Economy: The Amazon Effect - Is Inflation Dead?

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - It looks like inflation is dead. Last week the US labor department reported that U.S. consumer prices were unchanged in June and increased just 1.6% in the recent 12 months ( cnbc). The so-called core inflation rate, which strips out food and energy costs, edged up 0.1% in June,  and increased 1.7% year-on-year.

The US inflation numbers were lower than the analysts had expected and below the projections of the Federal Reserve Bank  (graphs tradingeconomics ).

I think that the low inflation rates are at least partly caused by the Internet, automation & other aspects of the technological progress. New technologies are reducing the costs of producing & distributing stuff and therefore curb inflation. I call this the Amazon effect because the e-commerce pioneer is the bellwether of this development.

Since going online Amazon has been been obsessed with efficiency, cost cutting and delivering goods cheap, fast & reliably. They have been constructing a network of huge fulfillment centers which are very efficient and save a lot of costs. Customers spend muss less money & time when they get things delivered at home. Amazon`s growth forces competitors like Walmart & Target to act similarly and to become more efficient & to curb their prices as well. 

Today Jet.com, owned by Walmart, and many other e-commerce companies are competing with Amazon which forces them all to sell at low prices.  Even Google & Facebook are participating in the battle for the online customer. As a result everything what can be ordered online is relatively cheap and prices for many goods are falling. This way the Amazon effect is keeping a lid on inflation by partly compensating the rising costs for services like health care & for the climbing rents.

If Amazon succeeds with her plan to buy Wholefoods the grocery sector will get more efficient as well and food prices will be constrained. But don´t expect that the Amazon effect leads to a deflation, meaning a general falling price level. Today most of the consumer spending goes to the service sector including housing, entertainment and health care which are still getting more expensive. 

But the Amazon effect is reducing financial burdens for consumers, especially for low income households, and is so benefiting the whole economy.

Contemporary Art: Earth Potential @ City Hall Park, New York

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York City maybe the financial capital of the world. But the metropolis also is a center of art & sciences. You can see that when you go to the City Hall Park in Downtown Manhattan. There you can spot an exhibition of photo-sculptures (through November 2017).

Katja Novitskova, their creator, generated 7 blown-up pictures sourced from the internet and mounted on aluminum cut-outs—are surreal combinations of nature photography and space imagery (artnews). According to the curator the displayed "organisms and bodies have significant research value within the scientific community for their potential to advance our understanding of our species and world" (publicartfund).


Above you can see Earth Potential (C.elegans, Saturn´s moon Titan), (2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature). The artist sourced online thousands of pictures of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan - taken from a spacecraft using a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, and combined them with an image of the C. elegans roundworm, which is the first multicellular organism to have its genome digitized and is used as a model organism for research — from organ development to aging (publicartfund).

  

The next art work is called Earth Potential (Embyro), (2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature). The artist sourced an image of embryo stem cells from an article about CRISPR, the radical new genome editing technology used to permanently modify genes within organisms.

Above: Earth Potential (Cuttlefish Love, Earth, (2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature).

Above: Earth Potential (E. coli), 2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature.

Above: Earth Potential (Lizard, Earth), 2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature.

Above: Earth Potential (Earth Worm, Earth), 2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature.

Above: Earth Potential (Hydra, Venus), 2017, digital print on aluminum, cut-out display, steel and aluminum armature.

Enjoy!

Culture: New York`s MoMA Is Always Worth A Visit

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York´s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is always worth a visit. Their collections are so huge (200,000 works! moma) that they can just exhibit a small part of them. And they usually have interesting temporary exhibitions. So it makes sense to visit the museum more often - at least when one lives in New York or visits the metropolis from time to time.

This week my wife and I come back - after seeing there the Robert Rauschenberg show in June (here my post driveby). The museum was crowded as usual. Blockbusters - like Pablo Picasso`s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon - were hidden by a swarm. But no problem. Spotting the audience is part of the fun and many of the visitors are eyecatchers as well. Being an enthusiastic amateur photographer I used the occasion to take some pictures (with my iPhone 7plus).

                                                              Sendeschluss
                                                                           

There were some exhibitions we had not seen before. We chose the show "Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collection", which displayed recently acquired works, mostly contemporary art. The girl with the hat admires "A Menace to Liberty" by Andrea Bowers (2012, Marker on found cardboard) & "Sendeschluss/End of Broadcast I" by Wolfgang Tillmans (2014, Pigmented inkjet print).  The German photographer belongs to the rising stars of the contemporary art auctions in London & New York. Above you also can see  "Untitled" by Erik van Lieshout (2014, Conté crayon, synthetic polymer paint, felt-tip pen, and vinyl on paper).

We also took a look into the show "Louise Lawler: Why Pictures Now", a collection of huge photographs & drawings  (exhibitions).

To be continued.

Economy: What We Could Learn From China`s Trade Numbers

(Drivebycuriosity) - If we believe the media then China`s economy is about to crash. This morning we got a quite different message from China`s economic front:

Exports from China rose 11.3% year-on-year to USD 196.6 billion in June of 2017, faster than an 8.7% rise in the prior month and beating market estimates of an 8.7% growth (tradingeconomics). Accelerating export sales are a sign that the global economy is getting stronger. Apparently China is benefiting from the upswing in other emerging markets (especially India & South East Asia), Europe`s recovery and some growth in the US.

Imports were even stronger: Imports to China increased by 17.2% year-on-year to USD 153.8 billion In June of 2017, after a 14.8% rise in a month earlier and higher than market estimates of a 13.1% rise (tradingeconomics). Faster growing Chinese imports signal that the far east economy is getting stronger, quite opposite to the continuous China crash calls.

The fact that imports continued to grow much faster than exports also show that China´s transformation is making progress. The country is changing from an export focused industrial economy into a large modern economy which is driven by domestic demand like the US. So, China´s importance as a global growth engine is strengthening - good news for all of us.

Street Art New York: A Documentary - Summer 2017 Edition

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York City is enjoying a perfect summer. The pleasant temperatures seem also to inspire the street artists. In the recent weeks I spotted a lot of new murals & graffiti on the Streets of Lower East, Soho & East Village. Here my quarterly report, a very subjective selection as usual (here my spring report  driveby).

I spotted this beautiful lady between East Houston & First Street. There is an area used by New York`s Centre-Fuge Public Art Project, a collective of street artists who show there their own works and murals by invited participants.

I discovered the art work above on Crosby Street, which can be seen from East Houston Street.

Above more murals found somewhere on the Lower East Side.

This huge figure towers above Delancey Street.

Some artist at work on Allen Street.

Here my art works by the Centre-Fuge Public Art Project.

Many shop owners let the walls & shutter doors beautify by street artists.

The sticker & stencil industry was active as well.

To be continued.

Culture: Visiting Whitney Museum Of American Art, New York

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York is known as a global financial center. But the megapolis also is a center of arts and offers some of the world´s best museums. The Whitney Museum Of American Art impresses by her architecture & belongs to the leading art collections of the world. This week my wife and I visited the Whitney again, our second visit there (here my report from 2015 driveby ).

Again the museum presented pieces from her own collections and some temporary art shows. We could see many famous paintings, but made also some discoveries. Spotting the audience, who often was as eye-catching as the artworks, was part of the fun.  I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual.


                               Size Matters

I really like this wall filling mural by Henry Taylor, called "Ancestors of Ghengis Khan with Black Man on horse" (2015-2017, Acrylic on canvas). Taylor replaces technical skills with raw power & ambition. Size matters!

But the Whitney has also place for traditional talents. The girl seems to be fascinated by Clyfford Still`s "Untitled" (1956, oil on canvas).  I am also impressed by the dynamic of Thomas Hart Benton`s masterpiece "Poker Night (from A Streetcar Named Desire)" (1946, tempera and oil on linen) & Edward Hopper`s "A Woman in the Sun" (1961, oil on linen) is a classic as well.




          Washington Crossing The Delaware

We spotted more eye-catchers including "Buildings, Lancaster" by Charles Demuth (1930, Oil and graphite pencil on composition board) followed by "Pittsburgh" by Elsie Driggs (1927, oil on canvas) & "Washington Crossing The Delaware" by Larry Rivers (1960, oil and oil stick on linen).

Alex Katz belong to my favorite painters because of this unique style. His portraits are very recognizable. Above you can see his "Ada on Blue" (1959, oil on composition board) followed by Fairfield Porter`s "Portrait of Ted Carey and Andy Warhol" (1960, oil on linen).

                                                           Hypermobility
                                                                   

There is a temporary show called "Calder: Hypermobility" which "focuses on the extraordinary breadth of movement and sound in the work of Alexander Calder" (through October 23, 2017). Above a snap shot of one of his mobile pieces.

There was another temporary show called Whitney Biennial 2017, which focused on new experimental & avant-garde works. Above paintings by Jo Baer: "In the Land of the Giants (Spirals and Stairs)" (2012, oil on can´vas) & "Dusk (Bands and end-Points)2 (2012, oil on canvas).

Above images by Tala Madani: "Shitty Disco"; "Black Sun" & "Babeless".

Above a creation by painter Kerstin Brätsch and sculptor Debo Eilers  who work together as KAYA followed by a part of Ajay Kurian’s installation "Childermass" which stretches from floor to ceiling in the Whitney’s open stairwell.

Enjoy!