Powell’s Firepower, China Pessimism, Riksbank Clings On: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

Good morning Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help start your day:

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell came close to acknowledging that the central bank may not have the firepower to fight the next recession and called on Congress to get ready to help
  • That comes as a Bloomberg Economics model showed American recession fears inched higher as persistent manufacturing weakness and softer hiring momentum offset surging stock prices at the end of last year
• The U.S.’s reliance on property taxes to fund education perpetuates inequality, experts say. Maryland is considering a plan to direct more resources to poor districts
• Economists are turning more pessimistic over the chances of a speedy recovery for China’s virus-hit economy, as evidence mounts that the disruption will be deeper and more long-lasting than first thought
  • Meanwhile, here’s a look at how China’s cities are locking up residents to prevent the virus spreading
• The Riksbank underscored its commitment to zero but lowered its forecast for inflation, as the world waits to see whether Sweden will succeed in its bid to once and for all consign negative interest rates to history
• A deep slump in euro-area industrial output at the end of last year highlights the scale of the challenge the sector will face in 2020
• For all the bad blood between their leaders, Brazil and Argentina are starting a diplomatic dance to discuss trade and political issues that the two largest South American economies just can’t put off for too long
• Italy’s facing a demographic crisis as the population fell for a fifth year in 2019 and deaths exceeded births by almost 212,000

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint

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