“It is the economy stupid “ has always been a powerful message and some of Trump’s supporters in the Mid West have been hit hard by both the agriculture tariffs and now bad flooding.
Throughout much of the Midwest, U.S. farmers are filing for chapter 12 bankruptcy protection at levels not seen for at least a decade, a Wall Street Journal review of federal data shows. Trade disputes over agriculture are adding pain to low commodity prices that have been grinding down American...
www.wsj.com
Throughout much of the Midwest, U.S. farmers are filing for chapter 12 bankruptcy protection at levels not seen for at least a decade, a Wall Street Journal review of federal data shows.
Bankruptcies in three regions covering major farm states last year rose to the highest level in at least 10 years. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, had double the bankruptcies in 2018 compared with 2008. In the Eighth Circuit, which includes states from North Dakota to Arkansas, bankruptcies swelled 96%. The 10th Circuit, which covers Kansas and other states, last year had 59% more bankruptcies than a decade earlier.
FWIW the yield curve also inverted last week.
When "the yield curve" inverts in the bond market, recessions typically follow.
www.businessinsider.com
The yield curve
inverted between the two- and 10-year yield before the recessions of 1981, 1991, 2000, and 2008. An inversion on that part of the yield curve has preceded all nine US recessions since 1955. Clearly different sections of the yield curve have inverted at different times without recession following but major inversions are often a leading indicator of wider economic malaise or uncertainty.
