ASIA/ECONOMY/TARIFFS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The global economy is under increasing stress as growth cools and trade tensions take a mounting toll. On Wednesday [8-14-19], the tremors were felt worldwide. Shares on Wall Street were off sharply, only a day after they had rallied as President Trump narrowed the scope of his next round of tariffs. The S&P 500 was down 2.9 percent. And bond markets offered an ominous warning on American growth prospects, with yields falling to levels not seen in years. The financial jitters, which continued Thursday [8-15-19] as markets in Asia were down in early trading, came after new data showed the German economy hurtling toward a recession and factory output in China growing at its slowest pace in 17 years. The trouble in two of the world’s manufacturing powerhouses indicated, in part, how hard both have been hit by Mr. Trump’s tariffs. And it increased concern that the United States, too, is headed for an economic reckoning.”
–Nelson D. Schwartz, Jack Ewing, Matt Phillips and Stephen Grocer, “Markets Are Shaken by New Signs of Global Economic Trouble,” The New York Times online, August 14, 2019