It is official? Total US Debt surpasses $33 trillion for the first time. For those keeping tabs, the US added $1 trillion in debt in just 3 months
Cartoon: Gary Varvel
JUST IN: Personal interest payments in the US hit a record $506 BILLION in July
During the first 7 months of 2023, Americans paid a total of $3.3 TRILLION in personal interest. This is up a staggering 80% since 2021 and nearly above the entire 2022 total. The worst part? These numbers do NOT include interest on mortgage payments. Source: The Kobeissi Letter, FRED
Translation: If you exclude everything you need in life, inflation has been vanquished!
Source: Barchart
Hard landing vs. Soft landing assets
Source: BofA
From Wall Street to Main Street (aka workers want a bigger piece of the cake) => UAW members go on strike at three key auto plants after deal deadline passes
Half of US auto production is going offline tomorrow. - Thousands of United Auto Workers members went on strike at three key plants, after Detroit automakers failed to reach deals with the union by a Thursday night deadline. - The selected plants produce highly profitable vehicles for the automakers that largely continue to be in high-demand. About 12,700 workers – 5,800 at Stellantis, 3,600 at GM and 3,300 at Ford – will be on strike at the plants in total, the union said. The UAW represents about 146,000 workers across Ford, GM and Stellantis. Source: Goldman, CNBC
European Central Bank hikes rates to a record 4% as inflation risks outweigh economic gloom.
- The ECB just raised its key rates again today, by 25bp (main Refi rate at 4.50%, deposit rate at 4.00%) - Concerns around the underlying inflation dynamic appear to have overwhelmed the ongoing negative (and concerning) dynamic in Europe’s economic growth: "inflation continues to decline but is still expected to remain too high for too long. The Governing Council is determined to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner. In order to reinforce progress towards its target, the Governing Council today decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points." Source: Bloomberg
Today is ECB day
What is the Taylor rule telling us when it comes to theoretical interest rates based on German data? Key interest rate should be at 10.9%, so 6.6% higher than current rate, according to Taylor Rule with German inflation at 6.4% & unemployment below NAIRU. Howeverm the spread between Taylor Rule rate & ECB key rate is lower than it has been since 2021. This might suggest that hike cycle could soon come to an end. Source: Bloomberg, HolgerZ
Goldman expects the resumption of student loan payments, a potential temporary federal government shutdown, and reduced auto production from a potential UAW strike to slow US GDP growth in 4Q23
Source graphic: GS
