Issue 24
January 9, 2024
1 Investors warn governments over high debt
2 Defense Secretary discharged from ICU
3 Chinese scientists turn coal into food
4 Moon rocket appears doomed
5 OPINION Joe Biden not running in 2024 would be risky
2007 Steve Jobs debuts the iPhone
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1 Investors warn governments over high public debt
Investors are warning governments around the world over “unmoored” levels of public debt, saying excessive pre-election borrowing promises risk sparking a bond market backlash. Deficits are “out of control and the real story is that there’s no mechanism for bringing them under control”, said Jim Cielinski, global head of fixed income at Janus Henderson. He added that the issue would become a serious concern to markets “in the next six to 12 months as something that matter[s] a lot”. The US Treasury will issue around $4tn of bonds this year with a maturity of between two and 30 years according to estimates from Apollo Global Management, up from $3tn last year and $2.3tn in 2018. Emerging markets are set to add to the deluge of bond sales, after government debt climbed to an all-time high of 68.2 per cent of GDP last year, according to the Institute of International.
FT
2 Defense Secretary discharged from ICU
Four aides knew of hospitalization but failed to tell White House
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, whose failure to disclose his need for emergency hospitalization has ignited a firestorm, was moved out of intensive care on Monday, as Democrats and Republicans intensified their calls for accountability, and senior officials at the White House and Pentagon struggled to defuse the uproar. Four top aides to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III were informed last Tuesday that he had been hospitalized a day earlier but did not notify the White House until two days later, the Pentagon said on Monday. Mr. Austin remained in the hospital on Monday but was in “good condition” and conducting official business, General Ryder said. The Pentagon has declined to disclose details of the medical procedure.
WaPo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/08/lloyd-austin-hospitalized/
NYT
3 Chinese scientists turn coal into food
As the global demand for animal feed continues to soar, researchers in China have developed a groundbreaking method to create protein using methanol derived from coal that is both inexpensive and highly efficient. It is the first time the production of protein from coal has been economically feasible. China, in particular, is facing a severe shortage of protein resources.
SCMP
4 After successful launch, moon rocket appears doomed
Was to be first US lunar landing in 50y; first ever commercial moon shot
The lunar mission that was to have returned the US to the Moon for the first time in 50 years appeared to be in jeopardy after a failure in the propulsion system resulted in a “critical loss” of fuel. Astrobotic Technology, which had hoped to be the first private company to touch down on the surface of the Earth’s satellite with its Peregrine lander, said on Monday that it was “assessing what alternative mission profiles might be feasible”.
The mission launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral spaceport aboard the Vulcan Centaur developed by United Launch Alliance, a rocket that was also making its maiden flight into space. The rocket is powered by BE-4 engines from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. Until this mission, ULA relied on Russian-made engines.
FT
A nation divided
5 OPINION Joe Biden not running in 2024 would be logistically difficult and risky
you might think that the best thing would be for Mr Biden to stand aside. After all, the election is still ten months away and the Democratic Party has talent. Alas, not only is that exceedingly unlikely, but the closer you look at what would happen, finding an alternative to Mr Biden at this stage would be a desperate and unwise throw of the dice. Were he to withdraw today, the Democratic Party would have to frantically recast its primary, because filing deadlines have already passed in many states
Assuming this was possible, and that the flurry of ensuing lawsuits was manageable, state legislatures would have to approve new dates for the primaries closer to the convention in August. A series of debates would have to be organised so that primary voters knew what they were voting for. The field could well be vast, with no obvious way of narrowing it quickly: in the Democratic primary of 2020, 29 candidates put themselves forward. The chaos might be worth it if the party could be sure of going into the election with a young, electable candidate. However, it seems equally possible that the eventual winner would be unelectable—Bernie Sanders, say, a self-declared democratic socialist who is a year older than Mr Biden.
Economist
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/01/04/the-man-supposed-to-stop-donald-trump-is-an-unpopular-81-year-old
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