European inflation hits record highs
Consumer prices in the 19 countries that use the euro as their currency rose at a record annual rate of 10.7 percent in October, the European Commission reported yesterday.
More than half of the eurozone countries recorded double-digit inflation rates in the year through October, including Germany (11.6 percent), the Netherlands (16.8 percent), Italy (12.8 percent) and Slovakia (14.5 percent). In the Baltic countries, rates spilled past 21 percent. France had the lowest rate, 7.1 percent.
The startling jump in consumer prices signals that inflation has more stubbornly burrowed its way across the continent — despite slowing growth. Now, there are growing concerns that efforts to rein in inflation by making borrowing more expensive will actually accelerate countries’ slide into recession, by choking off investment and increasing unemployment.
The basics: Painfully high energy and food prices are pushing inflation to record levels. Over the past year, energy prices have risen by 41.9 percent, while food prices have increased by 13.1 percent. Worryingly, there are signs that inflation is broadening its reach to other sectors.
What’s next: Although the commission reported that output had grown by 0.2 percent over the last quarter — higher than expected — many economists agreed that a recession in Europe was all but inevitable. Several said yesterday that they expected growth in the final three months of the year to deteriorate.
Bolsonaro plans to address Brazil today
As of last night, President Jair Bolsonaro had yet to acknowledge his electoral defeat on Sunday, raising fears that he could refuse to accept the results and set off unrest.
He spent much of yesterday holed up at the presidential offices, meeting with top advisers and Brazil’s minister of defense. At least some of the advisers urged the president to concede, but it was not clear if he had reached a decision.
By evening, he was working on a response and planned to say something today, though what he would say was unclear, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Reaction: Key Bolsonaro allies, including former and current government ministers, right-wing lawmakers and prominent conservative pundits, all accepted his loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, albeit begrudgingly. But some of his supporters were less willing to concede, setting up more than 200 road blockades across 16 states in Brazil and snarling traffic on several important highways.
Background: For months, Bolsonaro claimed the only way he would lose Brazil’s presidential election was if it was rigged. Since election night, claims of fraud have been bubbling up, some of them from right-wing voices in the U.S.
Moving on: Da Silva, the leftist leader who narrowly won the election, spent yesterday talking to other world leaders. In a statement, President Biden “commended the strength of Brazilian democratic institutions following free, fair and credible elections.”
By volume, Russia’s imports plunged as sanctions and trade limits went into effect, but a few countries have deepened their relationships with Russia since the invasion. Imports from Turkey have increased by 113 percent, and Chinese imports by 24 percent.
Russia remains one of the world’s most important producers of oil, gas and raw materials. Many countries have found living without those products incredibly difficult, and the high prices of oil and gas in the last year have offset revenue that Russia lost to sanctions. India and China have been buying much more of its crude, albeit at a discounted rate.
Infrastructure: Russian strikes temporarily knocked out most of Kyiv’s water supply.
Grain: After suspending its participation in a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain, Russia said it wouldn’t guarantee security for any cargo vessels crossing the Black Sea. Some African countries face immediate pain from the deal’s suspension.
Weapons: Military experts say that the apparent use of remote-controlled boats to attack Russian ships over the weekend points to new Ukrainian capabilities.
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Pogba to miss World Cup: The French international will not play in Qatar, his agent said Monday, after another injury setback. He has not made an appearance for Juventus since signing as a free agent over the summer.
A complicated reality for LeBron James’s son: Bronny James is a four-star prospect with a five-star name. College basketball coaches and scouts agree that the younger James is worthy of high station, but question if recruiting him is worth the inevitable hoopla. Bronny could also opt for the G League or even overseas competition.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Digital artists are in demand
For decades, most museums spurned digital art collections in favor of paintings and sculptures. But lately, the industry has started to embrace digital artists who experiment with blockchain, virtual reality and artificial intelligence programs.
This winter, the Museum of Modern Art in New York will feature work by Refik Anadol, a Turkish artist. He recently plugged more than 138,000 images and text materials from the museum’s publicly available archive into a machine-learning model, creating hundreds of colorful abstractions that he called “machine hallucinations.” Anadol then sold them as NFTs, or nonfungible tokens.
It has been a financial boon for both parties. Some of the blockchain-based artworks wound up selling for thousands of dollars, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the museum.
For museums struggling with tighter budgets and pandemic attendance drop-offs, building a digital audience makes good financial sense. Digital art allows them to connect with younger, tech-obsessed audiences and catch the interest of any crypto millionaires who may want to donate.
