- Drought is shrinking crops from the US Farm Belt to China’s Yangtze River basin, ratcheting up fears of global hunger and weighing on the outlook for inflation. Since 2000, the number and duration of droughts have risen by 29%, and from 1998 to 2017 droughts have caused global economic losses of roughly $124 billion.
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Last Friday when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke he sparked a market rout that slashed the fortunes of America’s richest people by $78 billion in just 8 minutes. Powell used his speech at the Fed’s annual policy forum to reiterate that the US central bank will keep raising interest rates and probably leave them elevated for a while to reduce inflation. Elon Musk saw $5.5 billion erased from his wealth, Jeff Bezos lost $6.8 billion, Bill Gates lost $2.2 billion, and Warren Buffett lost $2.7 billion.
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The stock market’s worst month—September—will soon be upon us. The S&P 500 index has averaged a 1% loss in September dating back to 1928. Last year, stocks fell 4.8% in September.
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The White House on Wednesday released its program for student-loan-debt relief, saying it will cancel up to $20,000 in debt per borrower to households earning as much as $250,000. If all borrowers eligible for the program enroll, it will reduce student-loan balances by around $400 billion, or 1.6% of GDP.
Bloomberg- "Dried-Out Farms From China to Iowa Put Pressure on Food Prices"
Barrons- "How Water Scarcity Threatens the Global Economy"
Bloomberg- "Powell's 8-Minute Speech Erases $78 Billion From Richest Americans"
Barrons- "Stocks in September Have Often Struggled. The Good News: The Selloff May Have Already Begun"
Barrons- "Goldman Sachs Has Run the Numbers on Student-Loan Forgiveness. This Is Its Assessment."
Economic Calendar
Monday: None Scheduled
Tuesday: S&P Case-Shiller U.S. home price index (year-over-year) (Jun), Consumer confidence index (Aug), Job openings (Jul), Quits (Jul),
New York Fed President John Williams speaks
Wednesday:
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks, ADP employment report (Aug), Chicago manufacturing PMI (Aug),
Altanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks
Thursday:
Initial jobless claims (Aug),Continuing jobless claims (Aug), Productivity revision (SAAR) (Q2), Unit labor costs revision (SAAR) (Q2), S&P U.S. manufacturing PMI (final) (Aug), ISM manufacturing index (Aug), Construction spending (Jul), Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Light motor vehicle sales (SAAR) (Aug)
Friday: Nonfarm payrolls (Aug), Unemployment rate (Aug), Average hourly earnings (Aug), Labor-force participation rate, 25-54 years (Aug),Factory orders (Jul),Core capital equipment orders revision (Jul)
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