Top 10 Stories To Watch For The Next Week

Here are the Top 10 News Items To Track Over The Next Week

Roe vs. Wade: Will Abortion Rights Be Consigned To History?

Perhaps the biggest story of the next week or so is the looming decision from the Supreme Court of the United States pertaining to Roe vs. Wade, the landmark case that enshrined the “right to abortion” for American women in 1973.

While this is an event that is being keenly watched across the world, the pending judgment has already “agitated” progressives in the US, and has brought into sharp focus the ongoing “culture wars” that threaten to “split” the country into opposing sides and polarize the discourse further.

Read my posts on how this momentous ruling from the Court is the “spark” which ignites the simmering unrest between the Right, in denial with alarming consequences, and the Left, which should be more like Bernie Sanders and less like Antifa, though, unfortunately, the stage is set for civil disorder.

The World Must Worry About The Zero Covid Lockdowns

What happens in China does not remain in China!!

Being the #factory to the #world and a major #consumer of everything from #Oil and #Coal, to #consumer #goods and #services, we cannot afford a China in #crisis.

However, this is exactly what is happening as the #zerocovid induced lockdowns are dragging #demand down and clogging #global #supplychains.

Moreover, its support to #Russia on the #ukrainewar and the fraught relationship with the #unitedstates means a new #coldwar is shaping up.

So, what was #xijinping’s problem is now #Biden’s headache and potentially, the world’s nightmare?

A “Historic” Russian Default Is Increasingly Possible

A key event to watch out for is the pending decisions by the US and the EU on “how far” they would “turn the screw” on throttling Russia’s ability to service its Dollar-denominated debt, thereby raising the stakes and setting the stage for a possible default.

Does anyone feel we are reliving the 1990s?? Specifically, it sure looks like history is repeating much like 1991 when the erstwhile Soviet Union collapsed, with a “highly likely” Russian default in the coming months.

The Srilankan Crisis: We Are Four Meals Away From Anarchy

We are Four Meals away from Anarchy.

This warning from MI5, the British Intelligence Agency, needs to be heeded by anyone and everyone, especially Indians, what with Srilanka having proved this cautionary advice right.

In this post, I walk you through the potential landmines that lie ahead for the global economy over the next 2-3 months, with a probable Russian default, and the Big One, the slow-motion crisis in China, as well as other nations worldwide,

It sure looks like 2008 again!!

Crashing Markets/Falling Rupee And The Policy Response

As the Indian Rupee breaches all-time lows every day and markets crash, policymakers have their hands full, and more so, with runaway inflation threatening the nascent recovery.

The RBI or the Reserve Bank of India is the key player here along with the Finance Ministry and over the next week or so, we should see some “action” from them in this regard.

With so many puzzles and paradoxes inherent to the Indian Economy, it remains to be seen as to whether we get more clarity on the way ahead for the economy.

The Economist Magazine Is Bullish On India, and Rightly So!!

Despite the short term “gloom”, with many economists warning about a recession, the Economist, the magazine, calls the next decade as India’s moment and points to the increasing digitalization of the Informal Economy, which is by far the biggest creator of jobs.

I had written about this earlier pointing out how fixing the Informal Economy can be the best bet for addressing India’s gargantuan jobs crisis as well as reversing the trend of declining workforce participation, where surprisingly more than half of eligible Indians have stopped looking for jobs.

Elon Musk and his Shenanigans are Harming Twitter

Each passing day brings more of Musk’s attempts to turn Twitter into his personal fiefdom. Worrying for Twitter and its band of committed and loyal employees and alarming for anyone concerned about “free speech”.

This ongoing drama is likely to intensify over the next week or so, and Musk and his tantrums would be fun to watch, if not for their repercussions for the future of monopoly Big Tech.

The only ones who would be happy are the likes of Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, as I posted when Jack Dorsey decided to “give in” to Elon Musk’s bid for the social media giant that the former built up into a formidable and indispensable entity, called the Townhall and the Town Square.

Despite The Crypto Crash, There are Reasons to Buy The Dip

While everyone and their dog are celebrating the “comeuppance” of the Crypto Millionnaires, whose fortunes have come crashing down after the bloodbath in these digital assets, I still find there are reasons to be optimistic about this class of virtual currencies, especially with Web 3.0 and the synergies it has with NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) that can be the game changer and the next big thing.

What Will The Fed Do While It Prepares For Another Rate Hike

With a rate hike certain in the coming weeks, all eyes are on the Federal Reserve and how the members on the board of governors would signal their moves in advance. As of now, each public statement is being perused by economists, who are predicting more turbulence for the US and the global economy, by extension.

So, watch this space as the Fed indulges in “tough talk” and warns of “more pain” ahead.

A related development would be the bursting of the Unicorn “bubble” as the Fed hikes rates to the level not seen since 2000 when the Dotcom mania was at its peak.

India’s Supreme Court Raises Hopes For Civil Society

I had started this edition with the pending ruling on Roe vs. Wade. I am finishing with another case pertaining to the sedition law that India’s Supreme Court is hearing and where the interim order of keeping the law in abeyance has been met with relief and joy by civil society activists and stakeholders.

The government’s response and the review over the coming weeks would determine the fate of this law and as I argue, a reality check is needed where the notions of what the state deems lawful and lawless determine how such laws are drafted and most importantly, implemented and enforced.

Funny that while the most advanced democracy, the US, seems to be lapsing into medieval notions of womanhood, the world’s largest democracy, is providing some hope for the future of personal liberty.