Recession

Unsurprisingly, the economy slipped into recession according to a usual test. Dad29 has been pointing out that indicators have been unfavorable for some time. The price of copper, another heuristic, is at a four-month low as manufacturers don't expect to be making as much stuff. At the same link you can see that the price of lithium is way down, as the much-vaunted shift to electric vehicles stalls out in the face of both technical difficulty and consumer resistance. But the price of gasoline is also down, because people aren't traveling as much -- little money for summer vacations.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, but it's hard to see much good here. As D29 points out, even if the recession were to get a new president elected he's going to have a rough couple of years.