The growth rate of world trade in the next two years will be significantly lower than the average for the postcrisis period. The key factors behind the slowdown will be protective duties introduced within trade wars, as well as uncertainty in the global economy, the World Trade Organization (WTO) states. In 2018, the nominal volume of world supplies grew by 10% (primarily due to higher prices for...

Startups attracted only $ 118 million in the first quarter through primary placement of cryptocurrency tokens (ICO), reports The Wall Street Journal, citing data from TokenData. For comparison: they attracted $ 6.9 billion for the same period a year earlier. This is another sign of the decline in the popularity of cryptocurrency. Investors are discouraged by new regulations against ICOs, spread...

Analysts recorded the most noticeable drop in real estate prices for many years in London and England against the backdrop of a political crisis and uncertainty due to the UK leaving the EU. According to Nationwide Building Society, in the first quarter of 2019 property prices in England fell by 0.7% on an annualized basis compared to the same period in 2018. For England, this is the first...

Sour crude oil from Shell and BP platforms in the Gulf of Mexico will replace Venezuela’s heavy oil in many US refineries. Now they need alternative sources of oil after the US sanctions were imposed on the Venezuelan oil industry, reports Reuters. BP and Shell are also major operators and manufacturers in the US Gulf of Mexico. Their crude oil is purchased by US refineries, with preference being...

On March 31 the European Commission (EC) will complete collection of expert opinions and positions of EU countries on the draft initiative aimed at increasing share of the euro in payments for energy transactions. Attempts to oust the dollar from the EU gas market can be used as a way for EU companies to withdraw from US sanctions against Iran and, possibly, Russia. However, the European Central...

On Wednesday, the Fed left the key rate in the range of 2.25-2.5% and hinted that most likely it will stay the same in 2019. Meanwhile, at the end of last year, high-ranking employees of the Federal Reserve made it clear that in 2019 there would be one to three rate increases. The ECB went even further two weeks ago. A new program to support the euro zone economies through cheap loans for banks...

Following the March meeting, the Federal Reserve System of the United States left the key rate at 2.25–2.5% per annum. Thus, the regulator, who raised the rate seven times in 2017–2018, decided to extend the pause in monetary policy tightening, taken in January. Now, the Fed does not promise a rate hike this year: it was previously assumed that there would be two raises. The new soft policy of...

Six banks from around the world signed a protocol of intent to issue their own stablecoins secured by national currencies in the Blockchain World Wire (BWW) payment network, Cheddar financial channel reports citing a statement from IBM Vice President Blockchain Initiatives Jesse Lund. The top manager said that in the future the company could issue its own stablebcoin to work with banks....

Real slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy after 2008 was more significant than official statistics reflect, according to a study by Brookings Institute of the US. The experts calculated that average rate of increase in China’s GDP was lower than the official by 1.7 percentage points. Distortion can be explained by incomplete adjustment of the National Bureau of Statistics of the PRC to...