China as the biggest exporter in the world? Aw c’mon…that’s, like, so yesterday’s news. Today’s buzz is that the Middle Kingdom has convincingly usurped the US as the world’s largest auto market; something that would surely have ol’ Henry Ford turning in his grave.
Vehicle sales in China jumped 46% for 2009, compared to a 21% slump in the American market. Sales of passenger cars, buses and trucks rose to a whopping 13.6 million. The US managed to move only 10.1 million vehicles during that same time. Figures in the now-number-two market haven’t been that lean in almost three decades. And, thanks to C.E.Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” meddling, the US has already spent a good portion of tomorrow’s demand, too. Our own Reckoner-in-Chief, Bill Bonner, explained as much in yesterday’s issue, The Little Clunker That Couldn’t.
[Read more...]
Roubini: 2nd Half Looking Worse, Double Dip Over 40% Likely
Nouriel Roubini, or “Dr. Doom” as he’s also known, is a New York University professor and co-founder of Roubini Global Economics. As his nickname implies, his opinions tend to be on the gloomy side, and in this recent interview he describes “monetary policy as impotent” and estimates a GDP growth rate in this year’s second half of, well, just about zero percent.
[Read more...]