Global geopolitical trends we’re tracking this week:

Key Dates

March 22 – US home sales data for February.

March 23 – Brazil central bank (COPOM) monetary policy committee releases minutes from latest meeting, which will give insight into the recent decision to hike rates by 75 basis points.

March 23 – Israel to hold its fourth Knesset election in two years.

March 24 – UK CPI data for February.

March 24 – US Fed chief Jerome Powell testifies to Joint Economic Committee on monetary policy; session includes a question-and-answer portion.

March 25 – US jobless claims data.

March 26 – UK retail sales for February.

March 26 – US federal budget numbers scheduled to be released, providing further details on what has become a yawning budget deficit. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the US federal deficit will hit $2.3 trillion in fiscal year 2021 – and that’s before the latest $1.9 trillion stimulus bill is taken into account.

Middle East

Israelis head to the polls for fourth election in two years

On Tuesday Israelis will choose a national government – again. This will be the fourth election in two years, as previous contests have churned out hung parliaments pitting a right-wing coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu against the left-wing former general Benjamin (‘Benny’) Gantz.

In the most recent iteration of the hung parliament in early 2020, against the backdrop of an emerging COVID-19 pandemic, Gantz threw the support of his Israel Resilience party behind Netanyahu’s Likud to form a unity government, becoming both minister of defense and ‘alternate prime minister.’