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Despite the positive news around private consumption and corporate investments, economic sentiment in the Eurozone is on the decline. The Purchasing Managers’ Index peaked in summer and has been declining since then (figure 2). The composite index marked a five-month low and the manufacturing index a seven-month-low in August (figure 2).
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A major contributor to the declining economic sentiment is shortages in materials and upstream products. A combination of rapidly rising demand and reduced production capacities during the pandemic has led to serious shortages that are increasingly holding back industrial production.5 In surveys among German companies, over 70% report that supply shortages hamper their production. In the automotive industry, over 90% suffer from these shortages; in the engineering sector, it is over 80%. This is a historical high. Over the last three decades, the corresponding values never amounted to more than 20%.6 In this sense, interrupted supply chains pose a threat to recovery at a time when industrial orders have surged.

JWST, an enormous $9.7 billion observatory with 18 mirrors coated in gold, is scheduled to launch into space this December. It’s the scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which completely altered our view of the universe. Scientists around the world are ready to see JWST go; the telescope has been over budget and behind schedule for years. But rather than focusing on that long-awaited triumph, they’re caught up in a controversy over the 20-year-old naming decision.
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More than 1,200 people, including professional scientists who have applied for observing time on JWST, have signed an online petition asking NASA to rename the telescope. Webb, critics say, is the wrong namesake for an instrument meant to inspire future generations of scientific thinkers. They point to archival, publicly accessible documents that show that, during his pre-NASA tenure at the State Department in the early ’50s, Webb attended a meeting about policies that discriminated against LGBTQ government employees. Other documents show that NASA, under Webb’s watch, engaged in discriminatory firing.

Because it’s these sorts of activities that allow us to become our ideal selves. It’s the perpetual pursuit of fulfilling our ideal selves that grants us happiness, regardless of superficial pleasures or pain, regardless of positive or negative emotions. This is why some people are happy in war and others are sad at weddings. It’s why some are excited to work and others hate parties. The traits they’re inhabiting don’t align with their ideal selves.
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The end results don’t define our ideal selves. It’s not finishing the marathon that makes us happy; it’s achieving a difficult long-term goal that does. It’s not having an awesome kid to show off that makes us happy; it’s knowing that you gave yourself up to the growth of another human being that is special. It’s not the prestige and money from the new business that makes you happy, it’s the process of overcoming all odds with people you care about.

Lower income countries spend five times more on debt than coping with the impact of climate change and reducing carbon emissions, according to a leading anti poverty charity.
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Figures from Jubilee Debt Campaign show that 34 of the world’s poorest countries are spending $29.4bn (£21.4bn) on debt payments a year compared with $5.4bn (£3.9bn) on measures to reduce the impact of the climate emergency.
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Uganda said it would spend $537m between 2016 and 2020, including funds from international agencies and donors, on climate related projects to adapt the country’s infrastructure and deal with climate emergencies.
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However, the $107.4m annual budget is dwarfed by external debt payments which will total $739m in 2021, rising to $1.35bn in 2025.