Global wealth drops for first time since 2008 worldwide financial crisis
The Global Wealth Report 2023, published Tuesday by UBS and Credit Suisse, found that total private wealth fell 2.4% or $11.3 trillion last year to $454.4 trillion, and wealth per adult sank 3.6% or $3,198 to $84,718.
Keeping exchange rates constant at 2021 levels, total wealth actually increased 3.4% during 2022. But that still amounts to the “slowest increase of wealth at constant exchange rates since 2008,” accordingtotheauthorsofthereport,whichcovers theholdingsof5.4billionadultsworldwide.
The global economy struggled to recover from the COVID era in 2022. High inflation forced many centralbankstoraiseinterest,increasingthecostof borrowingforconsumersandbusinessesasthewar inUkraineweighedongrowth.
Developedregionswerethehardesthitasstockand bondpricesfellthroughouttheyear.NorthAmerica and Europe lost $10.9 trillion of wealth combined lastyear. TheUnitedStatessawthelargestnominal wealthdropat$5.9trillion,butthatrepresentedjust a4.1%declinefromayearago.
Souce:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/11-3-trillion-global-wealth-214429640.html
Fitch warns multiple US banks face credit downgrade
A Fitch Ratings analyst on Tuesday warned the agency may be forced to cut the credit ratings of more than a dozen banks, including some major Wall Street lenders. Fitch already lowered the score of the "operating environment" for U.S. bankstoAA-fromAA attheendofJune–amove thatwentlargelyunnoticed.
In making that decision, the agency cited downward pressure on the country's sovereign debtrating, gapsin regulatoryframeworkaround the "normalization of monetary policy," and uncertainty over the future outlook for interest rates.
"We do not expect the lower OE score to negatively impact the ratings of U.S. banks, although it reduces ratings headroom," Fitch said at the time, but it added: "A multi-notch downgrade would revise Fitch’s financial performance benchmarks for banks and would leadtolowerfinancialprofilescores,allelseequal."
Another one-notch downgrade of the industry's score,toA+fromAA-,wouldforceFitchtoreassess ratings on each of the more than 70 U.S. banks it covers,analystChrisWolfetoldCNBC.
Maui wildfires areas include $1.3 billion in residential reconstruction values, according to a preliminary estimate
Theearlyestimateoftheareasencompassedbythe devastatingMauiwildfiresincludesabout$1.3billion of residencies, according to a recent preliminary estimatefromCoreLogic.
That figure tallies the “combined reconstruction value,” or how much it would cost to rebuild the structures in those preliminary areas. That doesn’t mean every building within those preliminary boundaries will need reconstruction, nor does it includethecontentsofthoseresidences.
In preliminary perimeters drawn by CoreLogic, the company found 2,808 Lahaina homes that have a reconstruction cost value of $1.1 billion. Pulehu has 275 homes with about $147 million in costs, and Pukalani has a reconstruction cost value of $4.2 millionforitsfivehomes.
Maui County has a population of about 165,000. More than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyedand2,170acreshaveburnedasaresultof theLahainaFire
US to impose tariffs on tin mill steel from Canada, China, Germany
TheU.S.CommerceDepartmentonThursdaysaid itwill impose preliminaryanti-dumpingdutieson tin-plated steel imports from Canada, Germany and China, sparing five other countries in a decision that drew some relief from food can manufacturersthathadfearedhighertariffs. Thedepartmentsaidthehighestpreliminaryantidumping duties of 122.5% will be imposed on tin mill steel imported from China, including the country's largest producer, Baoshan Iron and Steel.
The department will impose preliminary duties of 7.02%ontinmillimportsfromGermanproducers, including Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) and 5.29% on imports from Canadian producers, including ArcelorMittalDOFASCO(MT.LU).
Nodutieswillbeimposedontheshinysilvermetal - widely used in cans for food, paint, aerosol products and other containers - imported from Britain,theNetherlands,SouthKorea, Taiwanand Turkey,theCommerceDepartmentadded.
Souce: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/11/business/maui-fire-residential-damage-
America’s richest 10% are responsible for 40% of its planet-heating pollution, new report finds
America’s wealthiest people are also some of the world’s biggest polluters – not only because of their massive homes and private jets, but because of the fossil fuels generated by the companies they invest their money in, said a new study published Thursday in the journal PLOS Climate, and called on governments to shift away from “regressive” taxes on the carbon-intensity of what people buy and focus ontaxingclimate-pollutinginvestmentsinstead.
To do this, the researchers analyzed huge datasets spanning 30 years to connect financial transactions to carbon pollution. They found the wealthiest 10% in the US, households making more than about $178,000, wereresponsiblefor40%ofthenation’shuman-caused,planet-heatingpollution.Theincomeofthetop1% alone–householdsmakingmorethan$550,000–waslinkedto15%to17%ofthispollution.
The report also identified “super-emitters.” They are almost exclusively among the wealthiest top 0.1% of Americans, concentrated in industries such as finance, insurance and mining, and produce around 3,000 tons of carbon pollution a year. To put that in perspective, it’s estimated people should limit their carbon footprinttoaround2.3tonsayeartotackleclimatechange.
Climateimpactisnotjustaboutthesizeofthepeople’sincomebuttheindustriesthatgenerateit.
Souce:
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/17/business/rich-americans-climate-footprint-emissions/index.html