Things are getting marginally more optimistic as I prepare this Disruption Report.
Lego Is Investing $1 Billion in Vietnam
Lego is building a new factory in Vietnam. Lego’s move is indicative of the company’s optimism about the global toy economy. It is also a highly pragmatic move showing a desire to have a factory outside of China. (In case you are interested, Lego also has factories in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, and China).
Lego is seeking to be carbon neutral, and this factory, at least partially charged by solar energy, will help that effort.
Congress Passed Act H.R. 4996, Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2021
The new act has a number of new regulations in place that give the federal government more oversight. Among its new rules, It “authorizes the F.M.C. to initiate investigations of an ocean common carrier’s fees or charges and apply enforcement measures, as appropriate.” (More detail available on “The Toy Intelligencer.”
J.P. Morgan Sees a Full Economic Recovery in 2022
“2022 will be the year of a full global recovery, an end of the global pandemic, and a return to normal conditions we had prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.”
Marko Kolanovic, chief global markets strategist and co-head of Global Research
INFLATION HIGHEST SINCE 1982
I said the news is marginally good. Inflation is still very much with us. Here is how The Wall Street Journal puts it in their article, “U.S. Inflation Hit a 39-Year High in November.”
The Labor Department said the consumer-price index—which measures what consumers pay for goods and services—rose 6.8% in November from the same month a year ago. That was the fastest pace since 1982 and the sixth straight month in which inflation topped 5%.
The silver lining is the massive demand for goods on the part of the American public. Compare that to Japan, where demand is stagnant and so is inflation.
