‘Business as Usual’ – Peace / Safety / Destruction / Economic Collapse

Jesus said the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). The thing about the days of Noah is that even in the midst of terrible apostasy, evil, violence, and rebellion against God, the people went ahead with their normal lives. They planted fields, they harvested crops, they built houses, they got married, and they had children. They went about business as usual, until the very day that Noah entered the ark, and then destruction came and took them all away

1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Revelation 13:16-17 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Business as Usual? Convergence of Economic Signs: China factory activity contracts again, for the third month in a row amid trade headwinds.

AFP•July 30, 2019

China’s manufacturing activity contracted for a third month in a row in July, official data showed Wednesday, amid a bruising trade war with the United States and slowing global demand.

Washington and Beijing have so far hit each other with punitive tariffs covering more than $360 billion in two-way trade, damaging manufacturers in both countries.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a gauge of Chinese factory conditions, came in at 49.7 for the month, slightly up from June’s figure of 49.4, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The reading falls below the 50.0 mark separating expansion from contraction. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted a reading of 49.6.

“There are many positive changes going on in the manufacturing sector,” said NBS analyst Zhao Qinghe in a statement, pointing to industries like tobacco, paper and IT equipment where activity expanded.

The new export and import orders sub-index rose from June but also remained in contraction territory.

Beijing has enacted massive tax cuts and tried to better funnel financing to small and medium sized companies in a bid to combat the slowdown.

The policies have “further reduced the burden on enterprises and played an important role in stabilising corporate confidence,” Zhao said.

But while momentum picked up at large scale manufacturers during the month, it retreated at small- and medium-sized businesses.

Chinese and US trade negotiators met in Shanghai on Wednesday in a bid to bring an end to the year-long trade war.

The data “still appear consistent with a renewed slowdown in year-on-year growth in industrial output and broader economic activity,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a note.

“With the headwinds to growth from US tariffs, cooling global demand and tighter property controls likely to intensify, we continue to anticipate further monetary easing in the coming months,” he added.