ECONOMICS

With both 'hard' and 'soft' data declining rapidly recently, why should we be surprised that S&P Global's preliminary PMI prints for May would suddenly surge, with manufacturing back into expansion?

• Flash US Services Business Activity Index at 54.8 (April: 51.3). 12-month high.

• Flash US Manufacturing PMI at 50.9 (April: 50.0). 2-month high.

Just ignore the plunge in hard data in May…

Source: Bloomberg

And just (more…)

Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

It has been a year since a string of U.S. regional bank failures, together with the collapse of global heavyweight Credit Suisse, caused many to fear that a major financial crisis was imminent.

(Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)

But, by the summer of 2023, the panicked withdrawals by frightened depositors largely subsided.

In February, however, New York Community Bank (NYCB) appeared to resurrect (more…)

The European Union (EU) exports over $6 trillion in products annually. The bloc boasts a diversified economy that encompasses fuel and mineral industries, cars, vaccines, and technology.

In this map, Visual Capitalist's Bruno Venditti displays European Union countries’ top exports as of 2022.

Data for the map was sourced from The Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Cars and Petroleum Dominate EU Exports

Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, (more…)