Highlights of the week: The US economy is doing great (unlike the russia’s one), and who is interested in the real Barbie world

The US economy from the consumer's perspective currently has the highest growth rates in history. This year, it surpassed the figures from 1999, the previous best performance in its entire history, and is growing more evenly than ever before. American families are more financially secure and affluent than ever before. Things are going great, swears The Atlantic.

The job market is booming: the unemployment rate is at its lowest level in the last 60 years, with more jobs available than in an entire generation. The competition for workers has not only pushed up wages – the average household income is approaching its new maximum, which is $6,000 higher than in the late 1990s. It has also led to wage increases for workers at the lowest pay level, rather than the highest. The past three years have erased a quarter of the wage inequality that has emerged over the last four decades.

The US economy is on the rise, but do Americans feel it? Two perspectives on the same issue

Income increases, along with the stimulus payments made by the government during the pandemic, have helped millions of families lift themselves out of poverty. Over the past three years, the child poverty rate has decreased from 12.5% to 5.2%. This rate, as well as food insecurity, is the lowest in US history. Families in the lower-income bracket now have a better chance of becoming homeowners than at any time since the 2006 housing bubble burst.

"Partisan bias exerts a significant influence on survey measures of economic expectations, and this bias is increasing substantially over time," according to a new study. Turn on the television, and you'll see that everything in the world is also going poorly: climate catastrophe, war in Europe, threats to democracy at home, brain-frying social media. But from an economic standpoint, things are going well. They are excellent.

However, the Wall Street Journal believes that not everything is so bleak when it comes to the perception of the economy. "A pair of optimistic headlines in recent weeks suggest consumers are beginning to shrug off higher interest rates, the inflationary surge and recession fears and feeling confident again about the economy," the outlet writes. The non-profit organisation, Conference Board, which conducts business research, reported that the Consumer Confidence Index in June reached its highest level since January 2022. However, the survey showed Americans' incredible pessimism about the immediate future – they are unsure whether the good state of the economy will persist for at least six months.

Adding its fly in the ointment, The Economist claims that large American banks are in a poor state, yet almost all of them are showing record profits. Several financial institutions went bankrupt in the first quarter of this year after their depositors had withdrawn their funds, frightened by the rise in interest rates. After these bankruptcies, smaller banks tried to retain deposits, which led to an increase in their interest expenses.

According to the outlet, the economy is cooling down due to higher rates, increasing the likelihood of job losses and defaults. The higher rates have also nearly halted activity in the capital markets. The rising cost of debt is deterring potential buyers in the business world, causing companies to delay bond issuances and startups to postpone initial public offerings. However, for most institutions, this time has never been so profitable, notes The Economist. Thanks to the highest interest rates in the last 15 years, Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo recorded record net interest income of $63 billion in the second quarter.

The economic downturn in russia in figures and facts. But it will get even worse

However, no achievements of friends bring as much joy as the problems of enemies. According to Business Insider last week, in a few months, the russian economy has transformed from bad to even worse. In its opinion, the state of the russian economy is deteriorating as Western sanctions strike key sectors of the country. The issues facing russia, from declining car sales to the collapse of the russian ruble, continue to grow.

The Wall Street Journal, in relation to this matter, notes that, according to IMF data, the potential growth rate of the russian economy has declined from 3.5% in 2024 to 1%. The costs of the war have led to an increase in russia's debt burden, quoting Deputy Finance Minister Irina Okladnikova, who stated that russia will "increase its debt, it's a hopeless situation." She added, "We will have to do it because our expenses are growing, we have to support the economy… we have to support the military bloc."

The worsening trade and uncertainty after the June coup attempt have resulted in the ruble becoming one of the worst-performing currencies in the world this year, depreciating by approximately 18% against the dollar. According to the Central Bank's data, russians withdrew 100 billion rubles, or $1.1 billion, during the coup attempt. The combination of currency depreciation, worsened trade balance and labour shortages is fuelling inflation in russia, as noted by WSJ.

Two stories about lithium. Why Steven King's home state prohibits extracting the strategic resource for the economy

Meanwhile, at least two outlets have focused on lithium. Al Jazeera reported how Australia blocked China-related Austroid Corporation from acquiring a 90.1% stake in the lithium mine Alita Resources. In a speech last year, the Ministry of Finance stated that Australia, a leading global supplier of lithium, will be more selective about allowing investment in its critically important mineral industry.

Time told a sad story about a couple of treasure hunters who found a lithium deposit, but the state of Maine prohibits its exploitation. The deposit contains some of the largest specimens of lithium-rich mineral spodumene, but it won't save it. Maine has some of the strictest standards for mining and water quality in the country, and mining metals in open-pit mines larger than three acres is banned.

For decades, there hasn't been any active mining operation for metals, and no company has applied for a permit since the enactment of the particularly stringent law in 2017. As more companies begin exploration in Maine, seeking significant deposits of nickel, copper, and silver, cities are starting to impose their own bans on industrial mining of valuable minerals.

Pink PR of the Republicans. In a girly film, they expose China's loyalty

The Ukrainian scandal surrounding expenses on foolish TV series, which concluded with the resignation of the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, can be considered exemplary. The USA clearly falls short compared to us. At least the Republicans. Last week, they caused a scandal over a 'pink' film about Barbie because they didn't like the 'real-world' map of Barbie – a children's map with dolphins drawn in chalk and even a hashtag surrounding the Earth's vast bodies of water.

Currently, the Republicans, who were the first to notice this dashed line, are calling for a boycott of the film due to "Hollywood's attempt to appease the Chinese Communist Party". There is probably no outlet in the USA that has not written about this 'captivating' topic. Regarding this, it resembles a recent speech by Governor Jay B. Pritzker of Illinois to students, in which he advised them to develop their own system for detecting idiots if they want to succeed in this world. This speech quickly went viral.

Instead, it went almost unnoticed that Walt Disney's great-niece and documentary filmmaker Abigail Disney was imprisoned for her climate protest against the use of private jets. She wrote a column about this in The Guardian, but who cares about the real, not the imaginary world of Barbie?