Concrete Shortages, Bond Markets, Crypto Crash, and Housing Shortages

Monday morning news drop

  • Cement shortages are putting pressure on Canada's construction industry Uncertain supply means hard choices for builders, even as the sector enjoys a boom year (CBC)

  • The Bond Market Selloff in Historical Perspective: Treasury yields have risen sharply in recent months. The yield on the most recently issued ten-year note, for example, rose from 1.73% on March 4 to 3.48% on June 14, reaching its highest level since April 2011. Increasing yields result in realized or mark-to-market losses for fixed-income investors. We put these losses in historical perspective and investigate whether longer-term yield changes are better explained by expectations of higher short-term rates or by investors demanding greater compensation for holding Treasury securities. (Liberty Street Economics)

  • They couldn’t even scream any more. They were just sobbing’: the amateur investors ruined by the crypto crash Fuelled by hype and hysteria, the market in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies went from an obscure niche to a $3tn industry. Then the house of cards collapsed.(The Guardian)

  • The Housing Shortage Isn’t Just a Coastal Crisis Anymore An increasingly national problem has consequences for the quality of American family life, the economy and the future of housing politics. (New York Times)

  • It’s the best and worst of times for semiconductor supply chains: Chips are in short supply. Chips are over-supplied. Chip manufacturing has expanded too fast and surpassed demand, but also can’t scale up fast enough to meet demand. The chip business is booming. Chip stocks are falling. It’s a confusing time to figure out what’s going on in the semiconductor industry.(Quartz)

  • The nonstop scam economy is costing us more than just money Relentless waves of sophisticated phone and online scams are impacting people’s mental health. (Washington Post)

  • A massive leak of Chinese government data on hundreds of millions tests a new privacy law Food delivery orders, crime reports and personal details: A historic data breach exposes the inner-workings of China’s surveillance state. (Grid)

  • Donald Trump’s tampering, a rioter’s remorse, and other January 6 hearing takeaways The latest hearing teed up what the committee members promise will be “a profound moment of reckoning” for America next week. (Vox)

  • How conservatism conquered America — and corrupted itself The past month’s conservative victories were decades in the making. Three books about the right reveal what it cost the movement. (Vox)