Early Bird Headlines 06 August 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.
U.S.
- U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Still One of Highest in Developed World: Report (NBC News) Just under six out of every 1,000 babies died at birth or in the first year of life in the U.S. in 2013, triple the rate of Japan or Norway and double the rate of Ireland, Israel or Italy, the latest report from the National Center for Health Statistics finds. The rate is barely changed from 2012, although it’s down 13% from 2005.
EU
- Cumulated Euro area current account imbalances (Constatin Gurdgiev, Twitter) CG contributes to GEI.
Cumulated Euro area current account imbalances: watch them go up from Euro introduction on: pic.twitter.com/rt47uyEURg
— Constantin Gurdgiev (@GTCost) August 4, 2015
UK
- London City Airport could fetch £2bn after being ‘put up for sale’ (The Telegraph) Privately owned property could bring up to $3 billion or more according to 75% owner Global Infrastructure Partners.
- No country for dirty money: behind Britain’s populist promise on corruption (The Conversation) This “dirty money” debate shows, yet again, that a significant share of the political discussion about the way forward in terms of economic policy is not just about the big, macroeconomic dimension. It is not just the stuff of interest rates, quantitative easing, public debt, Keynesianism or monetarism. It is now also about everyday economic practice – or, to be more precise, the different ways of earning a living, making a profit, taking a cut and so on in a capitalist economy. See also next article.
- The Guardian view on offshore secrecy: transparency is welcome, but it’s not a housing policy (The Guardian) This dirty money-go-round is what David Cameron promised to stop today – and for that he deserves a big round of applause. So too does his pledge of a truthful property register – in which the owners of Britain’s land and homes are actually named. However, though demanding transparency is a step in the right direction, the UK will still be the global capital of light-touch regulation, says this editorial. See also preceding article.
Greece
- GDP bonds are answer to Greek debt problem (Financial Times) A new proposal would align the interests of Greece and its creditors.
Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Arabia plans $27bn in bond issues (Financial Times) Saudi Arabia is returning to the bond market with a plan to raise $27bn by the end of the year, in the starkest sign yet of the strain lower oil prices are putting on the finances of the world’s largest oil exporter.
Russia
- Moscow believes problem of Mistral ships fully settled, says Kremlin (Tass) Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Francois Hollande of France have taken a joint decision to sever the agreement on construction and supplies to the Russian Navy of two amphibious helicopter carriers of the Mistral class that was signed in June 2011. France declined to deliver the airships as part of its response to the Ukraine crisis.
India
- Generic drugs ban prompts India to freeze EU trade talks (Financial Times) Brussels last week instructed its 28 member countries to withdraw from selling 700 generic medicines by August 21, amid concerns about the integrity of clinical trials carried out on behalf of drug makers by GVK Biosciences, a contract research organization based in Hyderabad. In a statement on Wednesday, New Delhi said it was “disappointed and concerned” over the ban on products from “one of the flagship sectors of India” in the latest setback to the reputation of the country’s large pharmaceutical export industry. EU-India free trade talks were scheduled to resume on August 20, but have now been put on indefinite hold by New Delhi.
- RBI can cut rate if inflation stays below 6%: Rajan (The Hindu) RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan on Wednesday said the central bank will cut interest rate provided it feels confident that inflation will remain below 6% even after the reduction. So Rajan is apparently saying there will be no rate cut for at least 8 months since RBI expects retail inflation to be around 6.1% in January-March, 2016.
Malaysia
- MH370 Mystery: Officials Confirm Fragment Is From Missing Flight (NBC News) The airplane fragment that washed up on an island last week was a piece of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the Malaysian prime minister confirmed Wednesday – the first definitive physical clue to the greatest mystery in modern aviation. The piece of wreckage was ashore on Reunion Island, just east of Madagascar, more 2,000 miles from the closest search areas after the plane disappeared.
Vietnam
- Meet Vietnam’s Gay Power Couple: U.S. Ambassador and His Husband (Bloomberg) Hat tip to Rob Carter. Since their December arrival in Vietnam, U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius and his husband have become the most prominent gay couple in the Southeast Asian country.
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