Macro Briefing: 15 December 2020

* Electoral College officially confirms Biden as the next US president
* Poor nations expected to endure long wait for vaccines
* US Covid-19 death toll above 300,000 as vaccine rollout begins
* US Attorney General Will Barr says he’ll step down next week
* FTC begins privacy probe of major tech firms
* US tech giants must change business practices in EU or face hefty fines
* US imports from China are surging
* China retail spending and industrial output continued to rebound in Nov
* UK layoffs rose to record high in Oct
* Does the US economy face a zombie recovery?
* CBOE Market Volatility Index — VIX — rises to highest level in over a month