Baltic Dry Index. 2567 -08 Brent Crude 118.91
Spot Gold 1958
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 25/03/22 World 478,261,041
Deaths 6,133,879
"We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."
Leona Helmsley, The "Queen of Mean”.
We open with a stark warning from President Biden. His and others, failure to avert the Ukraine war through diplomacy will have dire consequences in the food supply chain. He expects “real” food shortages ahead. I wonder what an “unreal” food shortage looks like?
Well yes! That foreseeable outcome was why it was imperative to make diplomacy work in December- February to avert a needless and useless European war that still might lurch into World War Three.
Not to worry though, no food shortages will affect Biden,
Blinken, Johnson, Trudeau, Schulz, et al. The food shortages don’t fall on the political
class that duped Ukraine into national disaster. They fall on the “little
people” so despised by the ruling class, plus NATO v Russia's 10 million newly created refugees and internally displaced Ukrainians.
Social trouble usually lies ahead when food shortages arrive.
Better get used to monthly January 6ths. Unhappily or happily, depending on your point of view, America is armed to the teeth.
Biden Says to Expect ‘Real’ Food Shortages Due to Ukraine War
Thu, March 24, 2022, 5:53 PM
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden said that the world will experience food shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and production increases were a subject of discussions at a Group of Seven meeting on Thursday.
It’s going to be real,” Biden said at a news conference in Brussels. “The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”
Ukraine and Russia are both major producers of wheat, in particular, and Kyiv’s government has already warned that the country’s planting and harvest have been severely disrupted by the war.
Biden said that at the G-7 summit in Brussels earlier that he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both discussed increasing their nation’s agricultural production to try to make up for shortfalls. Biden said he’s also urging all nations including those in Europe to drop trade restrictions that could restrict exports of food.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-says-expect-real-food-175308088.html
In the stock casinos, total denial that the game has changed forever. The Magic Money Tree forests already seem largely depleted.
Our global economy has gone from Zirp and Nirp interest rates and low to non-existent inflation, to rising interest rates and soaring inflation, with according to President Biden food shortages to come.
Our global economy seems to be fracturing, partly due to Covid disrupting global supply chains and lately because of the needless war in Ukraine and the sanctions disruption it’s causing.
Buy now for Christmas 2022, 2023 and beyond.
Asian shares steady, set for weekly gain in volatile trading
March 25, 2022 2:27 AM GMT
HONG KONG, March 25 (Reuters) - Asian shares were headed for a second successive week of gains on Friday, though trading was choppy amid hawkish U.S. monetary policy, shifts in Chinese economic policy, and ongoing ructions in commodity markets due to the war in Ukraine.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) traded flat, but it's up 1% on the week.
Japan's Nikkei (.N225) was also little changed having closed the previous day at a nine week high.
Hong Kong shares (.HSI) were a drag on the regional benchmark, falling 0.5%, weighed down by tech stocks (.HSTECH), as U.S. and Hong Kong dual listed names took a hit from renewed fears that a row over audit records will force them to delist in the United States.
Australian stocks (.AXJO) rose 0.4% helped by miners, while Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) lost 0.4%.
----Last week, Chinese vice premier Liu He said Beijing would roll out support for the Chinese economy, sending Chinese and Hong Kong stocks higher initially.
Investors were also watching to see whether the Bank of Japan would intervene to buy Japanese government bonds (JGB) as its yield target came under pressure.
----U.S. 10 year notes last yielded 2.3681% just off Tuesday's 22-month high of 2.417%.
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans was the latest U.S. policymaker to sound more hawkish, saying on Thursday the Fed needs to raise interest rates "in a timely fashion" this year and in 2023 to curb high inflation before it is embedded in U.S. psychology and becomes even harder to get rid of. read more
The divergence between U.S. and Japanese monetary policy has weighed on the yen. On Friday, the dollar climbed a further 0.41% to 121.84 yen, a new multi year high. Higher commodity prices driven by the war in Ukraine is also hurting the Japanese currency, as Japan imports the bulk of its energy.
More
https://www.reuters.com/business/global-markets-wrapup-1-2022-03-25/
BlackRock’s Larry Fink, who oversees $10 trillion, says Russia-Ukraine war is ending globalization
Published Thu, Mar 24 2022 8:01 AM EDT
Larry Fink, CEO and chairman of the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the world order that had been in place since the end of the Cold War.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has put an end to the globalization we have experienced over the last three decades,” Fink said in his 2022 letter to shareholders. “It has left many communities and people feeling isolated and looking inward. I believe this has exacerbated the polarization and extremist behavior we are seeing across society today.”
Fink’s letter came a month into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with Moscow’s forces bombarding cities across the country and killing civilians unable to escape. The U.S. and its allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia and provided military assistance to Ukraine.
Fink, whose firm oversees more than $10 trillion, said nations and governments have come together and launched an “economic war” against Russia. He said BlackRock has also taken steps to suspend the purchase of any Russian securities in its active or index portfolios.
“Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken to countless stakeholders, including our clients and employees, who are all looking to understand what could be done to prevent capital from being deployed to Russia,” Fink said.
Back in the early 1990s when the world emerged from the Cold War, Russia was welcomed into the global financial system and given access to global capital markets, Fink wrote. The expansion of globalization accelerated international trade, grew global capital markets and increased economic growth, he said.
It was right then, 34 years ago, when BlackRock was founded and the firm benefited immensely from the rise of globalization and growth of the capital markets, which fueled the need for technology-driven asset management, Fink said.
“I remain a long-term believer in the benefits of globalization and the power of global capital markets. Access to global capital enables companies to fund growth, countries to increase economic development, and more people to experience financial well-being,” Fink said.
The CEO said BlackRock is committed to monitoring the direct and indirect impacts of the crisis and aimed to understand how to navigate this new investment environment.
“The money we manage belongs to our clients. And to serve them, we work to understand how changes around the world will impact their investment outcomes,” Fink said.
Finally, in that long forgotten USA v China trade war, Uncle Sam declares “victory” and drops nearly all of the Trump tariffs.
President Putin probably wishes he could do something like the same over Ukraine. Unfortunately, Putin must plod on in the role of the 21st century version of Napoleon invading Russia in 1812. How did that end for Napoleon and France?
U.S. reinstates 352 product exclusions from China tariffs
March 24, 2022 8:23 AM GMT
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Wednesday it has reinstated 352 expired product exclusions from U.S. "Section 301" tariffs on Chinese imports, well short of the 549 exclusions that it was previously considering.
The reinstated product exclusions will be effective retroactively from Oct. 12, 2021, and extend through Dec. 31, 2022, USTR said. They cover a wide range of the initially estimated $370 billion worth of Chinese imports that former president Donald Trump hit with punitive tariffs of 7.5% to 25%.
The list released by USTR includes industrial components such as pumps and electric motors, certain car parts and chemicals, backpacks, bicycles, vacuum cleaners and other consumer goods.
A spokeswoman at China's commerce ministry said on Thursday the U.S. decision was beneficial to normalizing the trade flow of those products, and hoped bilateral trade relations would get back on a normal track.
"Amid inflation spikes and challenges to the global economic recovery, we hope the U.S. could scrap all tariffs on Chinese products as soon as possible for the fundamental interests of consumers and producers in China and the U.S.," spokeswoman Shu Jueting told reporters.
The Trump administration initially granted more than 2,200 exclusions to the tariffs to provide relief to certain industries and retailers. Most were allowed to expire, but 549 were extended for a year, and these expired at the end of 2020.
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai last October launched a review of whether to reinstate those 549 exclusions as part of her strategy to confront China on its trade practices.
A series of virtual meetings with her Chinese counterparts since then yielded little improvement in China's performance under Trump's "Phase 1" trade agreement with Beijing.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-reinstates-352-product-exclusions-china-tariffs-2022-03-23/
"Let them eat cake"
President Biden
Marie Antoinette
Global Inflation/Stagflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
As sanctions bite Russia, fertilizer shortage imperils world food supply
March 23, 2022 10:22 PM GMT
CHICAGO, March 23(Reuters) - Sky-high fertilizer prices have farmers worldwide scaling back its use and reducing the amount of land they're planting, fallout from the Ukraine-Russia conflict that has some agricultural industry veterans warning of food shortages.
Western sanctions on Russia, a major exporter of potash, ammonia, urea and other soil nutrients, have disrupted shipments of those key inputs around the globe. Fertilizer is key to keeping corn, soy, rice and wheat yields high. Growers are scrambling to adjust.
The pivot can be seen in agricultural powerhouse Brazil, where some farmers are applying less fertilizer to their corn, and some federal legislators are pushing to open protected indigenous lands for the mining of potash. In Zimbabwe and Kenya, small farmers are reverting to using manure to nourish their crops. In Canada, one canola farmer has already stockpiled fertilizer for the 2023 season in anticipation of even higher prices ahead.
Farmers elsewhere are making similar moves. Reuters spoke with 34 people on six continents, including grain producers, agriculture analysts, traders and farm groups. All expressed concern about the cost and availability of fertilizer.
In the United States alone, fertilizer bills are expected to jump 12% this year, after rising 17% in 2021, according to American Farm Bureau Federation and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.
Some growers are contemplating switching to crops that require fewer nutrients. Others plan to cultivate less acreage. Others say they'll simply use less fertilizer, a strategy crop experts predict will hurt yields. Production is most at risk in developing nations, whose farmers have fewer financial resources to weather the storm, said Tony Will, chief executive of Illinois-based CF Industries Holdings (CF.N), a leading producer of nitrogen fertilizer.
"My concern at the moment is actually one of a food crisis on a global basis," Will told Reuters.
On Saturday, Peru declared a state of emergency in its agriculture sector over fears of food insecurity.
The decree said the nation’s planted areas have fallen 0.2% since August due to rising fertilizer prices, and that the volume of grain Peru imports for animal feed has likewise declined over cost concerns. The government is now drafting a plan to increase the country's food supply.
More
BOJ policymaker warns of prolonged inflation due to Ukraine war
March 24, 2022 7:38 AM GMT
TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Japan may see consumer inflation creep up and stay near the central bank's 2% target for a prolonged period if the war in Ukraine continues to drive commodity prices higher, Bank of Japan policymaker Goushi Kataoka said on Thursday.
As such inflation will be driven by external factors rather than robust domestic demand, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has no reason to tighten monetary policy, he told a news conference.
"There's a chance inflation may exceed 1.5% due to technical factors, and stay around that level for a prolonged period," said Kataoka, who has been a sole proponent of bigger stimulus.
"But Japan lacks momentum for inflation to stably hit 2%. At this stage, I don't see the BOJ moving towards tightening."
While supporting the economy remains a priority over the fight against inflation, BOJ policymakers were paying more attention to rising inflationary pressures even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
More
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Singapore extends quarantine-free entry as Asia shifts to "living with COVID"
March 24, 2022 5:34 AM GMT
SINGAPORE, March 24 (Reuters) - Singapore said on Thursday it will lift quarantine requirements for all vaccinated travellers from next month, joining a string of countries in Asia moving more firmly toward a "living with the virus" approach.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the financial hub will also drop requirements to wear masks outdoors and allow larger groups to gather.
"Our fight against COVID-19 has reached a major turning point," Lee said in a televised speech that was also streamed on Facebook. "We will be making a decisive move towards living with COVID-19."
Singapore was one of the first countries to shift from a containment strategy to new COVID normal for its 5.5 million population, but had to slow some of its easing plans due to subsequent outbreaks.
Now, as infection surges caused by the Omicron variant begin to subside in most countries in the region and vaccination rates improve, Singapore and other nations are removing a host of social distancing measures designed to stop the spread of the virus.
Singapore began lifting quarantine restrictions for vaccinated travellers from certain countries in September, with 32 countries on the list before Thursday's extension to vaccinated visitors from any nation.
Japan lifted this week restrictions imposed on Tokyo and 17 other prefectures that had limited hours of eateries and other businesses. read more
South Korea, where COVID infections this week topped 10 million but appear to be stabilizing, pushed back a curfew on eateries to 11 p.m., stopped enforcing vaccine passes and dropped quarantine for vaccinated travellers arriving from overseas.
More
Why don’t kids get Covid badly? Scientists are unraveling one of the pandemic’s biggest mysteries
Published Thu, Mar 24 2022 2:17 AM EDT
LONDON — One of the enduring mysteries of the Covid-19 pandemic, a global health crisis that has led to over 6 million fatalities, is that children have been spared by the virus — for the most part — and have not experienced anywhere near the severity of illness that adults have.
When Covid emerged in late 2019 and began to spread around the world, scientists scrambled to understand the virus and how to combat it, with hospitals trying different techniques to save the worst-off Covid patients in intensive care units.
Mercifully, few of those patients were children, posing a mystery for public health experts as to why kids were not becoming severely ill or dying with Covid.
Scientists are still somewhat baffled as to why children are not badly affected by Covid, although studies are slowly shedding light on how, and why, children’s responses to Covid differ from those among adults.
“A number of theories have been suggested, including a more effective innate immune response, less risk of immune over-reaction as occurs in severe Covid, fewer underlying co-morbidities and possibly fewer ACE-2 receptors in the upper respiratory epithelium — the receptor to which SARS-CoV-2 [Covid] binds,” Dr. Andrew Freedman, an academic in infectious diseases at the U.K.’s Cardiff University Medical School, told CNBC in emailed comments, adding that nonetheless the phenomenon was not “fully understood.”
He noted more research will be required before we have a definitive answer but a body of evidence has already emerged showing that Covid poses a much smaller risk to kids, and why that might be.
More
Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada.
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
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.
A 'zigzag' blueprint for topological electronics
Date: March 9, 2022
Source: ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies
Summary: A collaborative study confirms a potential new switching mechanism for a proposed generation of ultra-low energy topological electronics. Based on novel, quantum nanoribbons terminating on 'zigzag' edges, such devices would switch from non-conducting to conducting state, whereby electrical current could flow along topological edge states without wasted dissipation of energy.
A collaborative study led by the University of Wollongong confirms switching mechanism for a new, proposed generation of ultra-low energy 'topological electronics'.
Based on novel quantum topological materials, such devices would 'switch' a topological insulator from non-conducting (conventional electrical insulator) to a conducting (topological insulator) state, whereby electrical current could flow along its edge states without wasted dissipation of energy.
Such topological electronics could radically reduce the energy consumed in computing and electronics, which is estimated to consume 8% of global electricity, and doubling every decade.
Led by Dr Muhammad Nadeem at the University of Wollongong (UOW), the study also brought in expertise from FLEET Centre collaborators at UNSW and Monash University.
Resolving the Switching Challenge, and Introducing the Tqfet
Two-dimensional topological insulators are promising materials for topological quantum electronic devices where edge state transport can be controlled by a gate-induced electric field.
However, a major challenge with such electric-field-induced topological switching has been the requirement for an unrealistically large electric field to close the topological bandgap.
The cross-node and interdisciplinary FLEET research team studied the width-dependence of electronic properties to confirm that a class of material known as zigzag-Xene nanoribbons would fulfil the necessary conditions for operation, namely:
- Spin-filtered chiral edge states in zigzag-Xene nanoribbons remain gapless and protected against backward scattering
- The threshold voltage required for switching between gapless and gapped edge states reduces as the width of the material decreases, without any fundamental lower bound
- Topological switching between edge states can be achieved without the bulk (ie, interior) bandgap closing and reopening
- Quantum confined zigzag-Xene nanoribbons may prompt the progress of ultra-low energy topological computing technologies.
Zigzag Xenes Could Be Key
Graphene was the first confirmed atomically-thin material, a 2D sheet of carbon atoms (group IV) arranged in a honeycomb lattice. Now, topological and electronic properties are being investigated for similar honeycomb sheets of group-IV and group-V materials, collectively called 2D-Xenes.
----Unlike MOSFET technology, in which size dependence of threshold-voltage is tangled with isolation techniques, the reduction of threshold-voltage in a topological quantum field effect transistor is an intrinsic property of zigzag-Xene-nanoribbons associated with topological and quantum mechanical functionalities.
Along with vastly different conduction and switching mechanisms, the technological aspects required for fabricating a topological quantum field effect transistor with zigzag-Xene-nanoribbons also radically differ from those of MOSFETs: There is no fundamental requirement of specialized technological/isolation techniques for a low-voltage TQFET with an energy-efficient switching mechanism.
With preserved ON-state topological robustness and minimal threshold voltage, channel width can be reduced to a quasi-one-dimension. This allows optimized geometry for a topological quantum field effect transistor with enhanced signal-to-noise ratio via multiple edge state channels.
Another weekend and another weekend of unnecessary death, destruction and pain in the Ukraine. How long must this disgraceful tragedy go on before the new Napoleon realises his mistake in invading the 21st century new Russia. Have a great weekend everyone.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
H. L. Mencken.
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