Paying The Price Of Gambling On Putin; Just-in-Time Isn’t; Decline of Covid Sets Consumers Free To Bar Hop, Shop and Congest Airports

Warren Buffett long ago noted, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” And the tide seems to be going out. GDP, declined at an annual rate of 1.6 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Consumer sentiment is at the lowest level since records were first kept in 1952, retail sales are down, manufacturing activity is decelerating and new orders for manufactured goods are falling. And things are far worse in Europe.