Economic Overviews

If history is testament, then the above charts indubitably suggest the global economy is edging toward another recession which eventually may plunge into another 1930s like Great Depression.

Every year, the World Economic Forum releases an updated list of the top risks to business based on its survey to 750 members of the organization’s global multi-stakeholder community. Today’s charts and graphics from Raconteur sum up the essentials of this year’s Global Risks report to provide a neat and tidy introduction to the potential pitfalls that could impact markets around the globe.

The situation the world finds itself in is not one of growth and prosperity, but one of uncertainty and doubt, and it has the financial elite running for the doors, scared and worried. So what is going on behind the scenes? Do they know something that the rest of the general public does not? Do they think that a system collapse is just over the horizon?

Last month Americans bought 1.5 million vehicles, a 3.6% bump from a year ago, establishing a new record for April and eclipsing the old mark set 11 years ago for a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 17.4 million vehicles. That puts automakers on track for a second consecutive annual sales record and resultant strong profits could cause investors to pile into the stocks of major auto makers. Words: 537

If we could only show you one map to explain the economy of the Middle East, it would be the map below. In one fell swoop it tells us a lot about the wealth, geopolitical influence, and natural resources of the region as well as parts of Central Asia...

We have a crisis of trust in America and, as the charts below show, it has only accelerated with government policies of financial repression.

To most people, a depression means '30s-style conditions, and since they don't see that, they can't imagine a depression. That's because they know what the last depression was like, but they don't know what one is. It's hard to visualize something you don't understand...Nobody can predict with absolute certainty what this depression will be like...[but one] can be fairly well-assured it won't be an instant replay of the last one...To define the likely differences between this depres­sion and the last one, it's helpful to compare the situa­tion today to that in the early 1930s. The results aren't very reassuring.

The Chinese government is [trying to]...transition the economy away from its reliance on manufacturing, which is shrinking, into a service economy [but is failing to accomplish this objective in spite of] a glorious debt-and-stimulus binge for the past few months. [Unfortunately,] these policies [may do nothing more than] add to the already insurmountable mountain of debt [of which] a good part is now going bad.

Pemex, Mexico’s over-indebted, money-losing state-owned oil giant, appears to be in a state of terminal decline. To survive, it needs some last-minute reprieve or miracle...For the broader Mexican economy, Pemex’s woes are just part of the problem. With the overseas market for Pemex’s oil shrinking,...while the company’s production continues to crumble, Mexico will depend even more on its manufacturing sector but that too, is showing serious signs of strain.

How would the stock market and the economy possibly be affected were a Democrat or Republican to become President?