The US company Apple shows the well-being of the global economy, says Gabor Steingart. The value is not complicated, but meaningful and currently alarming: Less production, shrinking sales and investors jumping off.

Anyone who wants to know how the global economy is doing can take a look at the economic forecasts from the Ifo Institute and the World Bank or see how Apple is doing.

My experience is this: The Apple indicator works as reliably as the sky over Berlin and the regional train between Bochum and Castrop-Rauxel. This indicator is not complicated, but informative. It’s not science, just reality.

And this Apple indicator – and that’s how I got it this morning – has been sending S.O.S for days. All the darkening of this world is reflected in the display of the iPhone manufacturer from Cupertino. Like a seismograph, the Apple indicator reports our collective overstrain:

Important to know: The Apple indicator is so meaningful because the company founded by Steve Jobs in April 1976 is still highly innovative and well managed. One can live without the mobile phone, but for most people it doesn’t make sense. They share more secrets with their cell phone than with their partner.

The lesson is that all spikes in the Apple indicator occur despite this fundamental strength, which is the message of comfort to those struggling right now. The world is not a ball but a ball. It is covered two-thirds by water and one-third by unsolved problems. Now all we have to do is take the smack of catastrophe out of it.

Gabor Steingart is one of the best-known journalists in the country. He publishes the newsletter The Pioneer Briefing. The podcast of the same name is Germany’s leading daily podcast for politics and business. Since May 2020, Steingart has been working with his editorial staff on the ship “The Pioneer One”. Before founding Media Pioneer, Steingart was, among other things, CEO of the Handelsblatt Media Group. You can subscribe to his free newsletter here.