Labour markets are struggling to get to grips with new post-pandemic supply and demand dynamics. Meanwhile, tighter scrutiny is increasing tech companies’ costs of doing business.
Resurgent growth in the post-COVID world has rekindled talk of the next ‘supercycle’ for industrial commodities. But beneath the headlines, the reality is that this demand is likely to pale in comparison with the driver of the original supercycle.
You might think this has been a bleak time to be a British dairy farmer, with Brexit, COVID-19 and the growth of veganism adding pressure to an already demanding job. But Britain’s farmers are a tough breed, and many of them are responding to the challenge with energy and creativity.
China reminds everyone that communists like to meddle in markets. Meanwhile earnings are booming in the West as the recovery rolls on despite investor nervousness.
Indicators of a strong post-COVID recovery keep coming out of the US and other major developed economies, but upside data surprises have brought with them concerns of persistent high inflation.
Stock markets are bouncing between good news and bad. Meanwhile, crunch time approaches for US lawmakers on the nation’s infrastructure revamp.
England dispenses with all restrictions as infections multiply. At home, as overseas, completing the vaccination drive becomes crucial.
Investor optimism spread over the second quarter as economies around the world continued to reopen and many aspects of our lives returned to normal. Successful vaccination programmes and stimulus measures across the developed world improved the global outlook.
Tougher times may lie ahead, but we believe the cyclical rally has further to run.
