Early Bird Headlines 01 June 2015
Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
Global
- Asia shares fall on concern over US economic growth (BBC News) Asian markets are nearly flat to down significantly in Monday trading.
- Ex-FIFA official cites satirical ‘Onion’ article in his self-defense (The New York Times) Jack Warner, a former vice president of world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, defended himself against corruption charges on Sunday by citing an article from The Onion, apparently unaware that it was satire. Warner used an Onion article from last week as proof that the U.S. undertook the prosecutions because of the country’s failed bid to host the World Cup.
- Middle East map carved up by caliphates, enclaves and fiefdoms (BBC News) Very good article but there is no map.
U.S.
- Senate Lets NSA Spying Expire (Huffington Post) Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) succeeded Sunday in forcing certain controversial provisions of the Patriot Act to expire, including the NSA’s sweeping data collection program. But the lapse isn’t likely to last long. Sunday’s expiration is largely the fault of procedural hurdles, rather than genuine opposition in the Hill’s upper chamber. Although Paul’s staunch opposition requires the Senate to go through a series of procedural runarounds, the Freedom Act is likely to make it through the upper chamber next week, according to this article.
- Jed Babbin brands Rand Paul a ‘constitutional illiterate’ (BBC News) Former US Deputy Undersecretary of Defence (under G. H. W. Bush) Jed Babbin has branded Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul a ‘constitutional illiterate‘ after US anti-terror powers expired. Video of Babbin complete statement in included.
- Welcome to the Red State HIV Epidemic (Politico) Republican governors face tough decisions as the disease spreads in middle America, into rural swathes ofthe reddest oarts of America.
- Market Corruption Becomes Business as Usual (Michael E. Lewitt, Money Morning) Michael Lewitt has contributed to GEI. Lewitt says there is something profoundly wrong with a world where those entrusted with power are consistently found to be corrupt. And day after day, week after week we have the unveiling of corruption after corruption. Last week, FIFA, the body that rules the multi-billion dollar business of soccer, was hit by indictments of many of its senior officials who were charged with running a multi-year corruption scheme. And then there’s Dennis Hastert, and then banks admitting crimes (again) and Hillary Clinton’s compromising association with donations to the Clinton family foundation. Econintersect: That doesn’t use up more than a week or so of new corruption, does it? Lewitt says:
Americans are exhibiting a high degree of complacency about the world around them. This mass delusion comes at precisely the time when they should be crying out for radical change in their leaders and the policies that are bringing the world to its knees.
Germany
- No Country for Young Folk? Germany Has Lowest Birthrate (Bloomberg) Move over Japan. Germany now has the world’s lowest birthrate, and its economy is poised to suffer as a result. Econintersect: Isn’t the solution flowing across the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East right now?
India
- Modi’s first year: 32 cos approach SEBI with IPO proposals (The Hindu) Filings for initial public offerings surged during the first year of government under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the total of 32 up from 13 in the previous year. More are expected over the next few months amid favorable market sentiment.
China
- Twin PMIs show improving Chinese factory activity (CNBC) China’s factory activity picked up its pace a tad in the May, twin surveys showed on Monday. The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which surveys large companies, rose to 50.2 from 50.1 in April, in line with the forecast from a Reuters poll, and above the 50-mark separating expansion from contraction. The final HSBC PMI print, which focuses on small and medium sized enterprises, stayed in contraction for a third month at 49.2, but beat the 49.1 figure in April.
- Reading China’s economic tea leaves (China Spectator) Based on a front-page story in People’s Daily (Chinese Communist Party newspaper) last week don’t expect any large-scale stimulus. A lot of people in China are calling for strong stimulus measures to beef up the flagging economy. The economy is growing at its slowest pace since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. Many important economic indicators are flashing red. But the “official” indications are that the government intends to stay the structural reform course and that will mean slower growth.
- With Massive Defaults Looming, Chinese Banks Aren’t Keen to Loan Local Firms Cash (Bloomberg Business) Chinese lenders have cut offerings of asset-backed securities 45 percent to 43.4 billion yuan ($7 billion) this year, after a 15-fold jump in 2014, Bloomberg-compiled data show. They have reduced loans for four straight months, even as policy makers expanded the securitization quota by 500 billion yuan to free up space on their balance sheets for fresh lending.
Japan
- Two Years Into the BOJ’s Bold Bet: Here’s What’s Happening (Bloomberg) Japan’s biggest companies are posting record profits and paying more dividends than ever, driving the share market higher. The economy has expanded, but is still smaller than its peak in 1997. It’s only slowly recovering from a recession last year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government increased the sales tax. Econintersect: More on this later today in ‘What We Read Today‘.
- Japanese spending, factory output muted (Melbourne Herald Sun) A new raft of Japanese data indicates a mixed outlook for the world’s third-largest economy with a renewed decline in the yen adding to uncertainty. The figures show Japan’s jobless rate dropped to an 18-year low in April but industrial production, inflation and household spending were muted as consumers kept their purse strings tight.
South Korea
- S. Korea’s shadow banking sector estimated at 1,500 tln won (Yonhap News) A report by the Financial Stability Board, meanwhile, showed that the country’s shadow banking sector accounted for 109.3% of its gross domestic product, the 7th highest of the 26 countries tallied. The total at the end of 2014 was more than 1,500 trillion won (US$1.35 trillion).
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