Домой United States USA — Financial The global economy's 2020 hangover is far from over

The global economy's 2020 hangover is far from over

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It’s almost 2022, but 2020 isn’t done with us yet.
Despite good news about Covid-19 vaccinations, a solid economic rebound and seemingly boundless optimism on Wall Street, we’re nowhere near out of the woods. The global supply chain is a wreck. Europe and Asia are facing a potentially crippling energy shortage. And the US government’s partisan gridlock over the debt ceiling is far from resolved. All of that has the global economy in a vise grip that we won’t be free of anytime soon. «There’s just as much uncertainty now, today, as there was in March 2020 as the pandemic was unfolding,» said Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading. The only difference, he says, is that investors now are swimming in easy money that’s allowed them to shrug off the grim headlines. Supply chain chaos The Biden administration is doing what it can. On Wednesday, the White House announced a «90-day sprint» to unclog port congestion, shifting the Port of Los Angeles to a 24/7 schedule and leaning on the private sector to expand their overnight operations. But the government can do only so much. The move to a 24/7 schedule is «low-hanging fruit,» said Geoff Freeman, CEO of the Consumer Brands Association. Ports overseas have been operating that way for months. The problem goes much deeper than traffic jams. Truck drivers, for example, are in high demand just about everywhere. But so are trucks, which rely on computer chips, which are — you guessed it — backordered till the end of time. The majority of financial executives expect the supply problems to last well into 2022, if not later, according to a survey released Thursday by Duke University. Prices surging All of this is driving up prices.

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