Economy

Half-empty policy toolbox is alarming ahead of the next downturn

Worse, the stock of general government debt already exceeds 100 per cent of GDP, leaving doubts about fiscal capacity to engineer a big countercyclical stimulus. The US is not alone in this conundrum. China was the dominant engineer of global stimulus in 2009 and has rapidly worsening debt metrics. And all other G7 economies, except for Germany, would also start with a significantly higher debt stock and thus would be hampered.

Peso sinks to new low (Philippines)

THE Philippine peso (PHP) dipped further against the US dollar on Monday, falling to a new, near 13-year low still because of the country’s widening external deficits.

South African portfolio inflows plummet in second quarter

The central bank did not give a reason for the slump in investment into South African assets, but during the second quarter global investors were scaling back their allocations towards emerging markets as worries about the health of the Turkish and Argentinian economies grew.

Russia Extends Debt-Sale Absence to Longest Since 2014 Crisis

Foreigners have offloaded about 500 billion rubles ($7.6 billion) of OFZs since the last round of penalties in April

Report: ‘True cost of government’ has state $11.6 billion in the red (Florida)

Speaking with Watchdog.org in advance of Tuesday’s release of TIA’s annual ‘Financial State of the States’ report, Weinberg said if the state’s unfunded pension liability was included in its financial statement, Florida would have $58.6 billion available in assets to pay $70.1 billion worth of bills – an $11.6 billion shortfall.

Despite national economic recovery, Illinois’ debt per taxpayer worse than during Great Recession

Illinois was the third-worst state in debt per taxpayer at $50,800. That’s $400 more than the previous year’s report. Only Connecticut, at $53,400 debt per taxpayer, and New Jersey with $61,400 debt per taxpayer, were worse than Illinois.

Default Shock in India Sees Firms Pulling Most Bonds in Decade

Companies scrapped $800 million of bond sales this month Investors seek higher yield on concern IL&FS’s woes may spread

Corporate America, not banks, could cause the next recession

The last downturn was triggered by Wall Street and Americans accumulating too much debt — particularly in the sizzling housing market. A decade later, it's Corporate America borrowing with gusto. Egged on by extremely low rates, US companies have piled on a record-setting $6.3 trillion of debt, according to S&P Global Ratings.

U.S. credit scores hit new high while household debt skyrockets

Americans are borrowing more than ever, with mortgage balances growing at a rate that Lending Tree warns is in line with pre-housing bubble levels. The ratio of personal savings to disposable personal income is falling, from 7.4 percent in February to 6.7 percent in June. Auto lending, widely feared to be the next subprime lending crisis, has climbed steadily since the Great Recession ended, and consumers are taking longer to repay those loans. Total household debt hit a record $13.3 trillion in the second quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In fact, this marks the sixteenth consecutive quarter household debt rose, breaking the previous record of $12.68 trillion. The old record, coincidentally, was reached exactly 10 years ago, during that decidedly unpleasant third quarter of 2008.

Argentina peso tumbles as central bank chief resigns

Argentina's recession-hit economy is burdened by high interest rates and a currency that has lost around 50 percent of its value against the dollar this year.

Gold & Silver

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