Why Asia’s Sinking Consumer Confidence is the World’s Problem

Why Asia’s Sinking Consumer Confidence is the World’s Problem

From WSJ What’s News by The Wall Street Journal

April 24, 2026 · 14 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of Asia's declining consumer confidence on the global economy, including rising food prices and recent news involving U.S. military charges and Intel's earnings surge.

A.M. Edition for April 24. Twin shortages of fertilizer and fuel in the wake of the Iran war are spooking consumers across Asia and raising fears of weak harvests. But as HSBC’s Frederic Neumann tells us, the effects of rising food prices are likely to spread around the world and linger well into 2027. Plus, U.S. authorities charge a U.S. soldier who took part in the operation to capture Nicolás Maduro with using classified information to earn more than $400,000 on Polymarket. And Intel shares surge more than 20 percent in off hours trading, as the chip maker beat earnings estimates. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Luke Vargas

Guest: Frederic Neumann

Topics covered

  • consumer confidence
  • food prices
  • global economy
  • fertilizer shortage
  • fuel shortage
  • U.S. soldier charges
  • Intel earnings

Keywords

  • consumer confidence
  • food prices
  • fertilizer shortage
  • fuel shortage
  • U.S. soldier charges
  • Intel earnings
  • global economy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: HSBC, Intel

Places: Asia, U.S.

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