- "Business confidence slipped to its lowest level in more than two years in August, according to the latest National Australia Bank survey."
- "NAB said on Tuesday that its main business confidence index slipped from 4 points to 1 point between July and August."
- That's the "lowest level since mid-2013."
- "The country’s benchmark index, Sensex, saw its biggest-ever intra-day fall in absolute terms."
- "Convulsed by the meltdown in China’s stock market on Aug. 24."
- "While investors pull out funds parked in China and other emerging economies, India still is an attractive market."
- "Bureau of Economic Analysis released its advance estimate of real gross domestic product for the second quarter of this year"
- "The release showed output in the U.S. increasing at a rate of 2.3%."
- "This is a major acceleration from the first quarter when real GDP increased 0.6%."
- About 1/3 of children are malnourished
- Almost 20% of pregnant or breast-feeding women also malnourished
- Per capita income averages $1K-$2K/year
- Barclay's Johnson predicts that auto sales may drop 40 percent in the next 25 years because of shared driverless cars.
- "The market for autonomous technology is expected to grow to $42 billion by 2025 and self-driving cars may account for a quarter of global auto sales by 2035, according to an analysis by Boston Consulting Group."
- Shanghai’s main share index stands more than 30 percent below its June peak
- "Chinese authorities have taken a series of unprecedented steps, ordering brokerages and insurers to buy, barring insiders from selling, and tapping the nation’s sovereign wealth to prop up shares"
- While powerful private technology companies have sprung up, the economy is still has many state-owned enterprises and politically influenced banks
- "U.S. consumer spending surged at a faster rate in May than it has in nearly six years, indicating promising economic growth ahead."
- "Americans' spending increased 0.9 percent since April, which is the biggest month-to-month increase that's been seen since August 2009."
- "In April, spending only jumped by 0.1 percent, which initially prompted the government projection of no economic growth."
- "This year, some 590 million non-smartphones will be sold. By 2019, that number will shrink to 350 million."
- Buyers: Children in wealthier countries; Sub-Saharan Africans, Indians, Chinese, and Latin Americans; luddites and grandparents; people who need a second phone for work or travel
- Market decreased by 14% from 2013-2014
- An average 59 small businesses close, with approximately 613 jobs ending every day
- More than 1/3 of bank loans are now classified as "bad" and 95% of all applications for bank loans are rejected daily
- It's the worst depression in the developed world since the 1930s
- U.S. Companies hold $1.73 trillion in cash overseas
- $439 billion held by Apple, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, and Pfizer.
- The White House’s plans to mandate companies to repatriate income faces several obstacles. Apple manages it cash using a secretive fund based in Nevada.
- The recession wiped out more than a quarter of GDP since the first quarter of 2008
- The number of employed persons has dropped from approx 4.5M to 3.5M
- Retail sales have dropped into the negative as domestic consumption reflects overall trends
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