The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese: 対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki-Kaisen, Russian: Цусимское сражение, Tsusimskoye srazheniye), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of the Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日本海海戦, Nihonkai-Kaisen) in Japan, was a major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. It was naval history's first, and last, decisive sea battle fought by modern steel battleship fleets,^[2]^[3] and the first naval battle in which wireless telegraphy (radio) played a critically important role. It has been characterized as the "dying echo of the old era – for the last time in the history of naval warfare, ships of the line of a beaten fleet surrendered on the high seas".

The big news in today’s LIR lies in the Global Inflation section. No matter how many deceitful central banksters try talking down the effects of rising inflation and try passing it off as “temporary,” with each passing day it looks to me, at least, as far from temporary.

The Covid pandemic has greatly, and probably permanently altered the global economic value chain.

The crooked central banksters are trapped over a barrel of their own making.

Do nothing and let inflation rip roar through the G-20 economies in a massive scramble to get into goods and assets with intrinsic value.

Do something, anything, like normalising interest rates and ending the Magic Money Tree free money, and collapsing the everything bubble.

After 71 years on planet earth, experience tells me our crooked central banksters and bent politicians will opt to do nothing, and take their chances on letting inflation loose on the world again.

Having released the genie of free fiat MMT money from the lamp in 2020-2021, the socialist populist mob now demands free money forever.

From stock casino billionaires desperate for the stock manias to continue, to peons who found out that they made more from government pay outs not to work than they did previously working, society has changed to expect free money forever.

When the giant coming inflation crisis gets large enough, social disorder will force a belated reaction to the folly of the Great Nixonian Error of fiat money, communist money.

Right now though, we are drinking in the last chance saloon, living on borrowed money and time, hoping against hope on pixie dust.

Asian shares step back from two-week highs, dollar firm

May 27, 2021 2:52 AM By Swati Pandey

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares retreated from two-week highs on Thursday and China started on the backfoot on fears central banks were closer to considering winding back their emergency stimulus while the dollar held at a one-week top.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5% at 691.76, still not too far from Wednesday’s high of 696.76, a level last seen on May 10.

Chinese shares started weaker with the blue-chip index off 0.2%.

Australian shares were flat while New Zealand’s benchmark index stumbled 0.9%, extending losses for a second day in a row after the country’s central bank on Wednesday signalled rate rises from next year.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.8%. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.2%.

Global equities markets have been supported by a concerted effort from major central banks who have pumped trillions of dollars in financial markets since last year while reiterating their lower-for-longer interest rate stance as they seek to cast any inflation rise as temporary.

Earlier this week, U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said he believed recent inflation pressures would “prove to be largely transitory,” though he did add that policymakers will be at a point to begin discussing tapering in upcoming meetings.

“While the efforts by various Fed speakers appeared to have assuaged market concerns, doubt remains,” said GSFM investment strategist Stephen Miller.

“Clarida’s comments imply that the Fed may be a little bit more advanced than the ‘not thinking about thinking’ about monetary tightening that Chairman Jerome Powell characterised as the Fed’s stance last year - but only just a bit.”

Overnight, the Fed Vice Chair for supervision, Randal Quarles, suggested that at some stage it will become important for the Fed to discuss plans to tighten its asset purchase programme.

“What that means is that after a period where monthly inflation reports have largely been sidelined as a market focus, that they once again assume primacy they once enjoyed as the statistical report that matters,” Miller added.

On Wall Street, all three main indexes closed higher driven by consumer discretionary, communication services and financial sectors.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets/asian-shares-step-back-from-two-week-highs-dollar-firm-idUSKCN2D805F

Next, more on that Trump era trade war with China.

China vice premier holds talks with U.S. trade chief

May 27, 2021 3:05 AM

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and the United States agreed that the development of bilateral trade is very important, China’s commerce ministry said, adding that both sides exchanged views on issues of mutual concern.

The ministry said in a statement on its website that Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Thursday, and described the talks as candid, pragmatic and constructive.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china/china-vice-premier-holds-talks-with-u-s-trade-chief-idUSKCN2D8060

China is still behind on buying enough U.S. goods to fulfill ‘phase one’ trade deal

Published Wed, May 26 2021 3:17 AM EDT

BEIJING — As the trade deal between the U.S. and China runs into its second year, Chinese purchases are still running short of the agreed amount, according to the U.S.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Both countries signed a phase one trade agreement in January 2020, just weeks before Covid-19 began to spread rapidly in China and subsequently turned into a global pandemic. The deal stipulated that relative to imports from the U.S. in 2017, China needed to buy at least $200 billion more in U.S. goods and services over the next two years.

To stay on track with the agreement, China would have needed buy $64.5 billion worth of U.S. goods during the first four months of this year, Peterson Institute senior fellow Chad P. Bown estimated in a report Tuesday, citing Chinese customs data.

However, the data showed China’s purchases of U.S. goods reached only 73% of the year-to-date target as of April, the report said.

Based on U.S. data, the level of progress falls to 60%, the institute said.

By category, agriculture came the closest to reaching the year-to-date target, at 79% based on U.S. data and 87% based on Chinese data.

The two-year agreement is set to end in December. Chinese purchases of U.S. goods fell more than 40% short in 2020, according to the institute.

Talks between China and the U.S. on trade have stalled. Representatives from both countries were set to hold a six-month compliance review in August, but the meeting was postponed.

The two sides reached the phase one agreement after trade tensions escalated under former U.S. President Donald Trump, who sought to reduce the trade deficit with China. However, that trade gap has only increased amid the pandemic, which prompted more U.S. imports of face masks and other goods.

Since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January, his administration has kept to Trump’s tough stance on China with little indication of changes to tariffs or the trade agreement in the near future.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/china-still-behind-on-buying-enough-us-goods-for-trade-deal.html

Finally, isn’t the safety of the planet worth more than 16 billion dollars? How much are 8 billion lives worth? In Tokyo, $2 each, apparently.

Japan could lose $16B if Tokyo Olympics canceled, economist says

May 25, 2021 / 2:31 PM

May 25 (UPI) -- A new analysis from Japan's biggest economic research firm predicts canceling the Tokyo Olympics would cost the country about $16.5 billion.

The Nomura Research Institute, a privately owned firm under Japan's Nomura Group, said in the estimate that scrapping the Summer Games, scheduled to begin July 23, could mean massive losses for Japan's Olympic-affiliated entities and the economy at large, the Chunichi Shimbun reported Tuesday.

Nomura's executive economist, Takahide Kiuchi, said the losses amount to about 1.8 trillion yen, or about $16.5 billion.

Japan and the International Olympic Committee have agreed to hold the Games without spectators from overseas. Kiuchi said economic losses are expected to reach $1.35 billion under a "no-spectator" scenario.

Kiuchi, a former member of the board of the Bank of Japan, also said in his analysis that bringing in an "unlimited" number of domestic spectators to the Games could boost earnings.

Assuming the COVID-19 situation stabilizes in Japan, the total economic impact of such a scenario would lead to $16.65 billion in Olympic-related revenue for the Japanese economy, Kiuchi said.

The Japanese government and the IOC have agreed the Olympics are to take place this summer, despite popular opposition to the Games.

Representatives of the committee say canceling is not an option.

Dick Pound, an IOC member, told CNN Tuesday that the Games would take place as scheduled and that the Olympics can safely take place in a "bubble."

"All the indications are that the bubble can be created and maintained and daily, or whatever the frequency of tests will be, will identify any indications that there may be some people having the virus that are there. They'll be put into isolation right away," Pound said.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2021/05/25/Japan-could-lose-16B-if-Tokyo-Olympics-canceled-economist-says/4701621965802/

With the exception only of the period of the gold standard, practically all governments of history have used their exclusive power to issue money to defraud and plunder the people.

Friedrich August von Hayek.

Global Inflation Watch.

Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.

U.K. Vaccinations Set Up Economy for Consumer-Led Rebound

By Niraj Shah

26 May 2021, 10:14 BST

The U.K. has given 57% of the country at least one vaccine dose, with the oldest groups almost entirely vaccinated -- compared with 35% in the European Union, according to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker. That’s allowed a reopening of indoor restaurants and entertainment, with Bloomberg Economics’ high-frequency indicators suggesting a boost in economic output since this occurred in mid-May and providing further evidence of a consumer-led recovery. Companies also went on a hiring spree ahead of that easing of restrictions.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-26/u-k-vaccinations-set-up-economy-for-consumer-led-rebound-chart?srnd=premium-europe

United says domestic leisure fares have surpassed 2019 levels

Published Tue, May 25 2021 8:37 AM EDTUpdated Tue, May 25 2021 6:21 PM EDT

Summer vacations are getting more and more expensive as travelers return from the long pandemic slump.

United Airlines said Tuesday that yields on domestic leisure tickets purchased this month topped 2019 levels and said the trend would continue through summer, echoing similar comments from Southwest Airlines last week.

United said total revenue per available seat mile, a gauge of how much revenue airlines are bringing in compared with its capacity, would be down 12% for the second quarter from previous guidance of about a 20% decline. Weak business travel demand is weighing on yields overall, though those are close to 2019 levels, United said.

United expects to get to post positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter and narrower losses for the second quarter.

U.S. airport screenings have returned to pre-pandemic volumes but are still low for this time of year. On Monday, the Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1.86 million people compared with 2.1 million on the same date in 2019 and just 267,451 last year.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/25/united-says-domestic-leisure-fares-are-topping-2019-levels-as-bookings-pick-up.html

NYC restaurants are struggling to find workers as Covid restrictions are lifted, Danny Meyer says

Published Wed, May 26 2021 5:49 PM EDT

Restaurants in New York City are finding it hard to hire workers as restrictions related to Covid-19 are being eased across the country and demand within the industry picks up, restauranteur Danny Meyer said Wednesday.

“Nobody can hire back all of their workers even if they wanted to because many of our workers have left the city,” Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack founder, told “Closing Bell.” “Everybody is hiring at the exact same time. It is going to take, per my judgement, at least two or three months for supply and demand to keep up with each other and to hit an equilibrium.”

Demand for restaurants has been coming back in New York City as more people get vaccinated. Rules around social distancing and mask-wearing have also been eased as the number of new cases in the country keeps falling.

“Vaccination has probably been the greatest thing that has happened for our industry, both for the people who work for us and for our guests,” Meyer said.

But restaurants are still struggling to hire staff to replace those they were forced to let go of at the beginning of the pandemic, he added. Not only is there a limited supply of restaurant talent as many restaurants rush to hire, but some workers may have left the industry altogether.

“Many people who were laid off took work instead in businesses that were actually doing quite well during Covid,” Meyers said. “They may have very good jobs right now and they may or may not back come to our industry.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/restaurants-cant-find-workers-as-restrictions-ease-hospitality-ceo-says.html

Wage rises and labor shortage are a ‘democratization’ of U.S. workforce, fund manager says

Published Wed, May 26 2021 8:27 AM EDT Updated Wed, May 26 2021 10:02 AM EDT

The U.S. labor shortage is lifting wages for workers and causing a “democratization” of the workforce and changing the face of “class warfare,” according to Cole Smead, president of investment advisory firm Smead Capital Management.

While the U.S. labor force participation rate remains well below pre-pandemic levels, with April’s nonfarm payrolls growing by just 266,000 against forecasts of 1 million, workers’ wages have risen at their sharpest pace in years, and new unemployment filings continue to fall.

With companies forced to up their wage offerings in order to attract prospective employees, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Bank of America and Under Armour are among those that have recently promised to raise minimum and average wages.

The labor shortage after the pandemic, attributed in part to a lack of qualified workers, Covid-related reluctance to return to work and the continuation of enhanced unemployment benefits due to government stimulus, has shifted the sands after decades of growing wealth disparity.

“In effect, we’re short labor, and that’s why the price of labor is climbing,” Smead told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday. “We haven’t seen this in so long, and that is why people are befuddled, and it is going straight to the mouths of people on the lower end of the income bracket, it is not helping the CEOs.”

Tilman Fertitta, CEO of hospitality and gambling empire Landry’s, told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Tuesday that while his businesses were busier than ever, the government’s weekly stimulus checks are “killing” companies when it comes to finding workers.

“Everybody’s getting the extra $300, people aren’t working so they are going out and they are having dinner and they are going to the casinos, but at the moment I can’t find employees,” Fertitta said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/smead-labor-shortage-wage-rises-a-democratization-of-us-workforce.html?recirc=taboolainternal

The advocates of public control cannot do without inflation. They need it in order to finance their policy of reckless spending and of lavishly subsidizing and bribing the voters.

Ludwig von Mises

Covid-19 Corner

This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.

Biden orders closer review of Covid origins as U.S. intel weighs Wuhan lab leak theory

Published Wed, May 26 2021 12:50 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he has ordered a closer intelligence review of what he said were two equally plausible scenarios of the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden revealed that earlier this year he tasked the intelligence community with preparing “a report on their most up-to-date analysis of the origins of Covid-19, including whether it emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident.”

“As of today, the U.S. Intelligence Community has ‘coalesced around two likely scenarios’ but has not reached a definitive conclusion on this question,” Biden said in a statement.

“Here is their current position: ’while two elements in the IC leans toward the [human contact] scenario and one leans more toward the [lab leak scenario] – each with low or moderate confidence – the majority of elements do not believe there is sufficient information to assess one to be more likely than the other,” Biden said.

Biden’s statement mirrors the unique way that the intelligence community presents its findings to sitting presidents. This includes explaining when different agencies within the community disagree, and using a scale, low-moderate-high, to quantify the level of confidence analysts have in the accuracy of their assessments.

“I have now asked the intelligence community to redouble their efforts to collect and analyze information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion, and to report back to me in 90 days,” said Biden.

White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would not commit to publicly releasing the findings of a future report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/26/biden-orders-us-intelligence-to-intensify-investigation-into-covid-19-origins.html

More than 130 million Americans are fully vaccinated as average daily Covid cases dip below 25,000

Published Tue, May 25 2021 12:36 PM EDT Updated Tue, May 25 2021 1:56 PM EDT

The seven-day average of daily Covid cases in the U.S. is below 25,000 for the first time since June 19, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows, as the pace of new infections continues a downward trend.

The country is reporting about 24,900 daily cases on average, down 22% from a week ago.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. is averaging 1.8 million vaccinations per day over the past week, and about 49% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose.

Nearly 26,000 cases were reported Monday, bringing the seven-day average of daily new infections to just below 25,000.

A CNBC analysis of Hopkins data shows that average daily case counts have declined by at least 5% in 41 states and the District of Columbia over the past week.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/25/covid-19-cases-deaths-and-vaccinations-daily-us-data-on-may-25.html

Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.

World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines

NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html

Stanford Website. https://racetoacure.stanford.edu/clinical-trials/132

Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker. https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker

Some other useful Covid links.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Rt Covid-19

https://rt.live/

Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)

https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national

Technology Update.

With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.

World's first graphene-enhanced concrete slab poured in England

By Nick Lavars May 25, 2021

As the mostly widely used material on Earth, concrete has a massive carbon footprint that scientists are working to chip away at in all sorts of ways. Recent research projects have demonstrated how the wonder material graphene could play a role in this and now we're seeing the first real-world deployment of the technology, with engineers using so-called "Concretene" to form the foundations of a new gym in the UK.

As the world's strongest artificial material, graphene may have a lot to offer the world of construction, among its many other potential uses. Scientists have previously found success incorporating it into the concrete manufacturing process to make the finished product stronger and more water-resistant, while one research project even demonstrated how this graphene can be recovered from old tires.

The freshly poured Concretene is the handiwork of scientists at the University of Manchester and construction firm Nationwide Engineering. To form the material, the team adds tiny amounts of graphene to water and cement, where it both acts as a mechanical support and offers an extra catalyst surface for the chemical reactions that turn the mix into the concrete paste. The end result is improved bonding at a microscopic scale, and material that is around 30 percent stronger than standard concrete.

“We have produced a graphene-based additive mixture that is non-disruptive at the point of use," says Dr Craig Dawson, from the University of Manchester. "That means we can dose our additive directly at the batching plant where the concrete is being produced as part of their existing system, so there’s no change to production or to the construction guys laying the floor."

The Concretene was used in an initial pour of a concrete floor slab for the new Southern Quarter gym near Stonehenge in England in early May, with a second pouring completing the foundation on Tuesday. This is the world's first graphene-enhanced concrete slab, and will make the gym a living laboratory as the building is completed and operated and Nationwide Engineering monitors the performance of the innovative material.

Concrete production accounts for around eight percent of global carbon emissions, and would stand behind only China and the US as an emitter if it were a country. Because Concretene is far stronger than traditional concrete, far less of it is required to bring the same structural strength to a building, which could result in a far smaller carbon footprint and cost.

Nationwide Engineering has crunched the numbers on this, and claims that if Concretene was used across the global supply chain it could shave as much as two percent off worldwide emissions. The material is more expensive to produce at around 5 percent additional cost, but because less of it is needed the company estimates that it can offer an overall saving of between 10 to 20 percent to the customer.

“We are thrilled to have developed and constructed this game-changing, graphene-enhanced concrete on a real project,” says Alex McDermott, co-founder of Nationwide Engineering. “Together with our partners at The University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre and structural engineers HBPW Consulting, we are rapidly evolving our knowledge and experience and are positioned for wider industry deployment through our construction frameworks, becoming the go-to company for graphene-enhanced concrete.”

Source: University of Manchester

https://newatlas.com/materials/worlds-first-graphene-enhanced-concrete-slab/

The gold standard did not collapse. Governments abolished it in order to pave the way for inflation. The whole grim apparatus of oppression and coercion, policemen, customs guards, penal courts, prisons, in some countries even executioners, had to be put into action in order to destroy the gold standard.

Ludwig von Mises.

London Irvine Report

Pages

Thursday 27 May 2021

Aren’t 8 billion Lives Worth More Than $2 Each.

Asian shares step back from two-week highs, dollar firm

China vice premier holds talks with U.S. trade chief

China is still behind on buying enough U.S. goods to fulfill ‘phase one’ trade deal

Japan could lose $16B if Tokyo Olympics canceled, economist says

Global Inflation Watch.

U.K. Vaccinations Set Up Economy for Consumer-Led Rebound

United says domestic leisure fares have surpassed 2019 levels

NYC restaurants are struggling to find workers as Covid restrictions are lifted, Danny Meyer says

Wage rises and labor shortage are a ‘democratization’ of U.S. workforce, fund manager says

Covid-19 Corner

Biden orders closer review of Covid origins as U.S. intel weighs Wuhan lab leak theory

More than 130 million Americans are fully vaccinated as average daily Covid cases dip below 25,000

The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)

World's first graphene-enhanced concrete slab poured in England

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