Thanksgiving will cost Americans 14% more this year, survey finds

     According to a new survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, Thanksgiving dinner will cost 14% more this year. Dinner for a family of 10 will cost on average $53.31- up $6.41 from last year's average of $46.90 which was down 4% from 2019, the lowest in 10 years. Several factors led to this year's increased pricing, including more American's expected to cook at home as well as economic disruptions. Other factors include dramatic disruptions to the U.S. economy and supply chains over the last 20 months, inflationary pressure throughout the economy, difficulty in predicting demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and high global demand for food, particularly meat. The biggest ticket item- turkey- is up 24% since last year. Taking turkey out of the entire meal reveals a 6.6% price increase compared to last year. The entire Thanksgiving meal price includes other staples like stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls with butter, cranberries, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream- with enough for leftovers over course.

    U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack stated there may be situations throughout the country where a particular grocery store may not have as many turkeys as necessary. However, at the end of the day, there's going to be plenty of food on Thanksgiving plates for Americans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates Americans will spend closer to 5% more on their Thanksgiving meal this year. The Departments knows that even small price increases can make a difference for family budgets, and they are taking every step they can to mitigate that. The good news is that the top turkey producers in the country are confident that everyone who wants a bird for their Thanksgiving dinner will be able to get one, and a large one will only cost $1 more than last year.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/economy/thanksgiving-dinner-cost/index.html

Hong Kong Customs Seize Smuggled Lobsters Amid Australia Ban

 https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2021-11-16/hong-kong-customs-seize-smuggled-lobsters-amid-australia-ban

Hong Kong customs says officers seized approximately 2,000 pounds each of live lobster and sea cucumbers believed to be going to mainland China months after Beijing restricted imports of lobsters from Australia as tensions escalated between the two countries. The total estimated value of the almost 4,000 pounds of live sea creatures added up to 10 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.3 million). These seizures come after a recent surge in the import volume of Australian lobsters to Hong Kong following China's imposition of an unofficial ban on imports late last year. China had previously accounted for over 90% of Australia's lobster exports. Will this change in imports impact the Australian economy at all, especially given how volatile and fragile all economies are today with supply shortages and COVID related issues?

Job Market

 The United States of America is still recovering from the pandemic but is struck by the increase in the job quitting rate. September marked 4.4 million Americans that make up to 3% of all the people employed in the nation quitting their jobs. Adding to facts, the US Department of Labor stated that the number was 164,000 more than what was calculated in August which is the second-highest month of the job quitting rate ever recorded. One would not be called wrong for blaming the pandemic as the primary reason for the upset in the Labor market. However, it is fair to say that the increasing burden of childcare and early retirement of old people also added to the huge number of jobs quitting. On the brighter side, it is taken as a sign of relief for the unemployed people who are in desperate need of a job. Businesses, firms, and job employers are now keen to offer a higher wage which was reflected in a 4.9% increase of hourly average earnings of labor in October and additional generous job bonuses as the US labor market is 4.2 million short of the required labor. Businesses however have a mixed opinion about the chaotic situation. Some businesses claim that now they can hire people with more skills that fit perfectly with the job’s requirements and also get rid of inefficient labor. The opposition argues that the shortage of labor is slowing down business activity and increasing the cost of production. The cost is then an additional burden on the consumer which is one of the main reasons for the high inflation rate. The US consumer prices have jumped to 6.2% in October from the same month of last year which is a record-breaking fastest increase in the last 30 years. After reading the facts, would it be fair to blame the people who are quitting their jobs for being the center of inflation? Or we should just blame the pandemic for the economic crisis?

Sources

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/11/12/americans-keep-quitting-thier-jobs-in-record-numbers

Russia and India deal

Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system will arrive in India by the end of this year. Russia will start supplying its S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India in the fourth quarter. India had signed a $5-billion deal for S-400 in October 2018 to buy 5 units of the defence system. In 2019 India made its first tranche of payment of around $800 million to Russia. 

Now India is facing a range of sanctions from the United States under Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions act. However, the deal was signed in 2016, before CAATS was introduced. India is now on the edge between Russia and the United States. A senior official from the Biden administration called the deal 'a problem' for India-US ties. India has defended the deal by saying that it is at liberty to choose weapon platforms needed and the country from which it would import.

India can not afford to cancel the deal with Russia due to the critical military situation at the India-China border. I have to mention that most of India's military equipment and defence systems come from Russia. The US wants India on its side to contain China's aggression in the Indo-Pacific region