This Week in … Investing

Innovation Week Review 22/2022

In December 2021, at the podcast recording "Year in Review," I was talking about the investing year 2022.

The last 12 years were a time of rising asset prices, low inflation, low-interest rate, and stable supply chains.

Two developments that I didn't expect in December 2022:

• Jerome Powell is increasing interest rates in a weak post-pandemic economy due to the disruptions of supply chains

• A war between Ukraine and Russia

Both developments have turned markets upside down.

It is not an unexpected effect that rising interest rates affect other asset prices. That's why I thought it wouldn't happen — at least in 2022 — but at a later time when society and the economy recovered from lockdown policies.

And then, with the beginning of the Russian/Ukrainian war, energy prices began soaring. Some say it is because of money printing, and others say that the disruptions of energy supply chains lead to an expectation of rising prices that become self-fulfilling.

However, the global economy is in a state of flux.

What were the major highlights of last week?