Global geopolitical trends we’re tracking this week:
Key Dates
August 8 – China CPI and PPI for July.
August 9 – Mexico CPI for July.
August 9 – United States JOLTs Job Openings for June.
August 9 – UK BRC Retail Sales Monitor for July.
August 9 – Japan current account balance for June.
August 10 – Germany ZEW economic sentiment for first week of August.
August 10 – South Africa manufacturing production for June.
August 10 – Brazil CPI for July.
August 11 – Germany CPI for July.
August 11 – Italy CPI for July.
August 11 – Brazil central bank minutes released.
August 11 – China new loans data released by People’s Bank of China.
August 11 – United States Core CPI for July.
August 11 – United States crude oil inventories.
August 11 – United States federal budget balance for July.
August 12 – Japan industrial production for June.
August 12 – Parliamentary and presidential elections in Zambia.
August 12 – UK GDP for Q2, and industrial and manufacturing production for June.
August 12 – Euro zone industrial production for June.
August 12 – United States initial jobless claims.
August 12 – United States PPI for July.
August 12 – Mexico central bank interest rate decision.
August 13 – France Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for July.
August 14 – Spain CPI for July.
August 14 – Euro zone trade balance for June.
World
COVID-19 fast facts
- COVID-19 cases continue to trend upward in the United States, and the country is now averaging over 100,000 cases per day – a rate which has jumped 110% in the past two weeks. Nation-wide vaccination rates sit at around 50% fully-vaccinated and 70% with one shot. The present outbreak is most acute in the south, with Florida recording a daily case rate of approx. 24,000. It’s followed by California (14,400), Texas (11,300), Louisiana (6,100), Georgia (6,000), Alabama (3,500), and Arkansas (3,000). Florida, a state with a vaccination rate of around 49%, is now breaking hospitalization records set during its second wave, reporting over 13,000 hospitalizations for the first time ever over the weekend.
- Iran recorded 39,600 daily cases and over 540 daily deaths over the weekend, its highest rates since the pandemic began. The surge has renewed fears of a collapse in the country’s public health system, prompting outgoing health minister Saeed Namaki to call for a two-week nation-wide lockdown enforced by the military.
