2025 started ominously for Canada: President-elect Trump vowed to use "economic force" to coerce Canada into becoming the 51st state. Shortly after his inauguration, he followed up his words

Here is the chart: source This is down to two things: the interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is 6.25%. Combined with the high prices of properties, it makes servicing a new mortgage unaffordable

Here is the list: source There are no European or Chinese companies on the list. There is one Taiwanese company (TSMC), a Saudi company (Saudi Arabian Oil), and the rest are all American. It's no surprise

The United States is not the only country to find that interest payments on government debt are eating it's budget. France is experiencing the same thing. Here is the chart: source Debt interest payments

Lots of stock market bubbles have been compared to the lead up to the 1929 peak, most notably the 1990's dot-com boom. But the post covid tech-and-AI boom appears to be tracing the same path. Here is the

Spain had a general election on 23rd July 2023, which produced a hung parliament. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party managed to cobble a coalition together with far-left

France and Britain have similarly sized populations, and for most of the post-war period had similar sized economies, with France being in the lead, especially during the trente glourieuses from 1945 to

The minimum wage in the UK is now £12.21 per hour. Rachel Reeves has hinted that it will rise to £12.70 per hour after the budget. That works out to £23,114 per annum for a 35 hour week. But the lowest

The Bank of Canada has shrunk it's assets from 26% of GDP in 2020 to 8% of GDP now. Here is the chart: source As you can see from the chart, they've shed their Covid-era QE much faster than other central

It plots economic growth from 2007 to 2015 against real annual wages (i.e. wages after adjusting for inflation): source Click to enlarge the image. There is Britain alone in the bottom right quadrant:

Here is the table in German: source Here is a translation: Schweiss Verbindungstechnik = Welding connection technology : 60% Koche/Kochinnen = Cooks : 54% Lebensmittelherstelung = Food Production : 54%

France has had three Prime Ministers this year. Michel Barnier lost a vote of no confidence just four months into his premiership after proposing spending cuts. Francois Bayrou lasted a bit longer, but

Here's the chart: source Nvidia's share of the S&P 500 index is now bigger than the entire energy sector (3%), the entire utilities sector (2.5%) and the entire materials sector 2.3%, added together.

Normally unemployment doesn't rise much in Germany as there is a state-run furlough scheme that allows businesses to put their staff on a three-day working week till the economy picks up, with the state

Boomers were born between 1945 and 1964, so they are currently aged between 70 and 90. Lots of countries moan about Boomers, but France really does have a case that Boomers are strangling their economy.

This involved the Argentinian Central Bank dipping into it's scant dollar reserves in order to sell the dollar and buy pesos, after the peso crashed 10% following Milei's severe election defeat in Buenos

So the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points, taking the Fed funds rate from 4.25% to 4%. In the lead up to the decision (which was well trailed) inflation hawks were posting mocking posts

The French government fell yesterday when the French Assembly passed a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Bayrou, killing his budget. The previous Prime Minister Michel Barnier, was toppled in December

Here's the chart: source The chart says "first time since 1996", but the gold on the central banks balance sheets back then was legacy gold, from when everyone was on the Breton Woods Standard

French political turmoil has reared it's head again; it looks like Prime Minister François Bayrou won't be able to pass a budget through the French Assembly. There will be a confidence vote on Sept 8th,