Humour: News in Cartoon

Charts: U.S. Baby Boomers Hold Half of the Nation’s $140 trillion in Wealth

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Source : Twitter

Chart: Japan Past U.S. in Innovative Cancer Treatment Patents in 2021

Source : Nikkei

China Cuts Short-term Borrowing Costs to Support Recovery

Winni Zhou and Tom Westbrook wrote . . . . . . . . .

China’s central bank lowered a short-term lending rate for the first time in 10 months on Tuesday, to help restore market confidence and prop up a stalling post-pandemic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

The cut to the lending rate signals possible easing for longer-term rates over the next week and beyond as demand and investor sentiment weaken, adding to the case for urgent policy stimulus to sustain growth.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut its seven-day reverse repo rate by 10 basis points to 1.90% from 2.00% on Tuesday, when it injected 2 billion yuan ($279.97 million) through the short-term bond instrument.

“The central bank’s rate cut decision was not a complete surprise to the market,” said Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank.

“Commercial banks have already lowered deposit rates, and PBOC governor Yi Gang also mentioned strengthening counter-cyclical adjustment recently.”

The yuan hit a six-month low of 7.1680 per dollar after the rate decision while yields on China’s benchmark 10-year government bonds fell to a fresh 7-1/2-month low.

Cheung said the PBOC may have wanted to mitigate the impact of any future policy easing on the Chinese yuan ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week, which is keenly watched by financial markets.

China remains an outlier among global central banks as it loosens monetary policy to shore up growth while its major peers raise interest rates to counter surging consumer prices.

Further interest rate cuts in China would only widen the yield gap with the United States, even if the Fed pauses this week, sending the yuan lower and accelerating capital outflows.

China is due to release May credit lending data and activity indicators, including retail sales and industrial production, this week.

Tuesday’s rate cut suggests policymakers are increasingly worried about the health of China’s recovery, traders and analysts said.

“This reminds the market of the challenges that the Chinese economy faces during its recovery period,” said Marco Sun, chief financial market analyst at MUFG Bank (China).

“However, the market is expecting the PBOC to cut the policy rate further. Looking ahead, the PBOC could make marginal adjustments to the policy rate in order to stimulate credit growth and avoid inflation issues in the coming quarters.”

China’s central bank said on late Tuesday it lowered borrowing costs of standing lending facility (SLF), another type of loans that the PBOC lends to commercial banks to fulfill their temporary cash demand, by 10 basis points across all tenors.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that China was considering at least a dozen stimulus measures including cuts to interest rates to support areas such as real estate and domestic demand.

The next adjustment to rates could come as soon as Thursday, when the central bank is due to roll over 200 billion yuan ($27.93 billion) in medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans.

“The 10 bp cut in the open market operations (OMO) reverse repo rate can be seen as a precursor to an MLF rate cut this Thursday,” said Frances Cheung, rates strategist at OCBC Bank.

“Rates may continue to trade on the soft side but given much economic pessimism and a rate cut are already in the price, we see limited downside to rates from here.”

Separately, markets expect the benchmark lending loan prime rate (LPR), which is used to set consumer loan and mortgage rates, could be lowered by the same margin at the monthly fixing next Tuesday.

And some investment banks expect a 25 bp reduction to the reserve requirement ratio, or amount of cash banks must set aside as reserves, this year.

“There could be less urgency to cut the RRR after these policy interest rate cuts … we now think the 25 bp RRR cut that we had previously forecast for June is likely to be delivered in Q3 instead,” Goldman Sachs economists said in a note.

“There could be another RRR or policy interest rate cut in Q4, depending on the economic outcome over the next several months.”

Source : Reuters

Infographic: The 20 Most Air-Polluted Cities on Earth

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Source : Visual Capitalist

So What’s the Situation with EVs and Solid State Batteries Already?

Michelle Lewis wrote . . . . . . . . .

Electrek spoke with Dr. Greg Hitz, founder and CTO at Beltsville, Maryland-based ION Storage Systems, about what solid state batteries are, why they’re considered the “unicorn” of battery technology, why they have yet to hit the market, and how his company is working to move the needle.

Electrek: Could you explain what solid state batteries are, what they’re used for, and how they differ from lithium-ion batteries?

Greg Hitz: Solid state batteries replace the flammable liquid electrolyte in a traditional lithium-ion battery with a solid electrolyte that serves the same function. They’re generally accepted as the key to unlocking the safety and energy density required for advanced electric vehicles and electrified flight.

It’s important to note, though, that not all solid state batteries are created equal. The different materials and configurations that underlie solid state battery technologies matter for safety, performance, energy density, and manufacturability.

Electrek: Solid state batteries are often referred to as the “unicorn” of battery technology. Why is that?

Greg Hitz: It’s a great analogy – you’ve never seen a solid state battery just like you’ve never seen a unicorn. Solid state batteries have long had the potential to outperform the batteries you see in most EV’s today; longer range, shorter recharge times, they’re safer. But nobody has yet shown that solid state batteries can deliver on their performance promise without making major sacrifices during battery pack integration like heating or compression requirements and can be produced with scalable manufacturing techniques.

Electrek: Why haven’t solid state batteries taken off yet?

Greg Hitz: No solid state battery manufacturer has yet to offer a 100% solution. Looking across the industry, there are technologies that have incredible rate performance, great energy density, strong safety, scalable manufacturing, and simple pack integration, but no single product offers all of that without significantly compromising one or more of the other aspects.

This is where we think ION differs from other technologies. Our first market customer will get a battery manufactured in the US that offers 40% more energy than their current solution and meets their needs on rate performance, cycle life, and production costs, all while inherently safe.

After our first market release, our second-generation product will incorporate future developments that will hugely extend the reach of the technology: doubling energy density, increased rate performance, order of magnitude decreases in production cost, qualifying long cycle life, and all the other targets required for wider market release such as EV production.

Electrek: How could solid state batteries achieve scale?

Greg Hitz: Scaling is hard and scaling batteries is even harder.

First, you need to design your battery to use plentiful, inexpensive resources. Cobalt and nickel are expensive and hard to source. ION has developed a battery with a lithium-free anode that supports nickel and cobalt-free cathodes.

Second, and perhaps most importantly, you need to design a battery that’s suited for manufacturing. The biggest targets here are energy-per-area – because cost of production is generally a per-area basis and batteries are sold per-energy – and use of highly scaled existing processing techniques.

Third, you need to create a win-win for manufacturing partners in the ecosystem. Solid state battery manufacturing is a whole new industry and there’s no widely scaled product that exists without an industry behind it. Look at the number of component suppliers for electric vehicles or for lithium-ion batteries. Dozens of companies contribute to the production of each unit sold. That complete package doesn’t yet exist in solid state batteries.

Lastly, you have to be in production to improve your production. That’s why we’re rolling out to smaller markets before we scale to EV. The pain of early production focuses the innovation and makes our EV production stronger.

Electrek: Why have cobalt and nickel become a source of pain for battery makers, and what other obstacles are there?

Greg Hitz: The only game in town for high energy density batteries right now is a nickel- and cobalt-based chemistry. There are alternatives, though.

Auto OEMs are switching to plentiful but less energy dense lithium iron phosphate chemistries for their shorter-range vehicles. Advanced nickel- and cobalt-free cathodes – incompatible with lithium-ion – that offer higher energy density without supply chain constraints exist, and have been waiting patiently for a technology to enable them.

ION’s platform technology is uniquely enabling to these plentiful and greater energy density chemistries and has been demonstrated with these cathodes, including sulfur and high voltage spinel chemistries, to name a few.

Electrek: Where are we in sourcing minerals ethically and sustainably for solid state batteries?

Greg Hitz: Solid state batteries unlock completely new chemistries, but that opportunity has to be intentionally harnessed to move to ethical and sustainable supply chains. We’ve worked with suppliers to achieve North American mineral sourcing and are working with recyclers to plan for end-of-life.

Source : Electrek

Americans Say Families Need $85,000 to Get By

Mary Claire Evans wrote . . . . . . . . .

Americans, on average, estimate that a family of four needs a minimum income of $85,000 annually to “get by” in their community, marking a considerable increase from a decade ago. The past decade has witnessed not only an increase in the average income required but also a notable shift in the upper range of income expectations.

During that time, the proportion of Americans who believe that a family needs more than $100,000 to get by has tripled to 30%, while 18% now estimate it to be between $75,000 and $99,999, and 31% think it is $50,000 to $74,999. Half as many Americans now as in 2013 believe a family of four can get by on less than $50,000 annually. This includes 3% who estimate a figure lower than $30,000, and 11% who cite a figure between $30,000 and $49,999.

The latest average of $85,000, from an April 3-25 Gallup poll, is notably higher than the federal poverty line for a family of four, which is currently $30,000.

In 2013, the average estimate was $58,000, and the federal poverty line for a family of four was $23,550. Accounting for inflation and the subsequent change in purchasing power, Americans’ 2013 estimate translates to $75,668 in 2023 dollars. Their 2023 estimate therefore reflects an increase of about $9,000 in perceived family needs beyond what inflation alone would account for.

Higher-Income Respondents Believe Families Need More

Americans’ perceptions of the minimum income a family of four needs are influenced by their own financial circumstances. Specifically, those with an annual household income of $100,000 or more project $100,000, on average, as necessary for a family to get by. Middle-income respondents, those with between $40,000 and $99,999 in annual income, estimate a family needs about $80,000. Meanwhile, those earning less than $40,000 believe an income of about $66,000 suffices.

Eastern, Suburban Residents Give Higher Estimates

Geographical location also influences Americans’ perceptions of the income needed for a family of four to get by. Notably, residents in the Eastern U.S. estimate, on average, that families need an income of about $98,000, which is significantly more than the estimates from other regions. Residents in the Midwest have the lowest estimate, saying families need an average income of $76,000. These regional differences likely reflect variations in cost of living, housing prices and wage levels.

Similarly, Americans’ views on the minimum income for a family of four are influenced by their urbanicity. Those residing in cities (about $87,000) and suburban areas ($91,000) project a higher required income for a family of four than those living in towns or rural areas ($78,000).

These findings are similar to those from 2013, when Eastern and suburban residents’ estimates of what a family of four needs to get by were substantially higher than those given by people in other regions or urbanicities.

Bottom Line

The rise in perceived necessary income to support a family of four highlights the economic pressure facing American households as high inflation stretches into a second year.

There is a diversity of socioeconomic realities across various population segments and geographic locations. Notably, individuals residing in urban and suburban areas, as well as those with higher incomes, tend to estimate a higher necessary income for a family of four. These patterns might reflect their cost-of-living circumstances as well as differences in perceptions of need and evolving lifestyle aspirations.

The increasing estimate of required income may also be linked to the rise in two-income families. Americans’ average estimate for getting by sits at $85,000, an amount more likely to be reached only in families with dual incomes, further emphasizing the changing economic dynamics of American households.

Source : Gallup