The World's Economic Engine Is Slowing

As Europe’s manufacturing sector struggles, new German data is sobering. The Telegraph reports that German employment rates are falling at their fastest rate in four years, and manufacturing orders are being further cut (August 22, 2024). And now the service sector is starting to slow.

In a different article on the same day, the paper reports that America’s drastically revised non-farm payroll numbers paint a far different picture from what has been assumed. These are the worst numbers seen since the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008. Economists now expect a series of interest rate cuts in the months ahead, as the U.S. Federal Reserve works to stave off recession—something Citigroup claims has already begun. The VIX, a measure of the S&P500’s volatility, recently hit an all-time intraday high—something only seen in “October 2008 and in March 2020, when Covid shut the economy and briefly broke the US Treasury market.”

While European and U.S. economies slow, news from China is worse as the nation sinks deeper into depression. New home starts, the engine of China’s economy for decades, have dropped by 63 percent from their high—a greater property bust than Japan experienced in the 1990s. This home-building collapse is the major reason iron ore prices have crashed. China is using global trade to generate more revenue, but as it undercuts global competitors, it is forcing factories out of business (Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2024). Some economists fear a new global trade war is coming, and many nations are investigating whether China is illegally selling products below their fair market value.

Many are concerned about the financial future of the world and wonder if there is a nation that could serve as an economic savior. The Bible foretells that a German-led European beast power may come to the globe’s rescue. The Apostle John prophesied that at the end of the age, “the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury” (Revelation 18:3). Germany’s strength may be questionable now, but Bible prophecy indicates this will change! To learn more, read or listen to Germany in Prophecy.