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Daily News Analysis

Anticipated US recession and global geopolitical conflicts

Crescent International

The Qatari regime’s media outlet Al Jazeera labeled the week of July 29 as a “data-packed week for the US economy”.

This was based on recent data that renewed discussion about whether or not the US economy will go into recession.

Economic indicators alone are often misleading and quite frequently misrepresent reality.

For example, many people around the world do not know that the US Bureau of Labor Statistics does not consider people unemployed if they have not looked for work in the past four weeks.

Thus, US unemployment figures are deliberately skewed in order to paint a rosy picture that is at variance with reality.

Thus, raw economic data, depending on the narrative one wishes to present, can often be used to argue for conflicting conditions.

Whether the US economy will go into recession is currently a hotly debated issue among many experts.

If it enters a cycle which will be officially recognized as a recession, it is likely to be quite different from previous ones, as it will have a strong political flavor due to global geopolitical developments.

It is no secret that Washington has locked itself into a geopolitical and economic standoff with both China and Russia.

The hitherto global hegemon is desperately trying to convince the world that it still has the stamina to remain a superpower.

More importantly, it wishes to peddle the narrative that it alone has the power and wherewithal to lead the world.

US politicians are actively framing their eroding global influence as a battle between a prosperous and benevolent capitalist world order led by Washington, and oppressive and state-controlled systems of Russia and China.

The Americans present a narrative whose aim is to convince others that the end of US hegemony will be the beginning of the global dark age.

Unfortunately, taking the historical track record into consideration, American politicians will not hesitate to instigate destabilization in various parts of the world in order to retain their hegemony, regardless of costs.

William Pesek writing for Asia Times, is of the opinion that “US rate hikes are doing more to devastate Asian economies and currencies than tame US inflation and overheating.”

In the same column quoting Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank, Pesek states that American currency policies may create crisis in Asia similar to the 1990s.

As the US’ current geopolitical standoff with Russia, China and other developing countries continues, economics alone will not be enough to provide an understanding of the broader picture of global events.

In most parts of the world, geopolitics determines economic policies and approaches.

Consider the muffled coverage of western corporate media about Turkey’s bad economic policies after Turkish President Recep Erdogan met Isaac Herzog, president of apartheid Israel.

It needed much more in-depth coverage but was deliberately ignored because it advanced the interests of zionist Israel, every western politician’s favorite country in the world.

As global economic conditions worsen, it is important to cross-examine geopolitical developments with economic policies, to be able to see how economic indicators are used to push political narratives.

END


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