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Chemicals and the Economy

2013 a bad year for force majeures

2013 wasn’t a good year for plant reliability.  The blog’s 6-monthly survey of force majeure reports in ICIS news shows: There were 386 reports of force majeures in 2013 This was very similar to the 391 level seen in 2010 It also reverses the decline seen in 2012 after the record 495 reports in 2011 This is a worrying […]

US housing recovery stalls as Boomers head for retirement

“Recent economic reports suggest a bleaker picture for housing…. Some of the weakness reflects the cold weather in much of the country. However, higher home prices and mortgage rates are taking a toll on affordability.” This was the sober report yesterday from the chairman of the authoritative S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, adding that “the strongest part […]

China’s rural areas need basic goods, environmental clean-up

Average incomes in China are very low by Western standards, and certainly not “middle-class” as the blog discussed yesterday.  It is also easy to forget that almost half the population still lives in rural areas.  Official data shows their incomes have shown major growth over the past 20 years, but are still less than a third of urban incomes today. The chart […]

BBC reports ‘How China Fooled the World’

Last night, the BBC ran a 1 hour documentary by its senior editor Robert Peston, who won countless awards for his work during the subprime crisis.  It completely confirmed the arguments put forward by the blog in recent months about the scale of the economic crisis now facing China.  The BBC introduced the documentary as follows: […]

China’s lending bubble could now lead to zero GDP growth

China has been primarily responsible for driving global growth since the Crisis began in 2008.  Auto sales, for example, would have seen negative growth world-wide without China.  And auto manufacturing is the world’s largest manufacturing industry.  The chemical industry has been in a similar position.  Whilst China is also now responsible for nearly 50% of global […]

“The dog ate my homework”: excuses for economic slowdown

There were never any excuses from policymakers during the BabyBoomer-led SuperCycle from 1983 – 2007.  The Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, came to be styled ‘The Maestro’.  Whilst the Governor of the Bank of England argued that his efforts had created the NICE decade of Non-Inflationary Constant Expansion. Central bankers came to be seen as wise […]

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