Juggling Dynamite

I have been commenting on building deflationary pressures for some time. The pandemic has accelerated these forces with negative implications for status quo thinking and social stability.  I don’t often agree with Larry Summers, but his comments in this segment are lucid.  The era of borrowing to inflate asset prices has misallocated trillions in resources.  The new paradigm requires less handouts for the corporate sector and investors along with higher tax collection and borrowing for real world improvements in income, nutrition, health, productivity and infrastructure for the masses.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, a Wall Street Week contributor and adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, says that concerns about deflationary pressures reflect a new paradigm. He joins David Westin on “Bloomberg Wall Street Week.” Here is a direct video link.

The 2020s will be transformational for humanity, according to the tech prophet founders of RethinkX,

Tony Seba and James Arbib talk to Justin Rowlatt about their prediction that a confluence of new technologies – in energy, transportation, and food and materials production – could wipe out poverty and solve climate change in the next 10-15 years, and usher in a new “Age of Freedom” for our species.

But while it sounds utopian, they also warn in their new book Rethinking Humanity that it could pose huge civilizational challenges for a planet that still clings to outdated concepts such as democracy, capitalism and the nation-state.

Here is a direct audio link.

Still missing some 25% of jobs lost in the first shutdown phase, Canadians are feeling less confident as the most populous areas in Ontario and Quebec re-enter Stage 2 restrictions, banning indoor dining, gyms and movie theaters for at least 28 days.

The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, a composite measure of financial health and economic expectations, dropped more than half a point to 51.9 in the week ended Oct. 16. The third-straight weekly decline and the lowest since mid-August.  See Virus resurgence sends Canadian confidence lower for a third week.

Just 14% of respondents believe the economy will be stronger in the next six months, the lowest level since the end of May.  But, 43% of respondents still expect the value of real estate in their neighbourhood to increase over the next six months.

Less income with higher debt and shelter costs = bad combo.