By Leika
Kihara
TOKYO
(Reuters) - Asia’s manufacturing activity was lacklustre in September as signs
of slowing Chinese growth and factory shutdowns caused by the coronavirus
pandemic weighed on the region’s economies, surveys showed on Friday.
Factory activity in September shrank
in Malaysia and Vietnam, and grew in Japan at the slowest rate in seven months,
as chip shortages and supply disruptions added to the woes of a region still
struggling to shake off the pandemic’s hit.
China’s waning economic momentum
dealt a fresh blow, with the official Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) on
Thursday showing the country’s factory activity unexpectedly shrank in
September due to wider curbs on electricity use.
While the private Caixin/Markit
Manufacturing PMI fared better than expected after slumping in August, growing
signs of weakness in the world’s second-largest economy is clouding the outlook
for neighbouring Asian countries.
“While coronavirus curbs on economic
activity may be gradually lifted, the slow pace at which this will happen means
Southeast Asian economies will stagnate for the rest of this year,” said Makoto
Saito, an economist at NLI Research Institute.
The final au Jibun Bank Japan
Manufacturing PMI slipped to 51.5 in September from 52.7 in the previous month,
marking its slowest pace of expansion since February.
“Supply chain disruption continued
to dampen activity and demand,” said Usamah Bhatti, economist at IHS Markit, of
Japan’s PMI survey.
More
https://www.reuters.com/article/global-economy/asian-factories-stagnate-as-chinas-slowdown-supply-constraints-hit-idUSKBN2GR2QW
Next, where we all
are heading on trillions upon trillions of Magic Money Tree fiat money created
at the push of a computer button everywhere.
Venezuela is
merely the first of things to come, albeit rushed along by a loony extreme
socialist dictator, redistributing wealth without generating wealth.
With the ending
already in sight for the G-7 currencies, probably next decade as we switch to a
“carbonless” economy, our crooked central banksters are already exploring
Central Bank Digital Currencies [CBDC.] I wonder why?
A million bolivars become one as
Venezuela recalibrates battered currency Issued
on: 30/09/2021 -
21:46
For the third time in 13 years,
Venezuela on Friday will slash zeroes off its inflation-battered currency, the
bolivar. This time, it will shed six zeroes, for a total of 14 since 2008.
With that, a million bolivars will
overnight become one -- still the equivalent of about 25 US dollar cents.
Venezuela's central bank announced
the move last month to simplify transactions, with consumers scrambling to make
payment for even the most basic goods or services.
Seven one-million bolivar notes --
the highest denomination and very hard to come by -- are required to pay in
cash for one loaf of bread in the once-rich oil-producing nation now battling
the highest inflation in the world.
Venezuela's GDP has plummeted by 80
percent since 2013 as the oil price crashed and output dwindled during decades
of under-investment and mismanagement by successive socialist governments.
Teacher Marelys Guerrero, 43, is one
of the many Venezuelans who receives a salary in the millions of bolivars that
are worth nothing.
"We earn, fortnightly, less
than $3," she told AFP in Caracas.
Rent for an apartment in a modest
suburb of the capital starts from about $150, while a basket of basic groceries
for a family of five costs about $220.
Most payments in bolivars are done
by debit card or bank transfer, but seventy percent of transactions are now
conducted in dollars, according to private sector estimates, and prices on many
shop shelves are displayed in the US currency, to keep things simpler.
On Friday, Venezuela becomes the
South American country to have removed the most zeroes from its currency. It
lost three in 2008 under now-deceased President Hugo Chavez, whose successor
Nicolas Maduro eliminated five more in 2018.
The bolivar is now worth so little
that children use it for play money.
In Venezuela's border regions,
besides the dollar, it is common to also pay for goods in Colombian pesos or
Brazilian reais, and even grams of gold.
---- The government will issue new banknotes in
denominations of five, 10, 20, 50 and 100 bolivars, as well as a one-bolivar
coin after Friday's change.
But the government has also said
that it wants the economy to become entirely digital, a move, experts say, is
meant to avoid printing money that will just continue devaluing.
"If inflation behaves as it has
in recent months, it is very likely that in about three or four years the
government will have to reconvert again," Luis Arturo Barcenas of economic
consultancy Ecoanalitica told AFP.
More
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210930-a-million-bolivars-become-one-as-venezuela-recalibrates-battered-currency
Finally, is Europe’s natural gas crisis about to get a whole
lot worse. Better get reliable supplier
Russia on the phone ASAP.
Algeria-Morocco standoff
threatens Spain gas supplies Issued on: 30/09/2021 -
08:00
Algeria pumps huge volumes of gas through
Morocco into Europe, but with Algiers and Rabat at loggerheads as a pipeline
agreement nears expiry, experts say the taps could soon be turned off.
That would hit Spain's gas supplies
just as prices soar across Europe and with winter approaching, and Foreign
Minister Jose Manuel Albares was due in Algeria on Thursday to discuss the
issue, his office told AFP.
Algeria, Africa's biggest natural
gas exporter, has been using the Gaz-Maghreb-Europe (GME) pipeline since 1996
to deliver several billion cubic metres (bcm) per year to Spain and Portugal.
But the GME contract is due to
expire at the end of October -- just over two months after Algiers severed diplomatic
ties with Rabat over "hostile actions".
And in August, Energy Minister
Mohamed Arkab told Spanish ambassador Fernando Moran that Algeria was ready to
deliver all its Spain-bound gas exports via an alternative undersea pipeline,
bypassing Morocco.
"A deal to continue the GME
agreement before October 31 is very unlikely," Maghreb geopolitics expert
Geoff Porter told AFP.
"In light of the lack of
diplomatic channels between Rabat and Algiers, it's difficult to see any
pathway for negotiations."
Unlike their border, closed since
1994, the GME pipeline has stayed open for a quarter of a century, despite
repeated crises.
Both sides benefit. Morocco receives
around one bcm of gas per year, half of which it buys and the other half of
which it receives as transit fees in kind -- worth some $50 million per year,
according to a Moroccan energy expert who asked to remain anonymous.
In return, Algeria gets a
cost-effective route for around half of its piped gas exports to Spanish and
Portugese markets.
Yet with another diplomatic spat
flaring just as the contract expires, a new deal is far from certain.
---- Algeria does have two alternatives to the
GME, but both have shortcomings.
The Medgaz undersea pipeline, which
transports Algerian gas directly to Spanish shores, is already operating near
its full capacity of 8 bcm per year -- around half total Algerian gas exports
to Spain.
"If the Algerians manage to
deliver enough gas via Medgaz, they probably will," Carvalho said.
But while Algeria's state energy
firm Sonatrach and its Spanish partner Naturgy have vowed to boost Medgaz's
capacity to 10 bcm per year in the coming months, that still falls far short of
the total needed at current levels.
The second option is liquefying the
gas and sending it to Spain by ship.
But Porter says the short distance
means this option "does not make financial sense".
As a result, "Algeria is
potentially going to lose some gas export sales revenue in order to deprive
Morocco of its primary (97 percent) source of natural gas," he told AFP.
More
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210930-algeria-morocco-standoff-threatens-spain-gas-supplies
O Gold! I still prefer thee unto paper, which makes bank credit
like a bark of vapour.
Lord Byron.
Global Inflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our
spendthrift politicians, inflation now
needs an entire section of its own.
World Food Costs at Risk of
Soaring as China Faces Tough Harvest Wed,
September 29, 2021, 9:41 AM
(Bloomberg)
-- China is set for a difficult harvest season as a severe energy crunch hurts
the outlook for booming production, a development that risks triggering a
renewed surge in world agriculture and food prices.
Autumn harvest in the top
agricultural producer is underway just as the world’s No. 2 economy faces power
shortages in industrial hubs that threaten to slow growth. Among the worst hit
are northeastern provinces such as Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang -- where
about half of China’s corn and soybeans are grown.
The crisis is stoking concern that
China will have a tough time handling crops from corn to soy to peanuts and
cotton this year after some plants were asked to suspend or cut output to
conserve electricity. Over the past year, the nation imported a record amount
of agricultural products due to a domestic shortage, driving prices and global
food costs to multiyear highs.
So far, the power shortage has
forced soybean processors in northern regions to shut, affecting some
operations of Louis Dreyfus Co., Bunge Ltd. and Wilmar International Ltd.’s
Yihai Kerry unit. There’s also concern that the electricity crunch could cut
operating rates of corn processors that make products like starch and syrup,
Chinese brokerage Huatai Futures Co. said.
The country needs to ensure
sufficient power supply to keep up with expectations for a bumper harvest.
“This will affect the supply and prices of agricultural products, which is a
matter of importance for the national economy and people’s livelihood,” according
to Futures Daily, a state-backed media.
Some companies have bought back-up
generators in case of prolonged power cuts, Futures Daily reported, citing
traders and producers. Electricity is needed to dry the crops, an important
process before storage and sale. Corn and peanut supplies may deteriorate in
quality if they’re not processed in time.
https://news.yahoo.com/world-food-costs-risk-soaring-084117551.html
Backlog Of Cargo Ships At Port Of
LA Reaches Boiling Point By CBSLA
Staff September 28, 2021 at 11:10 pm
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – As an estimated 500,000 containers are sitting on cargo ships off
the Southern California coast, many are wondering how to handle the backlog.
Few are more frustrated about the backlog at the Port of
Los Angeles and Long Beach, than truck drivers in the chaos. They say that a
trucker shortage is not the problem, instead, the port needs to speed up wait
times and have more dock help ready to offload.
“I’ve got friends right now that are in line… from nine
o’clock in the morning and they can’t pull the load yet,” said truck driver
Walter Martinez. “The people inside, they get paid by the hour, but not the
drivers.”
Some blame outdated infrastructure, importers with nowhere
to store the containers, and dock help not keeping up with demand.
“Last night I was there from eight
o’clock to three in the morning. They kicked me out because they leave at three
o’clock,” said Oscar Ovalle. “There’s one crane for 60 trucks and it’s
ridiculous! They have two other cranes sitting.”
Gene Seroka, the Executive Director
of the Port of Los Angeles, said he has just started a new program called
“Accelerate Cargo LA” and he’s asking for the Federal Reserve System to step in
and help.
“Over the last 10 years, the federal government and
Congress have out-invested West Coast ports at a rate 11 to one. That’s got to
change, and with an infrastructure bill pending vote in Congress this week, we
need all eyes on Los Angeles,” said Seroka. “This is what 10 years of
under-investment looks like, and we need to move forward.”
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2021/09/28/backlog-of-cargo-ships-at-port-of-la-reaches-boiling-point/
The workers who keep global
supply chains moving are warning of a 'system collapse'
By Hanna Ziady , CNN Business Updated
1424 GMT (2224 HKT) September 29, 2021
London (CNN Business) Seafarers, truck
drivers and airline workers have endured quarantines, travel restrictions and
complex Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements to keep stretched supply chains moving during the pandemic .
But
many are now reaching their breaking point, posing yet another threat to the badly
tangled network of ports, container
vessels and trucking companies that moves
goods around the world .
In
an open
letter Wednesday to heads of state attending
the United Nations General Assembly, the International Chamber of Shipping
(ICS) and other industry groups warned of a "global transport system
collapse" if governments do not restore freedom of movement to transport
workers and give them priority to receive vaccines recognized by the World
Health Organization.
"Global supply chains are beginning to buckle as
two years' worth of strain on transport workers take their toll," the
groups wrote. The letter has also been signed by the International Air
Transport Association (IATA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU) and
the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). Together they represent
65 million transport workers globally.
"All transport sectors are also seeing a shortage
of workers, and expect more to leave as a result of the poor treatment millions
have faced during the pandemic, putting the supply chain under greater
threat," it added.
Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS, said that
worker shortages are likely to worsen towards the end of the year because
seafarers may not want to commit to new contracts and risk not making it home
for Christmas given port shutdowns and constant changes to travel restrictions.
More
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/29/business/supply-chain-workers/index.html
Gold would have value if for no other
reason than that it enables a citizen to fashion his financial escape from the
state.
William
F. Rickenbacker.
Covid-19 Corner
This
section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
England and Wales records more than 70,000 excess deaths in private
homes since start of COVID-19 pandemic By Rachel Russell, news reporter Tuesday 28 September 2021 17:17, UK
New figures from the Office for
National Statistics (ONS) have revealed the number of people dying in their
homes has risen dramatically over the last 18 months.
At least 70,602 excess deaths in
homes were registered between 7 March, 2020 and 17 September, 2021 across
England and Wales.
However, only 8,423 (12%) of these
deaths involved COVID-19 , according to PA news agency
analysis of data from the ONS.
The number of extra deaths - or
excess deaths - are the number of deaths above the average when compared to the
corresponding period in the non-pandemic years of 2015-19.
Meanwhile, more than 8,200 excess
deaths in private homes were registered in England and Wales since the start of
July alone.
This was compared with around 2,300
excess deaths in hospitals and nearly 1,000 in care homes over the same period.
The ONS also published analysis
earlier this year that found the majority of deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 took
place in hospitals and care homes.
But many deaths from other causes, such as
breast cancer and prostate cancer, occurred in private homes.
---- Separate ONS figures published today showed that a
total of 11,009 deaths in all settings were registered in England and Wales in
the week to September 17.
This was 1,703 deaths above the
five-year average. However, deaths from COVID-19 made up only half (851) of
these excess deaths.
It is also the eleventh week in a
row that deaths have been above the pre-pandemic average.
https://news.sky.com/story/england-and-wales-records-more-than-70-000-excess-deaths-in-private-homes-since-start-of-covid-19-pandemic-12420482
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
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
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.
Correlated electrons ‘tango’ in a
perovskite oxide at the extreme quantum limit Date: September 29, 2021
Source: DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Summary: Scientists have found a rare quantum material
in which electrons move in coordinated ways, essentially 'dancing.' Straining
the material creates an electronic band structure that sets the stage for
exotic, more tightly correlated behavior -- akin to tangoing -- among Dirac
electrons, which are especially mobile electric charge carriers that may
someday enable faster transistors.
"We combined correlation and
topology in one system," said co-principal investigator Jong Mok Ok, who
conceived the study with principal investigator Ho Nyung Lee of ORNL. Topology
probes properties that are preserved even when a geometric object undergoes
deformation, such as when it is stretched or squeezed. "The research could
prove indispensable for future information and computing technologies,"
added Ok, a former ORNL postdoctoral fellow.
In conventional materials, electrons
move predictably (for example, lethargically in insulators or energetically in
metals). In quantum materials in which electrons strongly interact with each
other, physical forces cause the electrons to behave in unexpected but
correlated ways; one electron's movement forces nearby electrons to respond.
To study this tight tango in
topological quantum materials, Ok led the synthesis of an extremely stable crystalline
thin film of a transition metal oxide. He and colleagues made the film using
pulsed-laser epitaxy and strained it to compress the layers and stabilize a
phase that does not exist in the bulk crystal. The scientists were the first to
stabilize this phase.
Using theory-based simulations,
co-principal investigator Narayan Mohanta, a former ORNL postdoctoral fellow,
predicted the band structure of the strained material. "In the strained
environment, the compound that we investigated, strontium niobate, a perovskite
oxide, changes its structure, creating a special symmetry with a new electron
band structure," Mohanta said.
---- "We found the highest electron mobility in oxide-based
systems," Ok said. "This is the first oxide-based Dirac material
reaching the extreme quantum limit."
That bodes well for advanced
electronics. Theory predicts that it should take about 100,000 tesla (a unit of
magnetic measurement) for electrons in conventional semiconductors to reach the
extreme quantum limit. The researchers took their strain-engineered topological
quantum material to Eun Sang Choi of the National High Magnetic Field
Laboratory at the University of Florida to see what it would take to drive
electrons to the extreme quantum limit. There, he measured quantum oscillations
showing the material would require only 3 tesla to achieve that.
More
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210929154159.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fmatter_energy%2Fgraphene+%28Graphene+News+--+ScienceDaily%29
Another
weekend and I wonder how much more food and energy will cost next Friday. Not
to worry though, inflation’s only temporary, with a beginning, a middle, and an
end. Have a great weekend everyone.
Whenever destroyers appear among men, they start by destroying
money, for money is men’s protection and the base of a moral existence.
Destroyers seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of paper. This
kills all objective standards and delivers men into the arbitrary power of an
arbitrary setter of values. Gold was an objective value, an equivalent of wealth
produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun
aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Paper is a check drawn by legal
looters upon an account which is not theirs: upon the virtue of the victims.
Watch for the day when it bounces, marked: "Account Overdrawn."
Ayn Rand.
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