Hard Numbers: US recession odds, Shanghai port congestion, rising public debt, Japanese fried chicken
35: Economists believe the US economy has a 35% chance of entering a recession next year. Wait, isn't America's GDP still going strong? Yes, but the Federal Reserve is prepping major interest rate hikes to curb rising inflation.
1/5: A fifth of the world's container ships were reportedly stuck this week outside the world's largest port in Shanghai, where lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease. China's zero-COVID policy is causing major supply chain disruptions that will likely slow Chinese GDP growth and have a ripple effect on the global economy.
40: Debt held by national governments now accounts for almost 40% of total money owed, the most in six decades. Although the rise in public borrowing has been led by Western economies and China, many developing countries are the ones deepest in the red because they took on a lot of debt to pay for pandemic stimulus in 2020.
36: The price of Japanese karaage (fried chicken) sold in popular konbini convenience stores has recently gone up 10%, the first price hike in ... 36 years. Why is this finger lickin’ good? For more than 20 years, Japan has been experiencing deflation, and the government needs prices to rise in order to prop up the weak yen..