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1 US debt growing $1 trillion every 100 days
2 World in for Another China Shock: Part I
3 World in for Another China Shock: Part II
4 Global obesity rates have more than tripled since 1975
5 US fentanyl epidemic is still getting worse
Sports
3/4/1933 FDR inaugurated
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1 US debt growing $1 trillion every 100 days
The debt load of the U.S. is growing at a quicker clip in recent months, increasing about $1 trillion nearly every 100 days. The nation’s debt permanently crossed over to $34 trillion on Jan. 4, after briefly crossing the mark on Dec. 29, according to data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. It reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023, and $32 trillion on June 15, 2023, hitting this accelerated pace. Before that, the $1 trillion move higher from $31 trillion took about eight months. U.S. debt, which is the amount of money the federal government borrows to cover operating expenses, now stands at nearly $34.4 billion, as of Wednesday. Bank of America investment strategist Michael Hartnett believes the 100-day pattern will remain intact with the move from $34 trillion to $35 trillion.
CNBC
2 World in for Another China Shock: Part I
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the U.S. and the global economy experienced a “China shock,” a boom in imports of cheap Chinese-made goods that helped keep inflation low but at the cost of local manufacturing jobs. A sequel might be in the making as Beijing doubles down on exports to revive the country’s growth. Its factories are churning out more cars, machinery and consumer electronics than its domestic economy can absorb. Propped up by cheap, state-directed loans, Chinese companies are glutting foreign markets with products they can’t sell at home.
China is also a much larger economy than it was, accounting for more of the world’s manufacturing. It had 31% of global manufacturing output in 2022, and 14% of all goods exports, according to World Bank data. Two decades earlier China’s share of manufacturing was less than 10% and of exports less than 5%.
In the early 2000s, overproduction mainly came from China, while factories elsewhere shut down. Now, the U.S. and other countries are investing heavily in and protecting their own industries as geopolitical tensions rise. Chinese firms such as the battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology are building plants overseas to soothe opposition to imports, though they already produce much of what the world needs at home. The result could be a world swimming in manufactured goods, and short of the spending power to buy them—a classic recipe for falling prices.
WSJ
3 World in for Another China Shock: Part II
In 2016, Autor and other economists estimated that the U.S. lost more than two million jobs between 1999 and 2011 as a result of Chinese imports, as makers of furniture, toys and clothes buckled under the competition and workers in hollowed-out communities struggled to find new roles. A sequel of sorts appears to be under way.
Unlike in the early 2000s, however, the Western world now sees China as its chief economic rival and geopolitical adversary. The EU is considering whether Chinese-made electric vehicles are unfairly subsidized and should be subject to tariffs or other import restrictions. Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for November’s presidential election, has floated the idea of hitting imports from China with tariffs of 60% or higher. Such protectionism might shift some of the deflationary impact to other parts of the world, as Chinese exporters look for new markets in poorer countries.
WSJ
4 Global obesity rates have more than tripled since 1975
Obesity is one of the biggest threats to public health. The number of people with obesity, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of more than or equal to 30, has tripled between 1975 and 2016. Concerningly, children are also becoming more obese – in the UK today, nearly a third of children are overweight or have obesity. Obesity is connected to numerous health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. More recently, obesity has also been shown to increase the risk of severe illness after COVID-19 infection.
Science Alert
https://www.sciencealert.com/there-isn-t-just-one-obesity-gene-linked-to-being-overweight
5 US fentanyl epidemic is still getting worse
It is testimony to the intractable nature of America’s fentanyl epidemic that officials measure progress not in falling numbers of deaths, but in a slowing rate of growth. After a decade of horrifying ascent, the administration of President Joe Biden points out, the yearly number of fatal overdoses appears at last to be slowing to a gentle climb. The figure for 2022 was just 5% higher than that of 2021. That still leaves fentanyl and other synthetic opioids like it killing some 75,000 people a year—more than double the figure of 2019. But in the fight against the deadliest narcotic in American history, that is what passes for success.
At first most fentanyl came to America directly from China. In 2019, however, China outlawed the sale of finished fentanyl and two of the chemicals most commonly used to make it. At that point Mexico assumed a critical role in the supply chain, importing different precursor chemicals from China, which are then “cooked” and sent north.
the Sinaloa cartel could turn $800-worth of precursors from China into $640,000 in profits. If the Sinaloa cartel really is reining in fentanyl production (as opposed to being more discreet about it), that will not stop the northward flow of the drug. Instead, American officials in Mexico say, production is simply becoming more diffuse and atomised.
America…has at least 6m opioid addicts. Four out of every ten Americans know someone who has died from an overdose. The epidemic’s seeming plateau is very much welcome, but fentanyl remains one of the deadliest scourges America has ever faced.
Economist
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/02/29/americas-ten-year-old-fentanyl-epidemic-is-still-getting-worse
Sports
Lebron James has scored 40,000 career points - an NBA first
LeBron James has become the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 career points, eclipsing the plateau with a left-handed layup at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
The Athletic
https://theathletic.com/5312052/2024/03/02/lebron-james-first-40k-points/?source=user_shared_article
3/4/1933 FDR inaugurated
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