Day 1,688: knock-on effect, prop, underline, encroach, tread

Their straitened circumstances will have knock-on effects, by reducing consumption and weighing on investment decisions.

This may prop up stock prices for a time. But such meddling only betrays China’s mistrust of markets, underlining why investors have left.

Investors once thought that China’s politics need not encroach on their ability to make money. Now that they know there is no escaping politics, they will tread more fearfully.

Has Xi Jinping lost control of the markets?

Artwork of the day 
Head of Prophet
Paolo Uccello
Date: 1443
Style: Early Renaissance
Genre: portrait
Media: fresco
Location: Duomo di Firenze (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore), Florence, Italy

Word of the day 
knock-on effect: When an event or situation has a knock-on effect, it causes other events or situations, but not directly:
prop: to support something physically, often by leaning it against something else or putting something under it:
underline: to draw a line under a word, especially in orderto show its importance:
encroach: to take control or possession of something in a gradual way and often without being noticed:
tread: to put your foot on something or to presssomething down with your foot:

Quote of the day
“It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand.”

― Madeleine L'Engle