The Future of Nature and Business, the second of three reports in the World Economic Forum's New Nature Economy series, provides the practical insights needed to take leadership in shifting towards a much needed nature-positive economy.
As the world prepares to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting crisis, we are presented with an unprecedented clarion call, and opportunity, to change the way we eat, live, grow, build and power our lives to achieve a carbon-neutral, 'nature-positive' economy and halt biodiversity loss by 2030. Business as usual is no longer an option.
The report highlights the need for a fundamental transformation across three socio-economic systems, which represent over a third of the global economy and provide up to two-thirds of all jobs. These systems are: food, land and ocean use; infrastructure and the built environment; and extractives and energy. Together they drive the threats which endanger almost 80% of the total threatened and near-threatened species. These systems, therefore, have a significant opportunity and responsibility to reverse nature loss. But they also have tremendous upside benefits to gain by embracing this transformation now.
Source: World Economic Forum
Financial Perils in Check for Now, Eyes Turn to Risk of Market Correction
January 27, 2021--"The vaccines are here!"-the cry heard and welcomed the world over-has boosted hopes of a global economic recovery in 2021. Yet until vaccines are widely available, the market rally and the economic recovery rest on continued monetary and fiscal policy support.
Financial stability risks have been in check so far, but we cannot take this for granted.
Prices for stocks, corporate bonds, and other risk assets have risen higher on the news of vaccine rollouts. Financial markets have shrugged off rising COVID-19 cases, betting that continued policy support will offset any bad economic news in the short term and provide a bridge to the future. As the apparent disconnect between exuberant financial markets and the still-lagging economic recovery persists, it raises the specter of a possible market correction should investors reassess the economic outlook or the extent and duration of policy backstop.
Source: IMF
World Economic Outlook Update-January 2021-Policy Support and Vaccines Expected to Lift Activity
January 26, 2021--In just three months since we released our last forecast in October, recorded COVID-19 deaths have doubled to over 2 million, as new waves have lifted infections past previous peaks in many countries.
In these same three months, multiple vaccines have seen unexpectedly strong success and some countries have started ambitious vaccination drives. Much now depends on the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines to end the pandemic, and on the ability of policies to provide effective support until that happens. There remains tremendous uncertainty and prospects vary greatly across countries.
In our latest World Economic Outlook forecast we project global growth for 2021 at 5.5 percent, 0.3 percentage point higher than our October forecast, moderating to 4.2 percent in 2022. The upgrade for 2021 reflects the positive effects of the onset of vaccinations in some countries, additional policy support at the end of 2020 in economies such as the United States and Japan and an expected increase in contact-intensive activities as the health crisis wanes. However, the positive effects are partially offset by a somewhat worse outlook for the very near term as measures to contain the spread of the virus dampen activity.
Source: IMF
Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism: Towards Common Metrics and Consistent Reporting of Sustainable Value Creation
January 26, 2021--This report identifies a set of Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, drawn from existing voluntary standards to offer comparable metrics and disclosures across 4 pillars that are considered most critical for business, society and the planet.
Our aim is to catalyze the convergence, simplification and standardization of the non-financial reporting ecosystem.
Source: World Economic Forum
BlackRock pushes companies to adopt 2050 net-zero emissions goal
January 26, 2021--World's largest asset manager considers dumping companies that fail to meet targets
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, will push companies to commit to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and raised the prospect of dumping companies that fail to do so from its actively-managed funds.
In a pair of letters sent on Tuesday to chief executives and to BlackRock's clients, chief executive Larry Fink said that a "tectonic shift" in the investment landscape was happening faster than he expected.,
Source: irishtimes.com
