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An Unexpected Problem Emerges: Chinese Banks Exhaust 80% Of Loan Quotas In First Half Of 2017

An Unexpected Problem Emerges: Chinese Banks Exhaust 80% Of Loan Quotas In First Half Of 2017

When we discussed the latest monthly Chinese credit data reported by the PBOC, we pointed out something which to most pundits was broadly seen as success by the Politburo in its deleveraging efforts: for the first time in 9 months, debt within China's shadow banking system - defined as the sum of Trust Loans, Entrusted Loans and Undiscounted Bank Loans - contracted.

House Price Bubbles 2.0 In Pictures

House Price Bubbles 2.0 In Pictures

By Mark Hanson Of M Hanson Advisers

Bottom Line: House prices and end-user, shelter-buyer fundamentals have never been further apart in key, economically significant cities.

The two charts presented in this note highlight just how diverged house prices have become from end-user, shelter-buyer, employment and income fundamentals in the most populated, economically significant US cities.

Top Institutions and Economists Now Say Globalization Increases Inequality

We’ve all heard that globalization lifts all boats and increases our prosperity …

But mainstream economists and organizations are now starting to say that globalization increases inequality.

The National Bureau of Economic Research – the largest economics research organization in the United States, with many Nobel economists and Chairmen of the Council of Economic Advisers as members –  published,  a report in May finding:

Recent globalization trends have increased U.S. inequality by disproportionately raising top incomes.

 

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Here's How Much You've Lost On Your Used Car So Far In 2017 (Hint: A Lot)

Here's How Much You've Lost On Your Used Car So Far In 2017 (Hint: A Lot)

America's favorite rapidly-depreciating asset is now losing it's value fast than ever...which is probably not good news for an auto market in which 25% of people were already underwater by an average $3,635.

According to Black Book, average used car prices have dropped 17% over the past 12 months as America's complete transformation into a rental society has flooded the market with off-lease vehicles.  Per Bloomberg:

US Workers' Wage Expectations Unexpectedly Collapse

US Workers' Wage Expectations Unexpectedly Collapse

Cue the latest economic (and Phillips curve) paradox.

On one hand, the US unemployment rate is at a 16 year low of 4.4%, suggesting little if any slack in the US economy, and according to anecdotes from both the Fed's Beige Book and industry sources, labor shortages are so acute that - if one believes the recently discussed report from the NAHB - up to 75% of builders are unable to find construction workers.

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