Global Macro Monitor

Data released on Monday showed South Korea’s shipments abroad fell 14.2% in April, steeper than economists’ expectations for a 12.2% decline.

Korean exports are a bellwether for international trade because the nation sells a lot of essentials for supply chains — like semiconductors, computer monitors and refined oil. Exports of chips dropped 41% last month from a year earlier after sliding 34.5% in March, pointing to still-anemic tech sector demand. – Bloomberg

The U.S. budget deficit is approaching $2 trillion on a 12-month rolling basis. Without the central bank – Fed and foreign – financing, it will eventually bite the financial markets hard.  And then there is the political issue of the debt ceiling.   Watch this space.  

Service inflation x/ energy services remain close to the February peak of  7.3 percent.  The Fed is watching. 

Plurilateralism refers to trade and investment negotiations between three or more countries, but fewer than all World Trade Organization (WTO)  members. Plurilaterals can occur inside the WTO, where non-signatories still receive the benefits through the most-favoured-nation requirement. – EastAsiaForum

As every major country in Latin America shifts to the left in reaction to widening inequality, capital is flying out of the region. Wealthy and, increasingly, middle-class investors are looking for a Plan B in case of more economic and political upheaval. People and corporations in the region’s five largest economies pulled roughly $137 billion out of their countries in 2022. That number—preliminary data from the Institute of International Finance, a group of banking institutions—is 41% higher than the 2021 figure and the most since 2010. – Bloomberg