Economy

Every year, the World Economic Forum releases an updated list of the top risks to business based on its survey to 750 members of the organization’s global multi-stakeholder community. Today’s charts and graphics from Raconteur sum up the essentials of this year’s Global Risks report to provide a neat and tidy introduction to the potential pitfalls that could impact markets around the globe.

It is clear global real estate prices are heating up again and, due to interest rates being lower now than in the previous cycle, real estate prices in the U.S. and globally may actually surprise us with several more years of growth before they peak as global liquidity searches for the few relatively safe assets (in the least dirty shirt fashion) as a way to protect against reflation and devaluation in non-U.S. countries.

The situation the world finds itself in is not one of growth and prosperity, but one of uncertainty and doubt, and it has the financial elite running for the doors, scared and worried. So what is going on behind the scenes? Do they know something that the rest of the general public does not? Do they think that a system collapse is just over the horizon?

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Not many people know much about Bitcoin but it is growing and seems set to take over the world of online gambling. Here's why & how.

Last month Americans bought 1.5 million vehicles, a 3.6% bump from a year ago, establishing a new record for April and eclipsing the old mark set 11 years ago for a seasonally adjusted annualized pace of 17.4 million vehicles. That puts automakers on track for a second consecutive annual sales record and resultant strong profits could cause investors to pile into the stocks of major auto makers. Words: 537

If we could only show you one map to explain the economy of the Middle East, it would be the map below. In one fell swoop it tells us a lot about the wealth, geopolitical influence, and natural resources of the region as well as parts of Central Asia...

We have a crisis of trust in America and, as the charts below show, it has only accelerated with government policies of financial repression.

The rise of alternative payment methods like Bitcoin and Apple Pay has reduced our everyday reliance on cold, hard cash. With that in mind, we took a look at some of the weird and wonderful things that have been used as alternatives to money around the world, some of which are still in use today.

The ramp up in Chinese debt accumulation has been a leading concern of investors for years. The average total debt of emerging market economies is 175% of GDP, and skyrocketing corporate non-financial debt has launched China far beyond that number. The real question is: by how far? The answer is disconcerting, because nobody really knows. In today’s chart, we look at various estimates to the size of China’s debt bomb, its payload, and what might spark the fuse. Words: 354