Fed Forecasts
What You Need To Know
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The World
The brother of George Floyd delivered an emotional plea (full text) for Congress to take action to stem police violence against minorities. (Washington Post)
The OECD forecast the global economy would contract 6.0% this year, the biggest peace-time downturn in a century, before bouncing back with 5.2% growth in 2021 - providing the outbreak is kept under control. A second wave could see the global economy contract 7.6% before growing only 2.8% next year. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve will issue its first forecasts in six months amid rising markets and turbulent streets. (Reuters, Financial Times)
Part-time jobs accounted for 40% of U.S. job growth in May, while small-business optimism rebounded, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. Still, U.S. consumer prices fell for a third straight month in May as demand remained subdued. (Quartz, Finance 202, Reuters)
Britain will suffer the worst recession of the world’s 37 rich nation economies as GDP shrinks by up to 14% . Combined with France, Italy and Spain, all four countries will lose more than a tenth of national output. (The Times)
Global natural gas markets are on their way to experiencing the largest recorded demand shock in the history. Meanwhile, oil prices fell after a surprise jump in crude inventories. (IEA, Bloomberg)
The U.S. deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups to the Pacific, as China’s military stepped up activity in the region. Meanwhile, the U.S. is preparing to reopen its consulate in Wuhan. (Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post)
The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is taking a leading role in a new, more hard-line pressure campaign against South Korea, highlighting what analysts say is a substantive policy role that goes beyond being her brother’s assistant. (Reuters)
Georgia’s primary quickly turned into an ordeal for voters who waited up to 8 hours Tuesday when poll workers couldn’t get the state’s new $104 million voting system system running. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
Republicans have tentatively settled on Jacksonville, Fla., as the new destination for the premier festivities of the Republican National Convention in August. (Washington Post)
Coronavirus cases are increasing in 21 states, as the Arizona state health director tells hospitals to 'fully activate' emergency plans. Meanwhile, the federal government plans to fund and conduct the decisive studies of three experimental coronavirus vaccines starting this summer. (New York Times, AZCentral, Wall Street Journal)
UK calls to remove a statue of 19th century British imperialist Cecil Rhodes, who seized control over vast areas of southern Africa, built the De Beers diamond company, and established the Rhodes Scholarships, were rebutted by Oxford University's chancellor who said that if Nelson Mandela was "alright" with Rhodes then it was good enough for him. (The Telegraph, CNN)
Economy
EU finance chiefs argued that Europe needs to quickly deregulate its capital markets to encourage people to buy more stocks, as massive amounts of debt are being sold and the EU is losing its financial hub in Brexit. (Bloomberg)
Amazon unveiled a small business credit line with Goldman Sachs in latest tie-up between tech and Wall Street. (CNBC)
U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo criticized HSBC for backing China’s national security legislation in Hong Kong, while a leading London fund manager publicly challenged HSBC and Standard Chartered over their China support. (Bloomberg, The Times)
Technology
The number of Indians enrolled in graduate-level computer science and engineering courses at American universities declined by more than 25% between 2016-17 and 2018-19. The share of Indian students in Canada more than doubled. (Quartz)
Grubhub is nearing a deal to combine with Just Eat Takeaway.com, as the food-delivery company prepares to turn its back on weeks of negotiations with Uber. (Wall Street Journal)
The world’s biggest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, said it will need US approval to sell crucial semiconductor parts to Huawei. Meanwhile, Vodafone warned Huawei’s removal from the UK’s telecoms infrastructure would deal a terminal blow the country hope to lead in 5G technology. (The Telegraph, Financial Times)
Kids spend nearly as much time watching TikTok as YouTube: An average of 85 minutes per day on YouTube, compared with 80 minutes per day on TikTok. The latter app also drove growth in kids’ social app use by 100% in 2019 and 200% in 2020. (TechCrunch)
Smart Links
Harvard offers staff early retirement. (Bloomberg)
Lab-grown mini-lungs could reveal why covid-19 kills. (MIT Technology Review)
SpinLaunch is the space industry’s best kept secret. (Wired)
Science explains how line-dried laundry gets that fresh smell. (New York Times)
Virtual court hearings can lead to harsher outcomes for defendants. (The Markup)
Germans and Americans see the importance of American military bases differently. (Pew Research Report)
Good News
The planet’s view from above just got clearer. (Quartz)
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